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In the previous articles we saw that while is it wrong to say that Indigenous people make no contribution to their local economy, the monetary economy of remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory today is a false economy, almost entirely dependent on the injection…
Policy Archive
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On being income managed
Posted on November 3, 2011 | 3 CommentsAs the mother of a two and a half year old, on a low income with my partner, I am eligible to receive a Parenting Payment from Centrelink, our Australian Department of Human Services. As a family we highly value living simply on a low... -
Aboriginal Leaders Respond to Government’s “Second Intervention”
Posted on August 8, 2011 | No CommentsMedia Release by Rev Dr Djiniyini Gondarra OAM: June 2011 In June, the Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced a “second intervention” to follow the Government’s Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER). This is the response from Aboriginal leaders in the Northern Territory to this announcement: ... -
Galiwin’ku Women Speak Up to the UN for Recognition of Yolŋu Law
Posted on July 20, 2011 | No CommentsEarlier this year, Navi Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights came to Australia on her first official visit to discuss rights issues with the Government, the Australian Human Rights Commission, as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and non-governmental organizations. During her... -
Dhurili Nation Challenges Mining Lease Agreement in Court
Posted on June 7, 2011 | 3 CommentsDhurili Nation considers court action as Prime Minister celebrates historic agreement in Gove Peninsula, NT. The Dhurili Nation, comprising the Datiwuy, Golumala, Marrakulu and Marrangu clans have previously confirmed to the Northern Land Council and the Minister for Indigenous Affairs that they are lawful traditional... -
Predatory systems maintaining Indigenous disadvantage: Some examples
Posted on July 1, 2010 | 6 CommentsAs was discussed in the previous article, one of the limit conditions that create Indigenous "poverty" is that people must engage in strange cultural spaces, controlled by the Dominant Culture. But what are the systems that maintain peoples lack of control in these spaces. I put forward a range of possibilities, some more controversial than others. -
An Indigenous voice on current Government policy
Posted on January 14, 2009 | 2 CommentsThis is the second of a series of videos produced by a knowledgeable Aboriginal Lady from North East Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. I post this here so people can see that Indigenous people from the remote areas really are angry about disempowering approaches. -
Four hours in English – The NT Government’s Indigenous ed. plan built on misinformation.
Posted on October 17, 2008 | 6 CommentsThe NT Minister for education argues that Indigenous languages have no place in teaching literacy and numeracy in remote indigenous schools and has announced that the first 4 hour of every school day must be in English. Support for the Government's position seems to be based on a few misunderstanding about way learning actually operates on remote indigenous communities. Let's briefly explore the reality in the bilingual community schools this will effect. -
Closing the Gap Part 1 – Symptoms & Causes
Posted on August 5, 2008 | No CommentsThe Federal Government has embarked on a process they call "Closing the Gap". It recognises that there is a gap between the outcome for Indigenous people and rest of Australia in key social indicators. Indigenous people and their communities face poor health outcome, poor job prospects and poor educational outcome compared to the rest of Australia. As Australians attempt so help to rectify such social problem we must distinguish the symptoms from causes, and ultimately find a way to treat the cause/s. Let me illustrate the difference between a symptom and cause using a parable.