Land Rights

An advertising campaign that explores the casual racism of Australians towards Indigenous people has been viewed more than 3.75 million times, but 20 per cent of respondents to a beyondblue survey still think it is OK to discriminate against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. It found Western Australia had the highest levels of discriminatory attitudes towards Indigenous Australians, while 41 per cent of respondents in NSW said that "they were given an unfair advantage by the government".

The government’s latest funding round has been accused of preferencing non-Indigenous providers and leaving many services unsure about their future. The Senate has supported a motion calling for an inquiry into the rollout of funding under the Indigenous advancement strategy, which has been described as confusing, fractured and systemically racist. WA Greens senator Rachel Siewert moved for the Senate finance and public administration references committee to examine the program’s tender process.

Michael Anderson, Goodooga, northwest NSW, 17 April 2011

"This is Australia's greatest fear, because when we win, Australia will owe us more than they can ever imagine, and the cry ‘pay the rent' will be heard loud and clear across this great landscape,” writes Michael (Ghillar) Anderson in a media release ahead of the Easter summit in Canberra.