A Northern Territory store owner says income quarantining in Aboriginal communities is devastating small businesses, and may be against the Trade Practices Act.
Under the Federal Government’s policy, half of most Aboriginal people’s welfare payments have to be spent either at their remote community store or major supermarket chains.
Julie Newton says trade at her Katherine saddlery store is down 12 percent on last year and she’s already had to lay off one of her staff.
The Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister is defending the way welfare payments are quarantined after opposition from small business owners in the Northern Territory.
Under the Federal Government’s policy, half the payment to people in proscribed Aboriginal communities is reserved for food, clothing and essentials at approved stores.
Bruce Trevorrow was awarded $525,000 in compensation, plus damages. The South Australian Government has confirmed it will appeal against an historic court victory by a member of the Stolen Generations.
Bruce Trevorrow was taken from his mother in the late 1950s. He was just 13-months-old.
Last August, South Australia’s Supreme Court found he was mistreated and falsely imprisoned.
The Fitzroy Crossing community is angry about a decision by an Aboriginal trust company which owns the town’s pub to deny funding to a hostel which houses community elders.
Leedal Proprietary Limited bought the Crossing Inn 18 years ago with government assistance to provide income for the community.
Last year, a Federal Government report found it had failed to return any profits to the community, prompting Leedal to say it had begun work on a dividend plan
About 40 demonstrators have protested in Tasmania over the visit of the Indigenous Affairs Minister, Jenny Macklin.
The protestors waved the Aboriginal flag and pumped their fists in the air as Jenny Macklin’s car pulled up to the Clarence Tafe, on Hobart’s Eastern Shore.
They were angry at her support for the intervention in Indigenous Affairs, including plans to quarantine welfare payments for some indigenous parents.
ABORIGINAL leader Galarrwuy Yunupingu has warned commentators on the federal intervention in Northern Territory indigenous communities to stop speaking on behalf of traditional owners as he vowed to hold the Government to account in providing basic infrastructure.
In a speech at Melbourne University Law School, Mr Yunupingu also called on Kevin Rudd to enshrine Aboriginal land and sea rights in the Constitution.
THERE’S always been grog in the Mossman Gorge but no-strings-attached government handouts have meant the once-fortnightly drinking sessions have become rolling binges, destroying the social fabric of the once successful community located next to one of Queensland’s premier tourist attractions.
Trixie Kerr with granddaughters Akia, left, Hilda, Casilda, and Shayeena in Mossman Gorge, Queensland. Picture: Brian Cassey
Thirty years ago, when Deidre Murray moved to Mossman Gorge to get married, the community was peaceful.
Carol Martin says there’s nothing new in the coroner’s report on Indigenous deaths in the Kimberley (ABC)
The Labor Member for the Kimberley says the state is plagued by institutional racism and until governments provide culturally appropriate services, the situation in Indigenous communities will remain the same.
Carol Martin says the coronial report on the deaths of 22 Aboriginal people in the Kimberley doesn’t add anything new to the debate.
The Alice Springs Town Council is planning to push for the normalisation of Aboriginal town camps to be put back on the agenda at all levels of government.
The deputy mayor David Koch says there’s been little progress since Tangentyere Council rejected a $60 million offer from the former Howard Government in exchange for 99 year leases.
Coroner Alastair Hope has made 27 recommendations following his inquiry into Aboriginal deaths in the Kimberley.
The Western Australian coroner has also found an alarming lack of leadership is responsible for a series of Aboriginal deaths in the Kimberley region.
Since late last year, Alastair Hope has been inquiring into alcohol and drug problems surrounding the deaths of 22 Aboriginal people in the Kimberley since 2000.
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