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Houston, Jacqui --- "Recent Happenings March 2008" [2008] IndigLawB 17; (2008) 7(4) Indigenous Law Bulletin 27

Recent Happenings March 2008

compiled by Jacqui Houston

3 March

The New South Wales Government has today opened a new correctional centre on the north coast targeting Indigenous offenders. Justice Minister John Hatzistergos says that the facility is unique in that it targets offenders with community-based sentences who are unable to complete such a sentence where they currently are. Seventy Indigenous first-time offenders will attend the facility for what Mr Hatzistergos calls ‘the best opportunity to turn around their offending behaviour.’

4 March

The Report of the Stolen Generations Assessor has been tabled during Tasmanian Premier Paul Lennon’s ‘State of the State’ address. The report shows that 84 claimants were paid compensation, with 22 people receiving smaller payments as children of deceased Stolen Generations members.

5 March

The idea of township leases in the Northern Territory town of Groote Eylandt has been rejuvenated by the Minister for Indigenous Affairs’ offer of shorter term leases. Ms Macklin says that the offer of township leases could be from 40 years up to 99 years. The offer will require an amendment to the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (Cth) to allow shorter terms.

7 March

The Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre wants vehicles banned from areas on the west coast of the State. Legal Director Michael Mansell says that ‘Aboriginal midden sites have grown up over thousands and thousands of years of Aboriginal occupation and use’. Mr Mansell says that the Aboriginal Relics Act 1975 (Tas) has not prevented four-wheel-drives from destroying protected areas and adds that current penalty provisions are not harsh enough to deter vandals.

10 March

Shadow Attorney-General George Brandis has announced that he will encourage the Opposition front bench to oppose the Government’s plans to endorse the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Senator Brandis says that he believes that should the Government endorse the Declaration, customary law could gain precedence over state law. Indigenous Law Centre Director Megan Davis disputed the claim in media reports, stating that the Declaration is clear in its protection of territorial integrity and sovereignty.

12 March

The Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee will scrutinise Senator Andrew Bartlett’s Stolen Generation Compensation Bill. The Bill aims to implement recommendations on reparations made in the 1997 Bringing Them Home report. The Committee will examine the Bill, including the reparations process that it proposes, and also look into domestic and international compensation schemes and models. A report is expected to be made on the Bill in June. Submissions can be made to the Committee.

13 March

The Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (‘AMEC’) has drafted a code of conduct for Western Australia which is open for public comment. The code places obligations upon companies to ensure that their activities meet cultural heritage and environmental protection responsibilities.

19 March

The Senate has voted for the establishment of a select committee to monitor the Northern Territory intervention and to look into the way in which state and territory policies on health, education and welfare impact upon Indigenous communities.

20 March

The Federal Government has signed a statement of intent to close the health equality gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Under the statement, Indigenous Australians are to receive the same access to primary healthcare services as non-Indigenous Australians by 2018, and life expectancy is to reach equal levels by 2030.

20 March

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma has today tabled the 2007 Social Justice Report and Native Title Report in Parliament. A prominent element of the report is a 10-point plan which outlines how the intervention into Northern Territory communities may provide optimum protection to children from abuse, while also ensuring the protection of broader human rights.

24 March

The Dictionary of Genocide, by Paul Bartrop and Samuel Totten, has labelled policies which created the stolen generations as genocide. While rejecting that Australia’s colonial history amounted to genocide, the publication cites the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide as well as the 1997 Bringing them Home report.

25 March

The Queensland Government has announced that it will spend $15 million of the funds unspent from the Indigenous Wages and Savings Reparations Scheme on extra payments to claimants. Claimants who received payments of $4000 will receive an extra $3000; those who received $2000 will receive an additional $1500. The remaining $21.2 million will be used to create annual scholarships for Indigenous students.

28 March

Cairns police have offered their support to a fellow officer accused of assaulting an Aboriginal woman. The officer has reportedly admitted to consuming approximately 18 mid-strength beers before declaring himself on duty to conduct a breath test. The Queensland Police Union has also defended the officer, who was assaulted subsequent to the incident. The Police Union alleges the woman spat on the officer, while other witnesses say the officer made offensive remarks to Aboriginal patrons in the bar before the incident.

29 March

The Western Australian Aboriginal Rights Coalition has called on the State Government to adequately fund the Redress WA scheme. Established in late 2007, the scheme aims to compensate those who were placed as children in State care and who were abused in that care. The two staff members of the Aboriginal Legal Service of WA appointed to take claims are each seeing 20 claimants per day.

31 March

Aboriginal legal services in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory say they will have to cut some services after the Federal Government reneged on an election promise to increase funding. The funding offered has not taken the consumer price index into account and subsequently, services have found themselves $13.2 million worse off than in the last financial year.

31 March

Federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson has told The Age newspaper that he has made it clear to mining companies that the benefits to Aboriginal communities on whose land developments take place must be participatory and provide real benefits. Minister Ferguson said: ‘The Government’s focus is on securing sustainable economic opportunities for the Indigenous community.’


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