Sustainability

It is well documented that First Nations people knew how to make alcoholic drinks from sweet juices and nectars well before the European invasion, but little is now known about the processes involved, the yeasts and bacteria at work, or the chemistry, taste and smell of the plants and finished products, but now the University of Adelaide is investigating these traditional practices.
 

A treaty between the nations of the Murray-Darling Basin could help in the lobbying for Indigenous rights to water. (Picture: Melissa Macgill)

Sofie Wainwright ABC Broken Hill 12 August 2016

Representatives from almost 50 Indigenous nations across the Murray-Darling Basin have begun talks to develop a treaty. [node:read-more:link]

The first shipment of Australia's nuclear waste to be returned from re-processing in France has now left a French port, and will arrive on our shores by the end of the year. The return of the 25 tonnes of nuclear waste is putting renewed pressure on the Federal Government to find a location for a permanent waste dump. The shipment began its journey just a day after senior Aboriginal women gathered in Adelaide to mark their fight against a proposed dump in South Australia in the 1990s. The women say they will fight against any new move to put the waste on their land. [node:read-more:link]

Tony Abbott tells us that his northern development obsession "will benefit every single Australian" but a Research Fellow in Anthropology at Australian National University writes that while this may be good news to developers, it makes many First Nations people in the region very anxious.
Today it's much harder for First Nations people to support development, as many are now able to see clearly how the costs and benefits associated with large-scale development in the region are distributed unequally. [node:read-more:link]

Stephen Mayne Crikey 2 February 2015

The 2013-14 political donations data confirms a long trend in Australian politics, with the ALP still fundamentally reliant on the union movement and the Liberal Party in the thrall of big business, rent-seekers and a few wealthy families. [node:read-more:link]