Indigenous affairs

Created
Wed, 31/05/2023 - 04:55
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 »
Created
Sun, 28/05/2023 - 04:54
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 »
Created
Sat, 27/05/2023 - 04:59
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 »
Created
Fri, 19/05/2023 - 04:56
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 »
Created
Sat, 06/05/2023 - 04:56
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 »
Created
Mon, 01/05/2023 - 04:51
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 »
Created
Sun, 30/04/2023 - 04:53
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 »