Activism

Many people in Australia are in the hunt for millions of dollars as the government searches for a place to dump 14 tonnes of nuclear waste, just for starters

The waste the government is 'talking up' will be returned to Australia by the end of next year following treatment in France and the UK.

It has been reported that some First Nations people in the NT are squabbling over hosting the nuclear waste in their land.

Geoff Clark said he and Michael Mansell are planning to travel to Cape York and Gulf of Carpentaria communities in late September to discuss plans to export beef to Russia.

Mr Clark said he had led successful Aboriginal trade delegations with the former Soviet Union in the late 1980s. “These (Russian trade) sanctions have nothing to do with our people and they have been imposed by people who do not represent us,” he said.

As well as being chairman of the Cape York Group, he is an outspoken commentator who shapes policy as part of the Abbott government's inner sanctum advising on Indigenous affairs.

Many believe Noel Pearson's Cape York reform trail has established him as the father of a policy movement, but where is the evidence of any real improvements.

None of the recognition proposals confer any right on Aborigines to sue, nor do they impose any obligation on government to act, writes First Nations Activist, Michael Mansell.

"New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia have already recognised indigenous people in their state constitutions and the Federal Parliament passed the Act of Recognition in 2013. Not a single benefit to anyone has flowed from those measures, writes Michael Mansell, a Lawyer and First Nations Activist from Tasmania."

Two days of looking at the subject of war and who fought in those wars, and including the why. Very importantly several sessions will be dedicated to the frontier wars in the 'unsettling' of the invasion of the traditional nations of this country, Australia. - Thursday 28th and Friday 29th August 2014, Level 3, Mary Ann House,
645 Harris Street, University Technology Sydney
Image: A still from the documentary 'Coniston'

First Nations people will be affected by these treacherous legislation's as "all" protesters will be automatically jailed on a second offence. This legislation is in line with all Neo-Liberal governments running rampant across Australia with their reduction of spending on all social projects in order to enhance the wealth and power of the filthy rich.

Critics argue that assessments of neglect often fail to take Aboriginal culture into consideration.
 
"The classic example is the way Aboriginal children are raised not just by a nuclear family but collectively by grandparents, uncles and neighbors," says Paddy Gibson. "Just because Aboriginal kids are on the streets at night doesn't mean they aren't being watched." He said a lot of FaCS decisions are opinions based on hearsay or the assumption of neglect.

The refusal to celebrate Australia Day is part of an ongoing fight for the recognition of the abuse of Indigenous people's rights. If we give up on protesting, we might soon no longer remember the past

Nakkiah Lui theguardian.com 26 January 2014

"We, as First Nations Peoples, have the international right as independent Nations Peoples to assert our right of self-determination under international law. We cannot achieve this if we are to sit on our backsides in Australia and appealing to our oppressor for justice, because their agenda is not in our best interest"