AustLII Home | Databases | WorldLII | Search | Feedback

Indigenous Law Bulletin

Indigenous Law Bulletin
You are here:  AustLII >> Databases >> Indigenous Law Bulletin >> 2002 >> [2002] IndigLawB 55

Database Search | Name Search | Recent Articles | Noteup | LawCite | Help

Gould, Ian --- "Recent Happenings" [2002] IndigLawB 55; (2002) 5(19) Indigenous Law Bulletin 24

Recent Happenings

Compiled by Ian Gould

2 July

A coalition of Queensland Indigenous groups launched a petition asking the state government to reconsider its compensation deal for its past policy of withholding wages and savings. In May, the Beattie Government announced a deal whereby it would pay 16,400 Indigenous claimants up to $4,000 each in compensation for having had their earnings withheld. The organisers of the petition argued that the offer, under which claimants would forfeit their right to sue, was inadequate. The Queensland government’s practice of controlling the wages and savings of Indigenous people lasted from the 1890s until 1972.

10 July

Noel Pearson told a meeting in Cape York that Aboriginal elders must have legislative power to mediate among groups, hold parents responsible for juvenile offences and direct substance-dependent offenders into rehabilitation. Mr Pearson said that the key to solving problems in Aboriginal communities, such as substance abuse and violence, was to set social standards, and to have legislation that reinforced those standards. He said that one of the major obstacles to such initiatives was the acceptance by some people of alcoholism and aggression as part of modern Aboriginal culture.

16 July

The first sitting of the Badu Island Magistrate’s Court, took place on the remote Torres Strait island, off far north Queensland. The court on Badu Island was convened by Indigenous people and will provide an alternative to travelling to Thursday Island for Torres Strait Islanders.

25 July

A five-day United Nations (‘UN’) summit in Geneva saw 900 representatives of Indigenous groups from various countries meet to discuss Indigenous issues. Groups represented included Australian Indigenous people, Native Americans, Inuit people and Maoris. Among the issues raised at the annual event was the attitude of some Western countries to the UN’s main Indigenous body, the Working Group on Indigenous Populations. A representative of Canada’s Mohawk Indians argued against the perceived wish of Canada, Australia, the United States and some European countries to dissolve the Working Group.

30 July

Last year Victoria had the lowest recorded rate of deaths in custody of any state, according to figures from the National Deaths in Custody Program. The information showed that Victoria had a rate of 1.5 deaths per 1000 prisoners, well below the national average of 2.3 per 1000 inmates. A total of 56 deaths in custody were recorded nationally in 2001, of which 22 percent involved Indigenous people.

2 August

A trio of prestigious Japanese academics included the slaughter of ‘millions of Australia’s Aborigines’ on a list of the twentieth century’s worst atrocities and war crimes. Writing in the August edition of Bungei Shunju magazine, the historians placed the widespread killing of Aborigines by European settlers up to the early 1900s on a list that included horrors such as the United States atomic bombing of Japan in 1945 and Auschwitz.

8 August

The High Court delivered its decision in Western Australia v Ward. The decision concerned fundamental principles of native title law, including extinguishment. The Court also found that native title does not exist over minerals and petroleum. The decision provoked widespread criticism of the native title process. Although the Mirriuwung Gajjerong people lodged their native title application in 1994, it is still unresolved with the High Court remitting it back to the Federal Court for further determination. A comprehensive casenote on the decision will be published in a future issue of the Indigenous Law Bulletin.

Representatives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (‘ATSIC’) and NSW’s peak native title organisation, the NSW Native Title Services (‘NSWNTS’), responded to another High Court native title ruling with disappointment and caution. Steve Gordon, ATSIC commissioner for the NSW West Zone, said the Wilson v Anderson decision failed to give Indigenous people any consistency in access to land. Meanwhile, NSWNTS’s Murray Chapman said that the decision was a setback, but would not defeat the native title cause.

14 August

Controls on shipping in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park were insufficient and placed heritage at risk, according to traditional owners of the area. Gerhardt Pearson, Executive Director of Balkanu, a far north Queensland group, said that shipping in the park should be restricted as much as possible. Mr Pearson cited the recent grounding of the freight ship Doric Chariot as an example of the dangers of lax regulations. He emphasised that many sea estates were the sole resource for some communities, and that an accident in the area could result in the loss of irreplaceable assets.

27 August

A national conference began in Canberra, focusing on the issues surrounding a treaty between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. The National Treaty Conference was sponsored jointly by ATSIC, the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, and Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation. More than 350 delegates registered for the conference, which explored seven key issues. Among these were the issue of sovereignty, and the economic and social value of a treaty to all Australians.

29 August

An independent mediator was appointed to address racism in the Goldfields, the first time such a position has been created for an individual town. The appointment, recommended by Race Discrimination Commissioner Bill Jonas after his visit to Kalgoorlie-Boulder in July, would be instrumental in bringing people together to discuss racism. The mediator was expected to commence his or her role by the end of September.


AustLII: Copyright Policy | Disclaimers | Privacy Policy | Feedback
URL: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/IndigLawB/2002/55.html