Sovereign Union - AudioBoom collection

Researchers are calling for the dog fence to be moved as an experiment that looks at ways to protect threatened native species and increase biodiversity. - The aim is to let dingoes breed up in Sturt National Park, near Cameron Corner, in far north-west New South Wales, so researchers can study the role the canines play in arid lands. - University of Sydney researcher Dr Thomas Newsome said the apex predator could play an important part in managing feral pests who prey on wildlife. - "There's been ongoing interest in exploring the ecological role of the dingo," he said.

New South Wales Police have named the rise of white supremacist groups as one of the main threats to social cohesion in Australia.   Police Deputy Commissioner Nick Kaldas said a number of organisations fitting that description are moving out of the shadows.   "Racist groups who have in the past worked under the radar, coming out, spreading hatred, particularly on the far-right," he said.   Mr Kaldas said police were watching the trend closely although he declined to name any specific groups.   "I'm loathed to give them any oxygen but I would say that there is definitely activity on the right wing, the extreme right wing, of politics and people who are using events around the world to create incidents in Australia and NSW and in Sydney," he said.   "We're not taking our eye off that ball. We are watching it just as much as we watch anybody else."   He was speaking at a community cohesion conference at the University of Western Sydney, in Parramatta.

The Official Opening of the Kukenarup memorial on the site of WA SE Report and image by Tara De Landgrafft - ABC Rural Kokenarup massacre: In 1880, a family group of approximately 30 First Nations people were massacred about 15 kilometres from the Ravensthorpe in Western Australia's south west region. One account states that John Dunn, a farm worker, attacked and raped a young Nyoongar girl and in accordance with the Nyoongar lore of that region he was subsequently killed by Yandawulla Dibbs and a group of local Nyoongar men. Dunn's overseer sent out word of the killing, and returned with a large group of armed settlers who rounded up and slaughtered 30 Nyoongar men, women and children.

The Official Opening of the Kukenarup memorial on the site of WA SE Image: Noongar elders and sisters Carol Petterson and Roni Grey Forrest at the Kukenarup memorial Kokenarup massacre: In 1880, a family group of approximately 30 First Nations people were massacred about 15 kilometres from the Ravensthorpe in Western Australia's south west region. One account states that John Dunn, a farm worker, attacked and raped a young Nyoongar girl and in accordance with the Nyoongar lore of that region he was subsequently killed by Yandawulla Dibbs and a group of local Nyoongar men. Dunn's overseer sent out word of the killing, and returned with a large group of armed settlers who rounded up and slaughtered 30 Nyoongar men, women and children. Report and image by Tara De Landgrafft - ABC Rural

Radio National - Big Ideas 11 July 2013 The killing times. Cairns-based historian Timothy Bottoms has drawn a new map of Queensland, that places many more sites of massacres of Aboriginal people into the story than have ever been acknowledged before. And while he argues that this is a story of deep silences, what he demonstrates is how public and discussed these killings were in the nineteenth century. In conversation with RN’s Kate Evans, Dr Bottoms draws out his research and conclusions, while a powerful combination of elders and historians made the story live.

'How would you like to be me?’ was a forum held in Adelaide in May 2015, aiming to shed a light on the everyday experiences of First Nation peoples around Australia. Here we have Caper, Aboriginal rap artist, Michael Ghillar Anderson, Sovereign Union founder and Jeff McMullen, journalist and activist - Other speakers at the forum were included Rosalie Kunoth-Monks, Alison Anderson, Tauto Sansbury and Gerry Georgatos. Produced by Lovette Williams and Lisa Burns of 'The Wire'

Part one in a two-part series marking 40 years of the Racial Discrimination Act. Mr Koowarta's case could have been the end of our first human rights law.

Kintore community elder Irene Nangala says Tony Abbott doesn't understand the lifestyles of Aboriginal people living remotely - Ms Nangala said she moved to the remote Aboriginal community of Kintore in the 1980s. Kintore is 500 kilometres west of Alice Springs and around 50 kilometres from the Western Australian border.

Audio file: Ninah Kopel 'The Wire' - The Burrup peninsula is home to the world’s largest and oldest collection of rock art. It was once considered sacred by the Western Australian Government. Now only select areas are considered sacred. There are more than 2,400 registered Aboriginal sites on the Burrup Peninsula, but with ancient art covering the whole region, deregistered areas mean sights of culture could fall through the gaps. - image: 'Burrup Rock Art - Tiger' by Greens MPs on Flickr

A group of Aboriginal elders is concerned that moves to shut some remote communities in Western Australia will set a precedent for other parts of the country. After months of speculation the WA Premier Colin Barnett yesterday outlined major reforms to the ways communities are funded. He says Indigenous people will be consulted, but less viable settlements will eventually close. As Natalie Whiting reports, elders and activists used a forum in Adelaide last night to air their concerns about the ripple effects of the WA plan.

A group who've dubbed themselves the 'Alice Springs Volunteer Force' have threatened violence against Aboriginal youth on social media. Aiming to recruit volunteers with firearm experience, the group proposes to crack down on the town's young offenders through vigilante-style action. Blair McFarland from the Central Australian Youth Link-Up Service says the group is deluded and only represents a minute number of people. Mr McFarland said that the current conservative-type NT Government has cut $3m dollars from Alice Springs Youth Services, before that there was some night time activities that targeted the kids who are walking around the streets at night. He likened the this and other governments to vigilante groups.

Felicity Meakins, a senior researcher says awareness about Australian Indigenous languages is very low, and that most Australians have little idea about the extent of linguistic diversity across the country. Felicity is a research fellow at the University of Queensland - More about this story here: https://theconversation.com/some-australian-indigenous-languages-you-should-know-40155 From Radio National - 'Afternoons' Presented by Michael Mackenzie

Author of the book ‘Dark Emu – Black Seeds : Agriculture or Accident?” The book argues the idea that the first Australians were hunter gatherers has been invented to undermine Aboriginal people. "My message to my own people," he says, "is the rest of the country's not going to change if we don't stick up for our culture; and our culture was one where we had an agricultural economy." "If we stick up for our culture, it'll be useful not just for us but for the whole of Australia, because some of those crops that our people were growing are going to be useful in the future." 98.9fm, NIRS, Radio Brisbane

The Victorian Aborigines Advancement League is the oldest Aboriginal organisation in Australia. Now, the remarkable history of its activism has now come to light. Historian Richard Broome has gathered stories from former and current members and compiled them in a book called 'Fighting Hard'. He joins Patricia Karvelas in The Drawing Room along with actor and director Rachel Maza, who has a personal connection with the League. Image: Gladys Nicholls Hostel for girls, Thornbury, 1958. (Courtesy A & M Jackomos collection.)

From CAAMA Radio - Western Australia’s Kimberley region continues to see rising levels of homelessness with a new report claiming seven per cent of the region’s predominately Aboriginal population is currently homeless. Gerry Georgatos a long time human rights campaigner and suicide prevention researcher based in Western Australia says the current extent of homelessness in the Kimberley demonstrates the State Governments disregard in dealing with the inequalities that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders face. Mr Georgatos told CAAMA that little has changed for Aboriginal people in Western Australia since the 1967 referendum calling the disparity of homelessness experienced by the First Peoples as ‘racialization’. Mr Georgatos also discussed the adverse effects the looming community closures will have on residents within the Kimberley and surrounding regions over a chat with Kyle Dowling.

The Nyoongar Refugee Camp on Matagarup (Heirisson Island) Perth, Western Australia. in Western Australia again faces forced removal. Over the last few months talks of closures of remote communities in Western Australia has forced many Aboriginal people from across the state and the Country to join together in Perth to show their support to the people that will be homeless if the closures continue. Veteran Nyoongar Rights Campaigner Herbert Bropho speaks to CAAMA radio about the still standing strong for the rights of his people in the face of talks to evict people from the Nyoongar

A respected Central Australian Aboriginal Elder has rejected the suggestion that Aboriginal women exposing their bodies during ceremony is offensive. Rosalie Kunoth-Monks a Arrernte and Alyawarra woman told CAAMA Radio that Aboriginal women’s breasts are not considered to be as sexual objects in Aboriginal culture and that they carry and posses power and ancient Law.

MARK COLVIN: Indigenous leaders in South Australia are calling for a guarantee that remote communities in the state won't close as a result of funding cuts. Crisis meetings were held in the state over the weekend, and leaders are calling for an urgent meeting with the State Government. The West Australian Government has suggested closing some communities as a result of Federal Government funding cuts. The South Australian Government says it's pushing the Commonwealth to change its decision, but Indigenous groups say the lack of a plan B is causing anxiety. In Adelaide, Natalie Whiting reports. NATALIE WHITING: The fall out of a Federal Government plan to hand over responsibility for funding remote communities to the states has focussed on Western Australia. But in South Australia, around 60 Indigenous communities are also facing an uncertain future. The funding covers essential services like electricity and water supply and garbage collection. Aboriginal leaders from across South Australia met at the weekend, and say they need an urgent meeting with the State Government. Haydyn Bromley is from South Australia's Aboriginal Lands Trust. HAYDYN BROMLEY: Communities are extremely worried and extremely stressed at the moment. A lot of the Aboriginal people who are living on community are living there and have a very strong connection affiliation to country, which delivers for them their security and their spiritual wellbeing and health. So you force people off the land, you force people out of their country and it will have a negative impact on issues like closing the gap. NATALIE WHITING: The Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett has flagged closing 150 communities in the wake of the federal cuts. In South Australia, the State Government is continuing to fight the Commonwealth's plan. But Mr Bromley says a plan B is needed. HAYDYN BROMLEY: With all due respect to the State Government, it's reassuring to know that they're not planning on closing the communities, but if they don't have a plan B on how they're going to fund the communities, it is closure by stealth. Now it's okay to say, “Yes, we're not going to do this,” but unless they come up with how they're going to stop it, it's going to happen. NATALIE WHITING: Indigenous leaders from all of the affected communities took part in the crisis meeting. They all agreed Indigenous voices need to be involved in the current discussions. HAYDYN BROMLEY: At the moment, our priority is meeting urgently with the State Government to address the issue and business arising from the weekend. Following that we want to… we are seeking a meeting with Minister Scullion to try and address how we're going to navigate forward. NATALIE WHITING: South Australian Greens MLC Tammy Franks has raised the issue in Parliament. TAMMY FRANKS: The Federal Government are the ones who set this ball rolling. The State Government has so far refused the deals offered to it by the Federal Government. The uncertainty is because the Federal Government changed its policies, so let's be clear on that. But the State Government and the Federal Government now just need to both step up and guarantee the future for these Indigenous communities. NATALIE WHITING: The State Minister for Indigenous Affairs Kyam Maher has been holding meetings with his Federal counterpart, Nigel Scullion. Ms Franks says she's hoping to see a resolution shortly. TAMMY FRANKS: I would hope that in the next week or so, we can have an announcement from both those ministers that gives security, that can show that the South Australian and the Federal Government can actually do the right thing by Indigenous communities, and give them certainty of their future essential services. NATALIE WHITING: Would you like the State Government to give a guarantee that it won't look to close communities if the cuts do go ahead? TAMMY FRANKS: Sure, but then the Federal Government would withdraw the money and we'd have to find that as a state somewhere else, and as we know South Australia does struggle with finding money to fund the essentials that we need. And it has been a Federal Government responsibility to date, they shouldn't pull out without guaranteeing that money straight to state. NATALIE WHITING: So do you think, though, if they do pull out, it will be feasible for SA to maintain these communities? TAMMY FRANKS: Well they've always said that they'll pull out with and they've put $10 million on the table prior - that's not enough. There needs to be more on the table from the Feds. NATALIE WHITING: In a statement, the State Minister Kyam Maher said talks with the Federal Government have been positive. He says both governments understand the need to resolve the issue quickly. MARK COLVIN: Natalie Whiting reporting.

USA MEDIA - This Audio is especially edited by Sovereign Union just to address Abbott and First Nations Peoples issues, especially The Homelands and the Carmichael Mine. KPFK, Pacifica in Southern California discusses these First Nations issues in Australia with guest Dr. Kampmark, who teaches within the Bachelor of Social Science (Legal and Dispute Studies) program at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia --- Australia is considered one of the US’s main allies in the English speaking world. But the conservative Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s increasingly belligerent rhetoric on a number of policy fronts has made him an embarrassing bedfellow of the West. On top of his vehement climate denialism, Abbott has recently been criticized for the appalling treatment of imprisoned asylum seekers that are held on the Pacific islands of Nauru and Manus. Mistreatment of prisoners includes sexual abuse, rape, and physical assault. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, Juan Mendez, singled out Australia for its abuse of children asylees in particular, to which Prime Minister Abbott responded that he was “sick of being lectured to.” Abbott has also come under fire recently for policies and comments targeting his nation’s indigenous population. His administration has pushed severe cuts to Aboriginal legal services. Those cuts were just reversed after public outrage. But comments that Abbott made earlier in the month underscore the poor relations his government has had with indigenous communities. Abbott claimed it was not the responsibility of tax payers to subsidize the “lifestyle choices” of aboriginal people who live on remote lands and need services. - See more at: http://uprisingradio.org/home/2015/03/27/tony-abbotts-abuses-of-australias-asylum-seekers-and-aboriginal-peoples/#sthash.Lp57WWf9.dpuf

Originally from Fitzroy Crossing in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, David Lans moved to Kintore, 520 kilometres west of Alice Springs, in a bid to gain employment in nearby mines and start his own earthmoving business. - He is keen to help the people of Kintore become self-sufficient. - "I'm looking to do some community work as well, in parks and gardens, building a community centre and a recording studio as well," he said. - Because of the Kintore's remoteness, infrastructure in the town is limited and the cost of food and water is high. - Mr Lans said he is well aware of the disadvantages facing small communities and wanted local Aboriginal people to run their own businesses. - "There are things we can change for the better," he said. - "We can have our own parks, we can have our own gardens, grow our own vegetables, we can start fish farms and make everything here," he said. - "We can do courses and training. - "We can run this community ourselves." - Mr Lans, who receives unemployment benefits, admitted much of the Kintore community is reliant on government benefits. - "It's been going on for years. They've been doing the Centrelink thing," he said. - "There's been no courses. They're just throwing money, which is the wrong thing. - "If they (the Federal Government) wants us to succeed, they need to help and understand our ways. - "Australia is like a house, not built on strong foundations. - "Australia's going to continue losing money if they don't help all Australians. - "Once they help all, we'll be a great nation."