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Embattled Queensland Child Safety officers say they have allocated $15 million to establish safe houses for endangered children in Aboriginal communities on Cape York as part of their response to the controversial gang-rape of a 10-year-old girl.

Releasing details of the scheme to The Australian yesterday, Child Safety Department director-general Norelle Deeth also defended the Government’s decision to keep the girl in Aurukun, where she was attacked by nine males.

Ms Deeth said the girl escaped from a vehicle taking her to Aurukun airport when an attempt was made to return her to her foster family in Cairns.

The safe house plan is part of a major overhaul of the department’s operations on Cape York in response to more than 150 recommendations made following an investigation of the gang-rape last year.

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The wealthy Aboriginal company behind Fitzroy Crossing’s main pub admitted yesterday it had not paid a single dividend to the six impoverished communities it was set up to help 18 years ago.
  
The startling revelation came after a damning Federal Government report, obtained by The West Australian, claimed Leedal, the private owner of the Crossing Inn pub, failed to distribute any profits to its beneficiaries.

The report’s author, Perth barrister George Irving, said the multi-million-dollar company refused to give details of its income, assets, expenditure and liabilities.
  
But in a statement yesterday, Leedal chairman Patrick Green said the report was “flawed and defamatory”.
  
He insisted the company, which has a 70 per cent stake in the Crossing Inn where alcohol sales in 2006-07 totalled more than $4 million, had invested profits into the community. 

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A burnt skeleton found beneath a bus shelter in northern Sydney is proof of murder - 4000 years ago.

The victim, a tall, well-built man in his mid-30s, was set on by spear-wielding attackers, who then set his body alight and left it unburied on the crest of a sand dune.

Peter Veth, an archeologist with the National Centre of Indigenous Studies at the Australian National University in Canberra, said: "This is the first example of death by spearing from Australia. The find is highly significant for Australian and global archeology, as it reflects on social practice and customary law."

The skeleton was found by Energy Australia staff while installing gas mains in the beachside suburb of Narrabeen. Recognising the unusual nature of the discovery, the company brought in Canberra-based archeologist and historical consultant Josephine McDonald.

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A new Aboriginal magazine in Kempsey will tear down walls between indigenous and non-indigenous residents according to the wife of the co-designer of the new publication’s masthead.

The first issue of the Goori Grapevine, which will feature Aboriginal people and issues, will hit the streets by the end of the year.

Sharon Livermore last week collected a cheque for $175, half the prize money for the competition to design the masthead, which is a combination of two designs; one by her husband Dwayne Livermore, and another by Carmen French.

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A peak Indigenous health group is calling for the new Federal Labor Government to create a national representative body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission or ATSIC administered Indigenous affairs from 1990 to 2005 when it was abolished by the Howard Government.

The then Labor opposition supported the move.

But the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) says a new representative body is urgently needed to address Indigenous issues in Australia.

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Community Radio Broadcasters were led to believe that we could expect better from a Labor Government, the irony here is that a party of so called true believers appears to have lost track of its social conscience.

Representatives of Community Radio Sector Peak Bodies met the Minister for Communications Minister Conroy in his Melbourne office on Friday to lobby for increased support for the sector’s core operational funds.

When the delegation put the plea before the Minister, for support, we were met with the New Labor spin which will become common speak to the wider Australian public leading up to the 2008-9 budget.

He said this, “it’s a Cabinet Decision, that if something wasn’t announced before the Reserve Bank interest rate rise, then it would not be going forward in the next budget”, except for what he called exceptional circumstances.

“Our priority is to fund our election promises”, he said .

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Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says he wants to gauge the success of the Northern Territory intervention before considering an expansion of the program into Queensland or other states.

Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin has had a number of discussions with the Queensland Premier, Anna Bligh, on possible Commonwealth assistance in Cape York.

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New Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin will meet Northern Territory leaders today, for the first time since assuming responsibility for the Commonwealth’s intervention into Indigenous communities.

Ms Macklin will sit down with new Northern Territory Chief Minister Paul Henderson and Indigenous Policy Minister Marion Scrymgour, who has at times been a harsh critic of the intervention.

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The Premier Alan Carpenter says he will not hand over the state’s Department of Indigenous Affairs to the Federal Government.

The former Queensland Premier Peter Beattie says the Commonwealth needs to take total control of indigenous communities to stop the abuse and neglect of Aboriginal children.

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Queensland Premier Anna Bligh says she has asked Queensland’s corruption watchdog to investigate claims that child safety officers in Cape York are not reporting sex abuse cases to police.

Ms Bligh says the claims made in The Australian newspaper today are just allegations at this stage but she has asked the Crime and Misconduct Commission to investigate the matter.

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