Northern Territory intervention media roundup by Working Group for Aboriginal Rights: 25 July 08

WGAR: Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)

25 JULY 2008: NORTHERN TERRITORY INTERVENTION

Contents:

Radio Interviews

Opinion

News

RADIO INTERVIEWS:

ABC: Late Night Live: Health, race and the NT intervention

Presented by Phillip Adams

Guests: Ian Anderson & Fran Baum

Story Researcher and Producer: Chris Bullock

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/latenightlive/stories/2008/2303462.htm

14 July 08: "A conversation about the key measurements of success of the Northern Territory intervention, and the importance of evidence to support such long term policies."

Indigenous radio station 98.9FM

Let's Talk - Australia's only Indigenous presented talkback:

http://989fm.com.au/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29

22 July 08: Tiga Bayles interviews Senator Rachel Siewert re income quaranteening and income suspension.

Listen to this interview on-line:
http://www.989fm.com.au/podcasting/index.php?cat=LetsTalk

OPINION:

WSWS: Northern Territory intervention: Aboriginal oppositional voices ignored and censored by the media: Part 5

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/jul2008/nti5-j24.shtml

24 July 08: "The national media has played a pernicious role in the NT intervention, and its response to the first anniversary last month was no exception. ... While the press could not ignore the June 21 anti-intervention protests, the coverage was hostile and perfunctory. In fact, there has never been serious reportage by the corporate media of the widespread opposition in Aboriginal communities to the government measures. The concerns of ordinary Aboriginal people—especially those who have been directly affected—are either ignored or censored, ensuring that most Australians have no idea what is really going on in the NT." Susan Allan and Richard Phillips

ABC Indigenous: Anniversary of the NT Intervention

http://www.abc.net.au/indigenous/stories/s2310765.htm

22 July 08: "What is the way forward? Far more unsettling than a military intervention, but ultimately more rewarding, would be for white Australians to look beyond the Qantas motif and AFL, and truly see black humanity. They would discover that below the bruised exterior is an indomitable resilience that has its origins in the knowledge that our past, present and future are written in the soil. Through embracing the humanity of Indigenous people, white Australians may not only understand the injustice of punishing people for their disadvantage, but they may also begin to reconcile with their own prints in the soil." Nicole Watson

GLW: Letter to Rudd: uphold Aboriginal rights

http://www.greenleft.org.au/2008/759/39220

19 July 08: "The following letter was presented by Sam Watson on behalf of Brisbane’s Aboriginal Rights Coalition to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd during a protest outside Rudd’s electorate office on July 14."

NEWS:

NIT: Aboriginal elders want end to intervention red tape 'waste'

http://www.nit.com.au/story.aspx?id=15492

23 July 08: "In a statement to be presented to Mr Rudd later this morning, the local Yolngu and Bininj clans have outlined a 25-point wish list, which calls on the government to immediately end the waste on "intervention bureaucracy" and remove the blanket imposition of welfare restrictions. The statement, signed by 53 elders claiming to represent 8,000 indigenous people from Arnhem Land, also advises the government to establish a dedicated Aboriginal 'futures fund'. "Stop using the Aboriginal Benefits Account (ABA) to fund the intervention," the statement said."

ABC: Indigenous leaders slam Rudd's intervention policies

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/23/2311769.htm

23 July 08: "A group of Indigenous leaders in East Arnhem Land is demanding that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd end what they describe as the "intervention bureaucracy" in the Northern Territory. The call comes as Mr Rudd today visits Nhulunbuy and the Aboriginal community of Yirrkala with members of Federal Cabinet."

ABC PM: Galarrwuy Yunupingu welcomes Govt intervention review

http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2008/s2312535.htm

23 July 08: "Former Australian of the Year, Galarrwuy Yunupingu, was one of the leaders behind the Constitution petition. Last year, he was a vocal supporter of the Howard Government's Northern Territory Intervention. Now, he says it's hurt some people, and agrees with the current review being undertaken by the Commonwealth Government."

Australian: 'Funds reallocated to middle classes'

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24042844-5013172,00.html

19 July 08: "ABORIGINAL academic Marcia Langton has called for the establishment of an indigenous representative body empowered with probing state and territory spending of commonwealth grants, to end "rent-seeking" on the back of black disadvantage. In a submission to the federal Government's inquiry on a national indigenous representative body, Professor Langton argues that millions of dollars in commonwealth grants to the states for overcoming extreme indigenous disadvantage is diverted to looking after the white middle classes."

GLW: Protests: End income quarantining!

http://www.greenleft.org.au/2008/759/39211

19 July 08: "The unjust quarantining of Aboriginal people’s Centrelink benefits, enforced as part of the federal government’s Northern Territory intervention, has been labelled by some as the intervention’s most destructive element. Protests against the quarantining, targeting Centrelink, have gained momentum around the country. For several months, activists have been marking the 13th or 14th of each month with actions outside local offices." Jay Fletcher

ABC: Welfare to be quarantined in Oombulgarri

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/18/2307719.htm

18 July 08: "The Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin has announced that parents living in four Kimberley communities including Oombulgarri will have their welfare payments quarantined. The announcement comes after a coronial inquiry into the deaths of five people in Oombulgarri. The State Coroner Alastair Hope found poor housing, sexual abuse and violence stemming from alcohol abuse contributed to the deaths."

West Australian: School for the dole scheme kicks off in Cannington

http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=77&ContentID=85397

17 July 08: "Parents in the Cannington area could lose their Centrelink payments if their children regularly miss school. ... The initiative, which is already being trialled in the Northern Territory, will begin at Cannington schools at the start of the 2009 school year."

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WGAR: Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)