Songlines

“Call to conserve wilderness areas” ABC – AM – Wednesday, 27 August , 2008 08:21:00
Reporter: Jayne Margetts

TONY EASTLEY: A new study has found that more than 40 per cent of Australia qualifies as unspoilt wilderness, making it one of the five most significant wild areas on Earth. But at the same time Australia has the world’s highest rate of species extinction because of threats from feral animals, invasive weeds and bushfires.

Environmentalists say the number of Indigenous rangers should be increased from 700 to 5,000 to help conserve wilderness areas.”

full story

(more…)

The UN Special Rapporteur on Education wants interested people to inform him to:

* clarify the content of the right to education in places of detention
* identify those with the principal responsibility for its implementation
* highlight the most notable challenges faced in that implementation
* put together examples of innovative approaches to date and lessons learnt
* offer recommendations as to how implementation might be improved.

Please pass on this information to others, and send your response by 31st December, 2008 to:
UN Special Rapporteur on Education, P.O. Box 1245-1007, Centro Colon, Costa Rica or by e-mail: vernormu@yahoo.es

(more…)

The designed Report is a pdf(1.6mb) downloadable from http://tinyurl.com/6kbtcw or http://www.justiceaction.org.au

ABC website Posted Mon Aug 18, 2008 7:19pm AEST

“A group of 28 doctors today made a formal submission to the Emergency Response Review Board.

One of the doctors, Hillary Tyler, says the health checks have been costly but ineffective.

“The main thing about child health checks is that in of themselves they will not improve the health of that child,” she said.

“And as far as we’re aware – for the massive amounts of money that have been spent performing the child health checks – there has been massive duplication, so very few children have been identified who weren’t previously known.”

Full story Federal intervention health checks ‘largely useless’
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/08/18/2339280.htm

See also NAtional Indigenous Times
Intervention review board meets with doctors and specialists
Tuesday, 19 August 2008 11:48:10 PM

http://www.nit.com.au/breakingNews/story.aspx?id=15791

We need to pay special attention to the messages of politicians who are not standing for re-election. The former Member for Barkly in the Northern Territory is Eliot McAdam, did not stand in the latest election.

” ABC – McAdam goes out swinging over Muckaty dump

Retiring Labor Northern Territory MLA Elliot McAdam has criticised his federal colleagues over what he says is a lack of consultation about a possible site for Australia’s first nuclear waste dump.

The Member for Barkly says a number of traditional owners and other people oppose the nomination of Muckaty Station, north of Tennant Creek, for a waste dump.

Mr McAdam has called on the Federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson to visit the region and consult the community.

“The whole process has been flawed. Very clearly, TOs haven’t been involved. Other sectors of the community haven’t been involved. And until such time as a repeal of the Nuclear Waste Management Act, then effectively this doesn’t allow anyone to have a real say in the Barkly in respect to the proposed site.”

He is also calling for an independent inquiry into the nomination of Muckaty Station for the dump, and is calling on the Resources Minister Martin Ferguson to visit the region to hear people’s concerns.”
full story

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/31/2320069.htm

See also
(more…)

11 August 2008. Intervention Resistance Action Group (IRAG) Media release- for immediate release

“Labor’s intervention roll out contributes to low voter turn-out: campaigners

Anti-intervention campaigners in Alice Springs have today argued that a lack of confidence amongst Aboriginal people in the political process has contributed to the historically low voter turn-out in the NT government elections.”

Full media release.
http://rollbacktheintervention.wordpress.com/media/

For a contra view on low turn-out see
http://blogs.abc.net.au/antonygreen/2008/08/turnout-at-the.html#more