Lemezina, Zrinka --- "Recent Happenings - December 2008" [2008] IndigLawB 48; (2008) 7(9) Indigenous Law Bulletin 28
Recent Happenings – December 2008
Compiled by Zrinka Lemezina.
2/12
The most recent meeting of the Council of Australian Government (‘CoAG’) has committed to reforming Indigenous health policy. Key areas of concern include preventative health and education. CoAG stresses the importance of a ‘whole-of-life’ approach to Indigenous health.
8/12
Federal Attorney General, Robert McClelland and Minister for Indigenous, Affairs Jenny Macklin released a Native Title discussion paper that proposes different strategies to improve Native Title as a means of better addressing Indigenous disadvantage. The paper discusses legislative and non-legislative proposals; Mr McClelland says that ‘the Native Title system has been hampered for too long by an overly legalistic approach. We need a more flexible system.’
8/12
Federal Minister for Superannuation, Nick Sherry and Paul Clitheroe of the Australian Financial Literacy Board have commenced a listening tour to improve financial literacy in Indigenous communities.
9/12
The Federal Government today announced New Directions Mothers and Babies Services, a plan to expand child and maternal health services in Indigenous communities. The services will be targeted in areas identified as ‘high need.’
9/12
Traditional owners of the Wellesley Islands in the Gulf of Carpentaria, the Lardil, Yangkaal, Gangalidda and Kaiadilt, have been formally recognised as Native Title holders of 120,000 hectares of land spread over 23 islands.
10/12
Federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland today awarded the 2008 Human Rights Medal to Indigenous rights campaigner, Les Malezer. After the ceremony, Mr Malezer criticised the Federal Government’s ‘directionless’ Indigenous policies, particularly measures under the NT Intervention.
10/12
WA Premier, Colin Barnett has said that the Public Works Act (WA) will be used to forcibly acquire Aboriginal land in the Kimberley to make way for a gas-processing precinct. Mr Barnett said the WA Government would be ‘unashamedly pro-development’. Executive Director of the Kimberley Land Council, Wayne Bergman says that the measures are heavy-handed and has offered to work with the Premier to find a negotiated solution. The Land Council is seeking legal advice.
10/12
Federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland today launched a national consultation on human rights, seeking submissions and comments about the rights and responsibilities that Australian people wish to see protected.
11/12
Henry Councillor, of the WA Aboriginal Health Council, is calling for the prohibition of alcohol throughout WA Indigenous communities. Mr Councillor said that the total alcohol ban in Oombulgurri should be used as a template for other communities. The State Government is considering compulsory alcohol restrictions in four other North-West Indigenous communities.
17/12
Charles Darwin University has surveyed over 400 Indigenous people from NT communities about their migration patterns. Researcher Andrew Taylor says that, while there has been a slight increase in migration due to the NT Intervention, high level migration is not a new phenomenon.
18/12
Federal Minister for Arts, Peter Garrett today announced a Draft Code of Practice to ensure fair payment for Indigenous artists. The Draft Code comes after a Senate Report into unethical practices in Indigenous art trade.
18/12
Justice Pack of the Townsville District Court has ordered that a new inquest be conducted to reinvestigate the circumstances surrounding the death in custody of Mulrunji Doomadgee in 2004. Pack J concluded that ‘the coroner's findings are against the weight of the evidence’ and set aside the Coroner’s findings implicating Sergeant Chris Hurley in Mr Doomadgee’s death.
19/12
WA Attorney-General, Christian Porter has announced that $57 million will be allocated to building a second prison in Derby WA, to assist in alleviating overcrowding in WA prisons. The announcement came after the State prisons watchdog criticised the ‘decrepit’ conditions and racist behavior at Brome Regional Prison. In the report, Acting Inspector of Custodial Services, Barry Cram said that the jail risked basic decency and human rights and that a second Kimberley prison was long overdue.
19/12
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Tom Calma has been selected to head an independent steering committee to develop a model for a national Indigenous representative body. The committee is comprised of Indigenous people from every State and Territory. Mr Calma believes that the new body should be operational by the close of 2009.