Homelands

In the 1950s the Spinifex people living in the Maralinga region in the Great Victoria Desert were dispossessed from their homelands to allow for atomic testing to be carried out by governments of the United Kingdom and Australia. The people were placed at Cundalee and later moved onto Coonana because of water issues. Coonana lies approximately 170km east of Kalgoorlie-Boulder along the Trans Access Road, Once a busy community but following the government bleeding the community of vital resources, it is now all but deserted. [node:read-more:link]

An advertising campaign that explores the casual racism of Australians towards Indigenous people has been viewed more than 3.75 million times, but 20 per cent of respondents to a beyondblue survey still think it is OK to discriminate against First Nations people. It found Western Australia had the highest levels of discriminatory attitudes towards the first Australians, while 41 per cent of respondents in NSW said that "they were given an unfair advantage by the government". [node:read-more:link]

An advertising campaign that explores the casual racism of Australians towards Indigenous people has been viewed more than 3.75 million times, but 20 per cent of respondents to a beyondblue survey still think it is OK to discriminate against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. It found Western Australia had the highest levels of discriminatory attitudes towards Indigenous Australians, while 41 per cent of respondents in NSW said that "they were given an unfair advantage by the government". [node:read-more:link]

The government’s latest funding round has been accused of preferencing non-Indigenous providers and leaving many services unsure about their future. The Senate has supported a motion calling for an inquiry into the rollout of funding under the Indigenous advancement strategy, which has been described as confusing, fractured and systemically racist. WA Greens senator Rachel Siewert moved for the Senate finance and public administration references committee to examine the program’s tender process. [node:read-more:link]

The Djurin Ancient Lands are the Birthplace of the Balladong People and the Creation of the Nyoongar Nation. Here our physical, Spiritual, Cultural, and Political identity as a People and Nation was shaped. The Lands, Subsurface, Natural Resources, Waters and Airspace, was created for us to live in harmony with and care for by Maamin Nidger Yirrah our Creator. Here we first attained to Statehood, through laws and customs, which were and still are observed and practiced. Our people lived and still live in harmony with nature ... [node:read-more:link]

Amid the questioning of government support for remote Aboriginal communities and what PM Tony Abbott called the “lifestyle choices” of those who live there, the growing role of First Nations management of large areas of remote Australia has been overlooked. There are 1,200 small, discrete communities in Australia with various sources of income, including federal government “Working on Country” funding, as well as meagre and tightly regulated welfare payments. They fulfil a key role in populating large areas of outback Australia. [node:read-more:link]

More than a thousand protesters shut down traffic in Melbourne's CBD to rally against the planned closure of remote Indigenous communities in West Australia. The group initially hoped to confront Tony Abbott at the National Gallery of Victoria about his statement and support of the displacement of thousands of peoples. The crowd eventually gave up on seeing Abbott and walked from the gallery to the State Library. About half-a-dozen tram routes were disrupted and roads were closed as they made their way up Swanston Street. [node:read-more:link]