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 Extreme
Threat to Kakadu
On December 2, the United Nations World Heritage Committee
confirmed that the cultural and natural values of the Kakadu
World Heritage Area are exposed to extreme threats by the
proposed Jabiluka uranium mine.
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WA
Decision "as Big as
Mabo"
The Federal Court has brought down a landmark decision in a
Native Title claim over Northern Western Australia's
Kimberley region.
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 New
Indigenous Training Opportunities at
QANTM@FAIRA
The QANTM@FAIRA Training Centre was officially launched on
the 23rd November by the Minister for Employment, Training
and Industrial Relations Paul
Braddy.
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 Women
speak out against community
violence
Jackie Huggins, Deputy Director of Queensland University's
Indigenous Studies Unit, says that black-on-black violence
in Queensland's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
communities has led to a situation of
terror.
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 Kippa
Ring controversy
continues
It would have been expected that the opening of a vast new
Catholic church at Kippa Ring was an occasion to be
commended. Instead a group of people from the Aboriginal
and non-Aboriginal community were angry at the source of the
funds which built this monument.
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 Olympic
Boycott too Hot to
Handle
Indigenous lawyer and activist Michael Mansell has grave
reservations about the Prime Minister's new approach to the
reconciliation process. This conversion is all about image
and the Olympic Games in 2000, not genuine sentiment on the
part of John Howard.
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Wik
Warrior Dies before Justice Done
Wik elder Francis Yunkaporta died from cancer on Thursday 29
October without seeing justice in his lifelong battle for
his people to own and manage their traditional
land.
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Gympie-Gatton
Gas Pipeline in Negotiation
Native Title are meeting with representatives of Energex to
discuss the building of a natural gas pipeline from Gympie
to Gatton.
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In
Brief
- The Bunuba People of WA are celebrating the dropping
of a plan to dam the Fitzroy River in the Kimberley.
- More than 90 Aboriginal landowners in the
Njukurr-Numbulwar region of the Northern Territory have
told Federal Aboriginal Affairs Minister Senator John
Herron that they do not support a breakaway land council
in their region.
- Australia's arts funding body, the Australia Council,
has allocated almost $4m to Indigenous artists in the
form of 48 grants.
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Quiet
Revolution of the Fitzroy Basin
Elders
While many Indigenous people are struggling to come to terms
with what Reconciliation, Native Title and ATSIC really mean
in their communities, the Murri people of the Fitzroy River
Basin are taking action to manage their own business using
traditional governing structures.
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Jabiluka
Struggle Continues
The resistance of the Mirrar people to the proposed Jabiluka
uranium mine has continued with a protest by 200 people in
central Brisbane during November
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"Wrong
and Vicious"
ATSIC Commissioner Colin Dillon is seeking legal advice on
one of several newspaper articles which appeared in Murdoch
newspapers in early November. The articles alleged that he
had obtained a "taxpayer-funded" home loan from
ATSIC.
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Yorke
and Stephen Islands Seek TSRA Native
Title
The Chair of the Torres Strait Regional Authority, Mr John
Abednego, today announced that traditional owners of both
Yorke and Stephen Island communities had instructed the TSRA
to represent them in their native title claims.
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Cross-Cultural
Education - Aboriginal Children and
English
The experience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
children within mainstream education systems was the topic
of lively debate at the recent "Pathways" conference held in
Toowoomba.
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A
Black University?
Delegates at the recent "Pathways" Indigenous Conference in
Toowoomba were given an insight into the difficulties of
Indigenous tertiary education with a panel presentation on
the concept of 'A Black University'.
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Canberra
Genocide Case Proceeds
An action accusing Australian politicians of genocide and
spearheaded by Auntie Wadjularbinna of the Gungalidda Nation
in far North-West Queensland is continuing in the Australian
Capital Territory.
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"Land
Justice Is Essential": Pearson
Cairns-based Aboriginal lawyer and activist Noel Pearson
addressed the issues of Native Title, reconciliation, and
economics when he spoke at the Pathways Conference in
Toowoomba.
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Change
The Constitution: Yunupingu
Chair of the Northern Land Council, Galarrwuy
Yunupingu, has told Ms Evelyn Scott from the Reconciliation
Council that "a glossy document that makes everyone feel
good isn't good enough" when it comes to Indigenous people's
needs.
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Indigenous
Rights: what are we afraid of?
In most countries, Indigenous people are marginalised
minority groups who can never achieve political power. For
them, self-determination is about many things - the right to
their culture, customs, laws and beliefs. It is also the
right to determine their own future, but, like most dominant
cultures, we continue to prevent Indigenous people from
doing so.
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South
East Queensland Regional Forest
Agreement
Most of the data gathering phase of the South East
Queensland Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) has now been
completed. Over the next few months stakeholder groups
(Aboriginal, conservation, forestry industry, grazing,
beekeepers, mining, rural communities, local, state and
Commonwealth governments) will be developing state forest
and conservation reserve options to go out for public
comment in March and April 1999.
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From
the Right to Negotiate to the Opportunity to
Comment
Extensive new Queensland Government guidelines on Native
Title came into force on 30 September this year. The
guidelines are based on the Howard/Harradine Native Title
Amendments, and set out procedural rights for Native Title
Holders, the rights of Native Title Representative Bodies
(NTRBs) and the rights of Traditional Owners whose Native
Title rights and interests may be affected by proposed
public works.
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Clarify
Self-determination
Indigenous Australian delegations at the United Nations have
called on the Australian Government to clarify once and for
all its position and approach to the Draft Declaration on
the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
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"Money
and History"
"Money and history" were the topics addressed by well-known
Koori activist Gary Foley at the recent Pathways convention
in Toowoomba.
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Palm
Island Wage Case Update
What has become known as the Palm Island Elders Case has
paved the way for other Indigenous people throughout
Queensland to take action against racial
discrimination.
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Shameful
White History of Palm Island
The history of the Queensland Aboriginal reserve system from
its foundation in 1898 was characterised by a largely
incompetant and dishonest administration which acted with a
blatant disregard to basic human rights.
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The
Ngarrindjeri Fight for Kumarangk
The Ngarrindjeri women who recently fought a high court
action against the developers of a massive housing estate
and marina at Kumarangk, or Hindmarsh Island, near Goolwa on
the lower Murray, have vowed to fight on to save the
island.
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Native
Title Myths - Sacred Sites Are "Made
Up"
The fact is that 'sacred sites' within the landscape are an
essential part of Aboriginal people's very different kind of
religious beliefs.
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Editorial
Notes - The Games Begin
Several weeks ago a senior Mutitjulu man, custodian of
Uluru, was asked his permission for the Olympic flame to
start its journey at his most sacred of sites, the red
monolith known to whitefellas as Ayers Rock. His response
was one to flabbergast most Australians - he'd never heard
of the Olympics. Nor had most of the Anangu Pitjintjara who
have a history of occupation in the central deserts for
upwards of forty thousands years.
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Torres
Strait Possible Site for Seafood Processing
Plant
The Torres Strait Regional Authority (TSRA), the Torres
Shire council and the Australian Fisheries Management
Authority recently met with the Djajanti Group , one of the
largest integrated fishery enterprise in Asia to talk about
the possibility of establishing a seafood processing plant
in Torres Strait.
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What
They Said...
The words from the people who made the headlines this
month.
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Global
Survival & Indigenous Rights
The Global Survival and Indigenous Rights conference, held
in Melbourne, Australia, from November 20 - 22 was a huge
success. Almost 500 people attended, representing Indigenous
communities and organisations from around Australia,
international non government groups, environment and
solidarity groups and many individuals.
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Letters
To The Editor
Your views on current issues.
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Ten
Point Quiz
Test your knowledge.
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Journey
to Reconciliation and Justice: Part
Two
In this edition of LRQ, we reproduce Part Two of The
Honourable Justice Tony Fitzgerald's address to the Mens
Reconciliation Dinner in Brisbane, on 23 October
1998.
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National
Indigenous Languages Conference Confirms Community
Role
The National Indigenous Languages Conference, which was held
recently in Alice Springs, has delivered a strong
endorsement of FATSIL as the peak advisory body for
Indigenous languages in Australia.
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Obituary
The Aboriginal community of Brisbane is sad at the passing
of Bowman Johnson who was born at Cherbourg on 1 January
1924
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Sister
Girl Powers On
Well-known Brisbane historian, academic and activist Jackie
Huggins has just launched her new book, Sister Girl.
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