Obviously if the Hon. Peter Dutton were to change his mind and offer bipartisan support for the “Voice” Referendum, its prospects would be immensely improved. The history of successful referendums tells us this. The current conflicted public discourse tells us that if both leaders were from now on, seen together, warmly and thoughtfully supporting the Continue reading »
Indigenous affairs
As the people of Thailand say, ‘same, same.’ Here we go again. Another indigenous Australian, and this one an educated, travelled, and articulate First Nation public intellectual is being maligned. Stan Grant has stepped away from the ABC, as a result of persistent and vitriolic racist abuse. The persistence of racism Those most aligned with Continue reading »
Stan Grant is always intelligent, insightful and provocative. He demonstrated this in his extraordinary farewell piece last Monday night on the ABC’s Q+A. I have enormous respect for Stan Grant. Always intelligent, thoughtful and provocative, he has been an important contributor to intellectual life in Australia. His strength has been to move discussions on from Continue reading »
The Uluru Statement from the Heart is a mirror to Australia saying, “Look how much we’ve already done as a nation.” It’s just time to bring it home. – Professor Megan Davis, John Menadue Oration, 2020 The Centre for Policy Development (CPD) supports a Voice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and supports a Continue reading »
Far more transparency is required about which ‘important public policy objectives’ Defence wants to subvert to its needs. Part two of a two-part series. Read part one. The Defence Department wants to exempt itself from some state and territory laws saying ‘unintended consequences’ of the laws have ‘constrained’ its activities. This follows news of a Continue reading »
The crime rate is dropping due to advanced technology, but our rate of incarceration is rising, especially for First Nations prisoners, who are gaoled at thirty times the rest of us. Even the US only gaols “non whites” at eight times. As Sumner Miller asked, “Why is it so?” It is largely the practice of Continue reading »
England invaded Australia in 1788, releasing a terror of death and dispossession on first nations’ peoples, particularly in Tasmania. Now 235 years later, Aboriginals, through the Statement from the Heart and the Constitutional Voice, say that it is time that this terror ceased. SBS On Demand is showing an excellent drama series, ‘The War of Continue reading »
Bipartisan secrecy and Defence’s poor record with Indigenous groups at Woomera are red flags for consultations over an AUKUS nuclear waste dump. Human rights experts say government must establish an Indigenous veto right. Part one of a two-part series The federal government had no public mandate for any of the AUKUS decisions: no mandate to Continue reading »
The push to recognise the Frontier Wars at the Australian War Memorial, the teaching of this history in many high schools, and growing commemoration of Frontier War incidents is seeing parallels being drawn between the heroism of First Nations’ warriors and that of the ANZACs. A proud warrior tradition Australia is experiencing a quantum shift Continue reading »
On Wednesday I met with a wonderful Australian geologist, Jim Bowler, famous for discovering the Lake Mungo remains – ‘the oldest human remains in Australia, dated to 40,000 years ago.’ ‘Mungo woman’; Mungo Man’. Jim and I will dream dreams on Sunday, within the abundance of the divine. Asking, against the backdrop of nuclear bombs Continue reading »