Songlines

- Open letter -

27 June 2008

M C Dillon
Senior Advisor
Office of the Hon Jenny Macklin
Minister for Indigenous Affairs
Parliament House
Canberra

Dear Mike

INDIGENOUS MENS HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

I have received your latest letter (18 June 2008) on behalf of the Minister for Indigenous Affairs) in reply to mine of Australia Day 2008 to the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd regarding improving the health and well-being of Australia’s First Peoples (in general) and senior indigenous men (in particular).

ALP FEDERAL GOVERNMENT – “FAIL”

I must give Prime Minister Rudd, the Minster for Indigenous Affairs (Jenny Macklin) and you – as Senior Advisor to the Minister – a “Fail”.

The thinking contained in your letter clearly demonstrates a complete failure to understand the bi-cultural realities of Australian life – and a complete absence of any real understanding of what is required to heal life in this country.

(more…)

media release:

“Jakarta/Brussels, 16 June 2008: Conflict between Muslim and Christian communities in Papua could erupt unless rising tensions are effectively managed.

Indonesia: Communal Tensions in Papua,* the latest report from the International Crisis Group, explores the factors that have led to increasing strains in Papua: continuing Muslim migration from elsewhere in Indonesia; the emergence of new, exclusivist groups in both Christian and Muslim religious communities; the lasting impact of the Maluku conflict; and the impact of developments outside Papua.

“The potential for communal conflict is high in Papua because both sides consider themselves aggrieved”, says Sidney Jones, Crisis Group’s Senior Adviser. “Indigenous Christians feel threatened by ongoing Muslim migration and a sense that the government is endorsing Islamic orthodoxy at the expense of non-Muslim minorities; Muslim migrants feel democracy may be leading to a tyranny of the majority, where in the long term they will face discrimination or even expulsion.”

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“Calls by the Democrats for compo to be paid to the Stolen Generations rejected … (audio), Senator Andrew Bartlett on that, and the demise of his party, with John Barron (Politics, Federal)”

http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/newsradio/audio/20080617-bartlett.mp3

From National Indigenous Times:

“Japan recognises Indigenous people

Friday, 6 June 2008

TOKYO, June 6, 2008: Japan has for the first time recognised the Ainu as an Indigenous people, pledging to support the traditionally nature-worshipping community that has endured centuries of discrimination.”
Continue reading.
Visit http://www.nit.com.au for more stories.

(From PM Rudd’s Website)
Address to the Asia Society AustralAsia Centre, Sydney:
It’s time to build an Asia Pacific Community
04 June 2008

“We need to have a vision for an Asia Pacific Community, a vision that embraces:

* A regional institution which spans the entire Asia-Pacific region – including the United States, Japan, China India, Indonesia and the other states of the region.
* A regional institution which is able to engage in the full spectrum of dialogue, cooperation and action on economic and political matters and future challenges related to security.

The purpose is to encourage the development of a genuine and comprehensive sense of community whose habitual operating principle is cooperation.”

Full speech:
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Professor John Gibson, Waitako Management School, New Zealand/Aoteaora, is trying to contact top students from PNG as part of a survey being carried out across the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

“Top students as identified either from performance in national examinations or from academic honours in their high schools over the period 1976-2003.”

Please pass this information on.

Check out their website for more details and contact address:

http://wms-soros.mngt.waikato.ac.nz/Marsden+Fund+Project/Top+Students.htm