Archives June 2015

Throughout Australian history, principle has been overwhelmed by economic interest, and the idea of justice embodied in natural rights is voted down by justice made in the image of the majority. The Mabo decision of the High Court in 1992 might be taken as a paradigm case of what has been called "complex space." Instead of assuming a homogenous jurisdiction over Australian territory, the court had to acknowledge the validity of a different legal system and "storied" country inside the national borders. - Theological Critique by Mark Brett, Professor of Old Testament [node:read-more:link]

An Aboriginal elder in Central Australia has shed tears of joy upon the rediscovery of a sacred site lost for the past 70 years. Previous attempts to find the Tanami Desert site, known as Kurlpurlunu, had proved fruitless until Warlpiri elders, George Jungarrayi Ryder and Molly Nappururla Tasman flew over the area in a helicopter last week. The elderly pair had visited the site as children and recognised some of the features, including a distinctive tree and a rock. The site's identity was confirmed by 82-year-old Jerry Jangala. [node:read-more:link]

Kitty Wallaby's life was linked with the Dreamtime, and her people, the Gunditjmara in Western Victoria, built sprawling villages of stone houses and an aquaculture system that pre-dated Egypt's pyramids and Stonehenge. When Kitty told the invading pastoralists that is was her country, they were not interested in listening or understanding. [node:read-more:link]

The first proof that humans lived in Western Australia's Mid West at the same time as humans in the Pilbara and South West regions has been found in a cave 50 kilometres north-west of Cue.
Previously, archaeologists had no established evidence that humans occupied the Mid West region more than 10,000 years ago. But charcoal associated with stone artefacts excavated in the Yalibirri Mindi rock shelter in the Weld Range have been shown to belong to ancestors of the Wajarri native title claimants living 30,000 years ago. [node:read-more:link]

First Nations youth are 24 times more likely to be incarcerated than other Australian youth, Amnesty International has found. Amnesty International secretary-general Salil Shetty at the National Press Club in Canberra said the rate would have devastating consequences. "We will see another generation lost to failed government policies unless Australian Governments get smarter about this, and fast," Mr Shetty said. "We will see another generation lost to failed government policies unless Australian Governments get smarter about this, and fast" [node:read-more:link]

Maria Giannacopoulos, a lecturer and researcher in Socio-Legal Studies believes that Frank Brennan's recently published conservative position on Constitution reform, leaves us with a flawed structure and giving us only superficial changes.

Even though the problem Brennan seeks to address is racism, Brennan argues for leaving a racist structure undisturbed. Giannacopoulos believes he may have done this, because he does not view the Constitution through the larger lens of colonisation. [node:read-more:link]

Going without food, or going without nutritious food, has heavy consequences for Indigenous people, as we learnt on a recent research trip to the West Kimberley. Indigenous Australians are already twice as likely to have a disability or chronic illness as non-Indigenous Australians; poor nutrition compounds these problems, leading to further illness and secondary impairments.Aboriginal people consistently reported alleviating food insecurity by going crabbing or fishing on traditional lands. Though this accounted for a small portion of total dietary intake. [node:read-more:link]