Sovereign Audio Collection

The first shipment of Australia's nuclear waste to be returned from reprocessing in France has now left a French port, and will arrive on our shores next month. The return of the 25 tonnes of nuclear waste is putting renewed pressure on the Federal Government to find a location for a permanent waste dump. Natalie Whiting ABC The World Today Read more + Transcript http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2015/s4333121.htm

Palm Islanders have welcomed a Court decision awarding compensation over police mistreatment after the 2004 Palm Island riot. The riot followed a police death in custody and in the aftermath, six police conducted a pre-dawn raid on a home, where they've now been found to have assaulted and falsely imprisoned a couple. Transcript: http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2015/s4327034.htm

Ancient rock carvings on the Burrup Peninsula are among more than 1,000 sites the WA government removed or blocked from its Aboriginal heritage register in the last two-and-a-half years. In 2012 the government created a narrower definition of sacred sites. The Supreme Court has thrown out those changes, but the government now wants a single public servant to determine sacred sites. Sarah Dingle investigates for ABC RN's Radio National - Read More http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/backgroundbriefing/whats-sacred-now/6549614

A pastoralist from Western Australia is calling for Indigenous ranger groups to take a more active role in preventing and fighting bushfires in the Kimberley, saying the number of fires in the region was "absolutely ridiculous".6809606 Gogo Station development manager Phillip Hams wants rangers under the auspices of the Kimberley Land Council to have a greater focus on combating fires which ravage the region. Mr Hams said he would like to initiate discussions between the cattle industry, the KLC and the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) to further explore the idea. "What we need to do is explore what portion they (rangers) are doing and maybe one way or another that can be increased," he said. Tom Edwards, ABC - WA Country Hour Read More: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-28/pastoralist-wants-indigenous-rangers-to-fight-more-fire/6809606

Dr Robert Paddle, a comparative psychologist at the Australian Catholic University, has spent years studying the behaviour of one of Australia's most misunderstood creatures, the Thylacine, commonly known as the Tasmanian Tiger. And he is the author of the seminal go-to book on the animal's extinction, The Last Tasmanian Tiger. Lately, Dr Paddle has been researching the untold history of the women that played a part in both the animal's extinction and its conservation. These women are brought to life in They Saw a Thylacine, a new play currently running at the Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne, with other venues to follow.

ABC Radio National Background Briefing Police in Darwin have jailed nearly 1,000 Aboriginal people under new public order laws that allow detention without an arrest warrant. Following a black death in custody, the coroner said the laws should be repealed because they perpetuate and entrench Indigenous disadvantage. But the NT government is refusing to budge. So have 'paperless arrests' reduced crime? Wendy Carlisle investigates.

Aboriginal Elder Aunty Jessie Clarke from Bordertown (SA/Vic border) turned 100 on 21 September 2015 More than 300 friends and relatives filled the Bordertown Hall on Saturday for an early celebration of the milestone. Aunty Jessie was born at Swan Hill. Her mother was Aboriginal; her father was English. She married an Aboriginal man, Laurie Clarke, and they moved to the Bordertown area where they lived in a hut on what local white people called 'blacks' camp,' and that's where they raised eight children. Aboriginal people were not permitted to live in houses in the town. In 1964 Laurie heard word that welfare officers were coming to take their four younger children away. With help from some locals the family left in a hurry for Wolseley and in the process their hut was bulldozed along with possessions they'd intended to go back and collect. Here are some audio highlights from Saturday's celebration.

The Transcript - MARK COLVIN: Who'll be in charge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs in a Turnbull Government? Senator Nigel Scullion may stay as Indigenous Affairs Minister, but he's in the outer ministry - Tony Abbott always said Indigenous questions were his responsibility inside the Cabinet itself. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Mick Gooda, wants Malcolm Turnbull to confirm that the Coalition will still go ahead with a referendum in May 2017. Mick Gooda says he's happy to continue working with Nigel Scullion, but has also suggested considering Aboriginal MP Ken Wyatt for the job. He's spoke to Anna Henderson. MICK GOODA: Everyone in Australia right now is waiting to see what happens over the next week or so with the new Cabinet, whether there's going to be any different ministry Government arrangements. ANNA HENDERSON: Do you feel like Nigel Scullion should remain in the portfolio? MICK GOODA: Oh look, it's not up to us to, or me in particular to determine, make any comment like that. I have a good working relationship with Minister Scullion, we have robust discussion, we have really really frank discussion - I'd like to see that continue. But whether Minister Scullion remains in his place is really a matter for the Prime Minister now. We do have an Indigenous member of Parliament, Ken Wyatt, maybe there could be something radical and he could be Aboriginal Affairs Minister if there is to be a change. ANNA HENDERSON: So, at this point do you feel like a change of leader might actually be a game-changer in a positive way? MICK GOODA: I don't know. I understand Malcolm Turnbull has been very positively talking about constitutional reform. Again, it's a wait and see over the next week or so where we can make contact with his office to start working out where we stand with constitutional recognition. I hope we just maintain the same timetable, you know, we've been at it now for - you know, I've been at it the whole time I've been in this job, getting onto six years of work. A lot of other people have been the same, or even longer. We've now got a timetable, we agreed with the Prime Minister and the Opposition leader about early 2017. I think we should stick to that timetable and I'd like to see a commitment from the new Prime Minister to that effect really, that he's committed to it, that we've got a process in place and that should just continue. ANNA HENDERSON: Now you heard Malcolm Turnbull's first remarks when he was elected by his party to the role of Prime Minister, among them he was talking about a more collegiate way of operating. Did you read anything into that for his engagement with Indigenous Australians? MICK GOODA: Well, when he talks about respecting the intelligence of the Australian community, I think he has to understand that and respect the intelligence within the Aboriginal community, that we do want to work through the problems that face us and face the country. I just hope that we're not just brushed to one side when this conversation happens with the new Prime Minister. As matter of fact, there'll be people who'll be very upfront about that, that we need this new relationship, we need proper engagement where both sides are respected, because that's the only way anything is going to change with our mob. Imposing solutions without the engagement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will work for a little while, but they won't produce sustainable results and that's the message again I will be giving to the Prime Minister's office when I get the chance. MARK COLVIN: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda speaking to Anna Henderson.

Up until the 1970s, generations of Aboriginal workers in WA had their wages systematically stolen over decades, and only a small minority received reparation—just $2,000 in 2012. Sarah Dingle reveals the secret calculations that recommended a much higher sum, and government efforts to minimise payouts. ABC Radio National 'Background Briefing' - See more:- http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/backgroundbriefing/was-stolen-wages-shame/6740068

In Western Australia, the government is facing a potential class action over its controversial Stolen Wages Reparations Scheme. The scheme paid Aboriginal people a maximum of $2,000 in recognition of decades of withheld wages. Now, a Background Briefing investigation has uncovered secret financial modelling commissioned by the Government which suggests the Government owes the workers much more than that. ABC AM The TRANSCRIPT:- http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2015/s4306025.htm

In Queensland the discovery of the fossilised remains of a 23 million-year-old rainforest in the Gold Coast hinterland is shining light on a little understood period of geological history. The fossils were unearthed from a creek bed by a curious bushwalker who took them to the Queensland Museum for analysis.

The Northern Territory Government is grappling with a looming environmental disaster at one of the world's biggest zinc, lead and silver mines. The McArthur mine is located about 900 kilometres south-east of Darwin in Gulf Country, and is operated by the Swiss mining giant Glencore. Documents released through a Freedom on Information request now reveal though that Glencore is failing to manage the huge amounts of toxic waste being released at the mine—waste which environmentalists say could pose a danger for hundreds of years. In fact, it's been revealed a leaking tailings dam is already contaminating local waterways used by people living near the mine. The fear now is that the mining giant may leave Northern Territory taxpayers with a massive bill to clean up the site. RN Breakfast

A contemporary artistic response to Lachlan Macquarie's term as governor of NSW, and the crossing of the Blue Mountains. Artist Tim Miller became fascinated with the expansion of settlement west of Sydney during Macquarie's tenure. What would have been seen by the first European explorers and how their arrival might have been perceived by the local Indigenous peoples? Source: ABC Radio National 'Earshot'

Artistic perceptions of Lachlan Macquarie's time as governor of New South Wales. Australian artist Keith Dewell has a fascination with the human form—his drawings express ways in which the physicality of the human body exposes inner emotion. In a recent exhibition commemorating the bicentennial of Lachlan Macquarie's governorship, Keith contributes an insight into both the Aboriginal and the convict psyche during this time. This is an excellent report on Keith Dewell work on Earshot with David Rutledge on RN - However the female historian called Grace who appears on this audio has a very blinkered view on the situation and talks about the invaders as if they are hero's for murdering the First Nations people and stealing their land. She even mentions how progressive the newly built orphanages were.

Joseph Lycett was a convicted English forger who was transported to New South Wales in the early nineteenth century. He had a colourful existence in Australia and documented the life of First Nations people of the Newcastle region at that time. - More info amd images:- http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/earshot/joseph-lycett-convict-artist/6599240

There has been considerable misunderstandings about 1967 Referendum both in Aboriginal and mainstream Australians circles. Here is an audio made for SBS World News Radio by Ron Sutton in March 2014.

For almost three decades, Pat O’Shane, the fiery daughter of an Aboriginal mother and an Irish father, was one of Australia’s most famous magistrates. In 27 eventful years on the bench, she was frequently under attack, her name never far from the word ‘controversial’ for some of her decisions and public comments. - In this interview with Julia Baird on Radio National, Pat, now retired, talks about everything from justice to her crippling depression and the immense stress the job caused her, as well as the pact she made with herself never to show her tears. - From RN Swam Songs with Julia Baird

The Fortescue Metals Group owned by Andrew Forrest have come under fire from a Federal Court Judge for their involvement in supporting certain community members to break away from Traditional protocol in an attempt to free up access to land they wish to mine on. CEO of the Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation in Western Australia Michael Woodley told Donna Campbell, CAAMA Radio that within Aboriginal cultural there is a relationship structure…one that is now being -

2014 Audio Report: Over the last three years the support for homeless people with drug and alcohol issues in South Australia has been cut significantly. ICHAG, the Independent Community-Wide Homelessness Administrators Group has released a report describing this crisis and calling for the government to take immediate action. Backing this report is Shelter SA, and their executive director, Dr Alice Clark, spoke to Angus Randall. Radio Adelaide Produced by Michael Moschos 7/4/14

A group of women in a remote Aboriginal community in South Australia's APY Lands have formed the state's first indigenous female fire-fighting team. For cultural reasons women in Mimili can't work with the men in the Country Fire Service brigade in the town. However with the men often out of community on cultural business and other help so far away the women decided to get trained up so they could protect themselves and their land.