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 EDUCATION authorities were forced to send security officers and guard dogs to the troubled Aboriginal community of Aurukun over the school holidays to protect teachers and property from violent attacks.

Teachers working in the Cape York community are escorted to and from school from a secure housing, and rarely venture out at night following rolling violence in the community.

A Queensland Education spokesman said the additional security measures were implemented to ensure the safety of the school’s 15 teachers.

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A GUARD sobbed as she told a hospital doctor it was "bloody hot" in the back of the van in which Aboriginal leader Ian Ward was locked for up to 4 1/2 hours before he collapsed, vomited and died on the weekend.

The temperature outside the van climbed to 43C on Sunday as the father of five was driven 352km by two court guards from Laverton to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia in a sealed rear compartment that investigators suspected was not airconditioned.

Witness Jodie Aurisch, a Kalgoorlie receptionist, told The Australian she was in her local hospital’s emergency department waiting to see a doctor when Mr Ward’s lifeless body was wheeled in at 4.30pm on Sunday. Ms Aurisch said she heard a female emergency department doctor approach the female guard in the waiting room and ask what had happened to Mr Ward.

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PAUL Keating has launched a vicious attack on the late journalist Paddy McGuinness, branding him a liar and a fraud with more "political, philosophic and economic positions than would have the Kama Sutra had it been a philosophic text".

On the eve of the journalist’s funeral, which will be held tomorrow at the Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney, the former prime minister has unloaded on the celebrated writer’s image as an agent provocateur.

“He was none of those things. He was a fraud. But let me calibrate that. He was not just a fraud, he was a liar and a fraud,’’ Mr Keating writes today in the Australian Financial Review.

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Federal Opposition Indigenous affairs spokeswoman Sharman Stone says saying sorry to Indigenous Australians will benefit many people in the Murray electorate.

She wants the Coalition to join Labor in a formal apology to the Stolen Generations.

The Northern Victorian electorate of Murray has Victoria’s largest population of Aborigines outside Melbourne.

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 A remote central Australian community and an Alice Springs town camp will today become the next in the Northern Territory to legally ban sniffable substances.

Kintore, near the Western Australian border, and Hoppy’s Camp have used volatile substance abuse legislation to implement a community management plan.

The chief executive officer at Kintore, Neil Ewart, says the rollout of Opal fuel and a successful activity program in the community has already helped to dramatically reduce petrol sniffing.

He says signs have been put up letting people know about the bans.

"That really just puts the final prevention of anything coming in in the way of alcohol, drugs, petrol, anything that constitutes substance abuse, an illicit substance, and that includes paint, nail polish, any of those substances that can cause someone to get … a high," he said.

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A West Pilbara shire president has welcomed a mining entrepreneur’s pledge to donate millions of dollars to help local Aboriginal communities and fund medical research.

The chairman of the mining company Mineralogy, Clive Palmer, is setting up a charitable foundation which will benefit from royalties from an iron ore deal with a Chinese company.

Mr Palmer says the foundation will receive at least $100 million over the next 30 years.

Roebourne Shire president Brad Snell says it is good to see mining companies giving back to the community."We’ve got about 15 per cent Indigenous population in the Pilbara, so any kind of money that comes in that improves employment prospects, education, training, health, is a very encouraging sign," he said.

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 Kevin Rudd will issue the formal apology on Feburary 13 

Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin says Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson has now been briefed on the plans for the apology, which will be delivered on February 13, one day after the opening of the new parliamentary term.

Reconciliation Australia co-chairman Mick Dodson has welcomed the decision to issue the apology.

"I think this is monumental. It is something people have waited for, for a very long time," he said.

"It’s hugely important to us as nation and to members of the Stolen Generations."

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Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin announced yesterday that the Government would issue a formal apology to the Stolen Generations on February 13, during the first week of the new parliamentary term.

The wording of the statement has not been written yet but it will be personally delivered by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

Ms Macklin says the apology deserves the support of every member of Parliament.

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Fred Chaney says the formal apology is a welcome first step  A former Aboriginal affairs minister has welcomed the Rudd Government’s announcement of a formal apology for the Stolen Generations, but says the real work will come after the apology is made.

The Federal Government has named February 13 as the date when a formal apology which will be made in Parliament.

The Government emphasises the apology is on its behalf and the speech is yet to be written.

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NEW VOICE FOR ABORIGINAL PEOPLE
Aboriginal people will have a high-level voice in Government and the community with the appointment of South Australia’s first Commissioner for Aboriginal Engagement, Mr Klynton Wanganeen.
Premier Mike Rann and Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation Minister Jay Weatherill have announced the creation of the new role, along with the establishment of the permanent South Australian Aboriginal Advisory Council.
Ms Kerry Colbung has been appointed as the chairperson of the SAAAC.
The Commissioner and separate Council demonstrate the Government’s commitment to creating an effective voice for Aboriginal people.
The Commissioner will advocate on behalf of Aboriginal people and the Council will advise Government.
“When the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) was abolished, there was no comparable body for the South Australian Government to consult on Aboriginal matters,” Mr Rann said.
“We created an interim South Australian Aboriginal Advisory Council and its first task was to determine future mechanisms for Aboriginal involvement in Government.
“The interim Council recommended the creation of a Commissioner for Aboriginal Engagement and a permanent Aboriginal Advisory Council.”
Mr Weatherill said the Commissioner would be a “point of contact for Aboriginal people to express their concerns about the wider issues that Aboriginal people face”.
“He will identify those concerns to the Government and will work towards having them resolved,” Mr Weatherill said.
“The new permanent Advisory Council will provide the Government with advice on a number of issues, particularly how existing programs and policies affect Aboriginal people living in both metropolitan and regional areas. This will help shape future policies and services relating to Aboriginal people.
“The Council will ensure that Aboriginal views are part of Government policy-making.”
Mr Weatherill congratulated Mr Wanganeen and Ms Colbung on their appointments.
“Their high-level advice will increase the effectiveness of policy-making and service delivery to Aboriginal people,” Mr Weatherill said.
“This new structure will increase the number of Aboriginal South Australians participating in community leadership, and in doing so, contribute directly to the SA Strategic Plan target in this area.”
The establishment of the role is also another of the Government’s responses to the To Break the Cycle Report, which recommended implementing a process for high-level engagement with Aboriginal communities.
Mr Wanganeen is of Narungga-Ngarrindjeri descent. A welder by trade, he has been the General Manager of the Aboriginal Access Centre at TAFE SA. He has recently been appointed Director of the Aboriginal Education Employment Policy Co-ordination Directorate of DFEEST and will be taking leave from that position to take up the Commissioner’s role.
He was the ATSIC zone commissioner for SA at the time of ATSIC’s abolition.
Mr Rann, a former Aboriginal Affairs Minister, said “Over many years, Klynton has shown strong and independent leadership in Aboriginal Affairs.  That’s what we want.”
Ms Colbung, who is the Aboriginal Sports Training Academy Director and has been in the public sector for 20 years, was the chair of the interim advisory council.
The Council will have 10 members each appointed by the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation for a term of two years.
Nominations for appointment to the Council are open to all Aboriginal people.
Mr Wanganeen said he was looking forward to advocating for Aboriginal people.
“I’m pleased to take up the opportunity because I think there has been a huge gap since the demise of ATSIC,” he said.
“Having the opportunity to be a bridge-maker to help Aboriginal people engage with Government is a huge job.
“It is something that I can’t do alone and I will be looking to harness the energy of people in the public and private sectors – Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people alike.
“Aboriginal people are among the most disadvantaged people in the community and sometimes struggle to have their views heard.
“We’re on the verge of an economic boom and it’s only right that Aboriginal people also benefit from this boom through training and employment.
“I’m also looking forward to working with Commissioner for Social Inclusion Monsignor David Cappo.”
Ms Colbung, who is of Kokatha Mirning descent, welcomed the establishment of the Commissioner and permanent Council.
“The Government should be commended for taking the recommendations seriously,” she said.
“The Council will have a very important role in supporting the Government in policy development.
“The establishment of the Commissioner is an important step because now the community will have someone to take up broad issues on their behalf.”

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