Retired magistrate Pat O'Shane has criticised the Intervention and called on the Abbott government to put more resources into Indigenous affairs. "It's racist, in a word," she said.
"It's discriminatory; it is not applied to other communities in this society."
Ms O'Shane said the Howard government suspended the Racial Discrimination Act specifically to implement the policy in Indigenous communities.
Homelands are communities established by Aboriginal people so that they can maintain their connection with their traditional, ancestral land. These communities have lower levels of social problems and significantly better health outcomes for Aboriginal people -- as well as a strengthened connection to culture, language and spirituality.
Going without food, or going without nutritious food, has heavy consequences for Indigenous people, as we learnt on a recent research trip to the West Kimberley. Indigenous Australians are already twice as likely to have a disability or chronic illness as non-Indigenous Australians; poor nutrition compounds these problems, leading to further illness and secondary impairments.Aboriginal people consistently reported alleviating food insecurity by going crabbing or fishing on traditional lands. Though this accounted for a small portion of total dietary intake. [node:read-more:link]
(PLEASE NOTE: The determined substitute name for the passing of the writer and performer of 'Brown Skin Baby' is Kwementyaye).
If you want to meet the best Australians, meet Indigenous men and women who understand this extraordinary country and have fought for the rights of the world's oldest culture. Theirs is a struggle more selfless, heroic and enduring than any historical adventure non-Indigenous Australians are required incessantly to celebrate. [node:read-more:link]
The NT gov't has just granted permission to frack significant parcels of 'Country', including the iconic Bitter Springs region and surrounding Elsey Station, to a subsidiary of billionaire resources giant Gina Rinehart, Jacaranda Minerals. The deal comes at a time when the NT govt's recent Hawke Inquiry into the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing or 'fracking' confirmed that effective laws and regulations governing the shale gas industry were not yet in place, but it continues the granting licenses. [node:read-more:link]