Sovereign Union

Water contamination, mining regulations, and the concerns of traditional owners were all discussed at a mining and fracking forum on 22 January 2014. About 40 people gathered at the ABC studios in Broome to hear a discussion on the practice of hydraulic fracturing, with a focus on the Canning Basin. The forum was broadcast live on the ABC Kimberley Mornings program, hosted by Vanessa Mills.

Water contamination, mining regulations, and the concerns of traditional owners were all discussed at a mining and fracking forum on 22 January 2014. About 40 people gathered at the ABC studios in Broome to hear a discussion on the practice of hydraulic fracturing, with a focus on the Canning Basin. The forum was broadcast live on the ABC Kimberley Mornings program, hosted by Vanessa Mills.

Water contamination, mining regulations, and the concerns of traditional owners were all discussed at a mining and fracking forum on 22 January 2014. About 40 people gathered at the ABC studios in Broome to hear a discussion on the practice of hydraulic fracturing, with a focus on the Canning Basin. The forum was broadcast live on the ABC Kimberley Mornings program, hosted by Vanessa Mills.

Gerry Georgatos and Warren Barnsley, National Indigenous Radio (NIR) Western Australia - The Nyoongar Tent Embassy in Perth has rejected the state Government's draft recognition bill, introduced into Parliament last week. The bill recognises the Nyoongar as the traditional owners of south-west and is a key component of the controversial Native Title settlement offer. Nyoongar woman and Embassy spo...

APY elders share sacred songline with the world

It's well known that Indigenous Australians have much lower life expectancy than other Australians, and have disproportionately high rates of diseases and other health problems. The Social Determinants of Health Alliance is a group of Australian health, social services and public policy organisations. It lobbies for action to reduce inequalities in the outcomes from health service delivery. Chair...

The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics Corrective Services report shows the number of Aboriginal men in prison has risen by eight per cent and women by 12 per cent in the 12 months.

ABC PM - 8 January 2014 The spotlight is on Western Australia's prison transfer system after the escape of two prisoners triggered the cancellation of some transfers and prevented a mother attending her son's funeral. The two prisoners broke out of a Serco prison van at Geraldton Airport last week. "I can't think of any good reason that would explain why she could not attend the funeral of her son...

Source: Phillip Adams, ABC Radio National 'Late Night Live' South African journalist R.W.Johnson discusses whether idolising Nelson Mandela is overlooking more urgent problems. He suggests that the outpooring over Nelson Mandela may be an enormous hunger by the developed world to find a hero/saint/leader from the third world to displace their feelings of guilt from slavery and colonisation. He sug...

When Nelson Mandela visited Australia months after his release from prison in 1990, he upset some Australian First Nations activists. How do they feel today? By Ron Sutton SBS 6 December 2013

The Coranderrk Inquiry was the only official commission in 19th century Victoria which addressed Aboriginal peoples’ calls for justice, land rights and self-determination. It was one of the few times Aboriginal witnesses were called to give evidence on matters concerning their own lives and interests. Phillip Adams from 'Late Night Live' on ABC Radio National interview with Giordano Nanni and Andr...

British atomic bomb testing began at Maralinga in South Australia in 1956 and 1957 with minor trials continuing into the early 1960s. But it's only more recent decades that stories have emerged about what happened to the people living near the site. One of those stories is Yami Lester's, a Yankunytjatjara man, who was only 10-years-old when the testing began. "I was a kid. "I got up early in the m...

Damien Brown ABC Hobart 18 October 2013 A new bill has been tabled in Parliament this week. The Aboriginal Heritage Protection Bill is designed to protect the Aboriginal community with a clear statutory role in the protection and management of their heritage. It's also designed to provide landowners and developers with clearer procedures and greater certainty than the current system, a system that...

Thomas Wright - National Indigenous Radio - 12 November 2013 A Tasmanian Aboriginal lawyer says Aboriginal people in the state could be fined up to $260,000 for practicing their culture. As Parliament resumes its 44th sitting, the Tasmanian State Parliament is expected to address the controversial Tasmanian Aboriginal heritage bill. Tasmanian Aboriginal lawyer Michael Mansell says, the bill could...

A respected top end Yolngu elder has warned that 99 year leases of Aboriginal land in the Northern Territory will lead to loss of language and culture and the assimilation of his people. Caama News Report

Annie Hastwell - The Wire - Radio Interview with Dr. Djiniyini Gondarra Aboriginal Land Rights are again in spotlight as the Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion seeks to negotiate 99-year township leases in Arnhem Land. Traditional owners are expressing displeasure, claiming they have been excluded from consultations about the the plans. Traditional owners in Arnhem Land are claiming that t...

October 18, 2013 by Gerry Georgatos The daughter of a man who died while in prison hospital custody last year, has given an emotional appeal to a Coronial Inquiry investigating the circumstances of his death. Family members spoke of being distressed by his maltreatment and of him shackled to the hospital bed. Daughter, Kylie Hampton told the Coroner that prisoners are treated like animals, and tha...

A new report shows that indigenous Australians in WA's regional centres are struggling more than any other group in the country. The report, written by Dr Nicholas Biddle and Francis Markham from the Australian National University, looks at the socioeconomic differences between indigenous and non-indigenous groups in Australia. Go to www.sovereignunion.mobi for more info

Aboriginal activists hope their actions at next year's G20 meeting will draw attention to their concerns about the Abbott government's handling of Indigenous rights. World leaders and the international media will gather in Brisbane in November and a massive security operation will lockdown the C-B-D. Activists hope for a repeat of the media attention given to the 1982 Commonwealth Games protests....

An assessment of Australia's performance in areas ranging from asylum seekers to climate change has produced a mixed report card. The report states that Australia has failed by international standards on the treatment of Indigenous Australians. The report praises moves towards holding a referendum on the recognition of Indigenous Australians in the federal constitution. However it also criticises...

Australia's oldest political party has never had an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander take up a seat in the House of Representatives. But Labor leadership aspirant Bill Shorten says he is determined to change that. Bill Shorten says the party has had a lot of success in preselecting more women in winnable seats since it introduced a 40 per cent quota for women in preselections in 2002.

Three West Papuan activists who occupied Australia's consulate in Bali have left the compound after making pleas for the Government to take up their cause. Student activists Rofinus Yanggam, Yuvensius Goo and Markus Jerewon climbed the wall of the consulate in the early hours of this morning. They say they "took refuge" there and brought a letter addressed to the Australian people. In it, they ask...

The High Court, for the first time in 30 years, will consider whether aboriginality can be used as a defence in sentencing. William David Bugmy, who's spent most of his adult life in jail, was convicted of assaulting a prison officer at the Broken Hill prison in 2011. The sentencing appeal judge ruled that special consideration for Aboriginal background can't be applied to repeat offenders.

Jan Mayman, journalist who covered John Pat's death in Roebourne in 1983 Picture: Mavis Pat at her son's memorial, 29 years later (Photo, Gerry Georgatos)

Maisie Pat speaks with Geoff Hutchison, 26 September 2013 Image: John Pat is buried in Roebourne and his Mother visits him regularly. (Photo: Margaret Bertling)