She who stumbles

A message forwarded over e-mail lists:

26th January 2008

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT

TO ALL AUSTRALIANS

On this 26th Day of January 2008, in commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the proclamation of SURVIVAL day, it is hereby announced that the month of JULY 1-31st is now proclaimed BLACK history month in Australia.

From this day forth and for all years to come, JULY will remain a month of significance and symbolism for the unity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nations, in celebration of Australia’s rich, vibrant Indigenous histories and cultures.

JULY will provide an opportunity for ALL AUSTRALIANS to recognise the true Australian identity, giving Schools, Government, Multicultural Australia and most significantly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities the opportunity to respectfully promote greater awareness of the diversity, innovation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander splendour.

Australia’s BLACK history month, will join the worldwide celebration of Black History Month, giving a greater international profile to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations, alongside Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

The Australian community is hereby advised to BLACK out JULY in their diaries annually as a month of pride and celebration of all tribal groups and people throughout Australia and the Torres Strait.

1st JULY ­ 31st JULY AUSTRALIA’S BLACK HISTORY MONTH

WE HAVE SURVIVED

Stand up for Aboriginal rights on the first day of the new parliament!

Tuesday, February 12 2008
Meet Aboriginal Tent Embassy 11:30am
March to Parliament for 1pm rally

Turn back Howard and Brough’s racist legacy!

- Reinstate the Racial Discrimination Act
- Demand immediate review of the NT intervention
- End welfare quarantines, compulsory land acquisition and
‘mission manager’ powers
- Implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Aboriginal People
- Aboriginal control of Aboriginal affairs

In the final months of government, John Howard introduced a package of discriminatory, unfair and punitive measures against Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory. Aimed at controlling Aboriginal lives and land, the legislation was a stark violation of basic human rights and dignities.

Federal Labor is promising a new era in Aboriginal affairs. They are pledging to say sorry to the stolen generation and to sign the UN declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. They have promised to restore both the CDEP (Community Development and Employment Program) and the permit system, which will ameliorate some of the worst effects of the NT intervention.

Unfortunately there are aspects of ALP policy that is still disturbingly similar to the Liberals’. Plainly discriminatory measures such as mandatory welfare quarantines, compulsory land acquisition and the presence of non-Aboriginal “business managers” with extraordinary powers are being suffered under right now. There has been no move to allow the operation of the Racial Discrimination Act. The cry for immediate review of the legislation coming from across the NT has been ignored.

The Labor Government must comply with accepted international human rights laws and standards of non discrimination, equality , natural justice and procedural fairness. Legislation being implemented in the NT breaches commitments Australia has made as a signatory to major human rights treaties and conventions; such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Human Rights Commission must immediately review the legislation to ensure compliance with these obligations.

The federal election revealed overwhelming opposition to the intervention among Aboriginal communities. When Labor MP’s in affected areas emphasised political differences to the Coalition they consistently received over 80% of the vote; with 95% in the town of Wadeye.

Despite government claims that the intervention is a response to the Anderson & Wild “Little Children are Sacred” report, no new community-based services to ensure the safety and protection of children have been established, and there has been a notable duplication of services - particularly in the area of child health checks. There is an urgent need for delivery of essential services, infrastructure and programs genuinely targeted at improving the safety and well being of children and developed in consultation with communities. Huge amounts of public money have been wasted, with $88 million alone going towards bureaucrats to control Aboriginal welfare.

Moving Forward
A vibrant, mass convergence Canberra on the first day of parliament will be an important step in challenging the lingering legacy of Howard’s racism. We can strongly push for an immediate end to what Aboriginal communities have themselves described as an invasion. We can send a strong signal to Kevin Rudd and his new government to put Aboriginal rights at the centre of their agenda; to massively increase the resources available to communities across Australia and to respect Aboriginal control of Aboriginal affairs.

How to get there!
Buses will be leaving from the Block, opposite Redfern Station, on Tuesday 12 February. Get there at 7am for 7:30am departure.

Ring Janene to book a seat on the bus – 0416 490 481 - $20 ($10 concession).

If you are interested in going down to Canberra on Monday 11 Feb, let us know that as well. Bus times for Monday are still being confirmed.

Initiated by the Aboriginal Rights Coalition, Sydney. Come to the meetings 6pm every Monday at Redfern Community Centre, Hugo St.

Contact:
Shane Phillips 0414077631
Greg Eatock 0432050240
Read the rest of this entry »

In the past two weeks, the New Zealand government has cracked down heavily on civil liberties, with a series of raids of the homes of activists around the country. The arrested activists are known as the ‘Urewera 17′. This weekend saw thousands take to the streets in marches for solidarity.

The Civil Rights Defence Committee summarises it as follows:

In a wave of massive state repression, 300+ para-military Police, in many cases armed, raided houses around the country on Monday October 15th 2007, making 17 arrests. Search warrants were carried out in Auckland, Whakatane, Ruatoki, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wellington and Christchurch. The warrants mentioned that the Police were searching for evidence for possible charges under the Terrorism Suppression Act 2002 (TSA), making this the first time the Act was invoked in a search warrant. The arrestees have been active in the Tino Rangatiratanga, peace and environmental movements and in their communities.

Prominent Tino Rangatiratanga activist Tame Iti was among the first arrested at his home at 4am Monday morning. At 6am raids were carried out at A Space Inside anarchist social centre in Auckland and the 128 activist Community Centre in Wellington. In Tuhoe Country, the towns of Ruatoki and Taneatua were blockaded by armed police for several hours, with no cars allowed in and many searched, including a school bus full of children.

All the arrestees were charged with various breaches of the Arms Act and most recieved multiple charges. Police have said they may still lay further charges, including under the TSA. In order to lay charges under the TSA, Police must get permission from the Solicitor General. All but two of the arrestees, Tame Iti and Jamie Lockett, have recieved name supression.

Since the initial arrests, many people around the country have been questioned by police, more properties have been searched, and one more arrest has been made.

On Tuesday October 16th, Jamie Lockett applied for and was granted bail in the Auckland District Court. Later the same day, the Police appealed to the High Court and bail was revoked. An arrestee was bailed in Palmerston North on Wednesday 17th under restrictive conditions.

Support for the arrestees has been vocal across the country, with many solidarity demonstrations and packed courtrooms. There have also been demonstrations in Australia and messages of support from around the world.

The past week has seen a number of protests around the world in solidarity with the arrested activists. From Aotearoa Indymedia:

The Global Day Of Action in solidarity with those arrestes, harassed and questioned on and since October 15th has seen over 2000 people take to the streets across Aotearoa, while overseas, solidarity protests took place in many other parts of the world.

Auckland saw around 1000 people take to the streets of the central city, then march to the Remand Prison in Newmarket where many of the prisoners are being held. The protest was addresses by Rongomai Bailey, recently released on bail, amongst others.

Ana of Whenua, Fenua, Enua, Vanua re-posted this call for solidarity from the families of arrested Maori activists:

Dear Friends, Colleagues and Family,

It is in great distress that I am urged to write this appeal and to inform our international community of the recent events that are happening within Aotearoa (New Zealand) social justice, environmental justice and indigenous movements.

For the past 60 hours Aotearoa activists have been subjected to home invasions,raids and interrogation under threats of terrorist activities against the state.The Crown has decided to employ its
recent Terrorism Suppression Act to lockdown on social justice activist, movers and shakers and this is now world wide news with many of our close friends and families houses (mine included) being
invaded, possessions confiscated and charges being threatened which will allow for solid activists to be charged under the Terrorist Suppression Act that carries sentencing for life.

The ages of people currently under custody range from 18 – 64. Many of us being implicated in this investigation are young people trying to do good things for our communities.We are headed into an election year and these events are the largest scale operation headed by special operations from the head of states office. We have difficulty in
understanding the timing for these invasions of our privacy except for political campaigning off of our backs.The indigenous movement for self - determination is what is being blamed by the media for instigating acts of terrorism.

The Police showed up at my house with files of my activities over years, my phones have been tapped for years, my house under surveillance and everything subject to their review. We have not been involved in any activities that could allow the police to make these claims and the distress they are causing for our families and children
is devastating.

Right now we are fighting for friends in Police Custody to make bail. A number of these requests have been denied. A number of people are
now been moved between prisons and I will be liaising with them and their families.

Court costs, travel costs, food costs and lawyer costs are above the heads of many of our people and we are asking for support from our communities both national and international to come to our aid in this time of need.’Terrorism’ world wide has become a cause for unjust state intervention into the lives of many peoples committed to change
and now we are seeing that reality play out here in our own backyards within our own community.

Please support us in anyway specifically: Sending your concerns against state interventions to Annette King, Minister of Police aking@ministers.govt.nz
and to your local New Zealand Embassy’s;- By
sending financial support towards the Family Support Network to assist with food, travel expenses and Court costs and; By sharing our stories with your own networks.We have had some international support by indigenous brothers and sisters by way of protests on the streets
outside the NZ Embassy’s, we encourage any of you to organize and do the same. Thank you all for taking the time to hear what is happening
for us here in Aotearoa, these are very troubling times.

For further information please refer

to:www.indymedia.org.nz/

www.stuff.co.nz/4240168a25364.html

Most of our Internet sites have been taken down also in relation to these chain of events however all responses and correspondence can be
made through me.

Mauriora,

Kiritapu Allan Co – Director, Conscious Collaborations

www.conscious.maori.nz/
Collaborations

www.conscious.maori.nz/
Related

* http://www.conscious.maori.nz/
* http://indigenist.blogspot.com/

More info available at http://www.tangatawhenua.com/ and http://indigenist.blogspot.com/.