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Upcoming Aboriginal Rights Coalition Events

 

Fundraiser to Support Lex Wotton
Drop the Charges Now!
Stand up Comedy: Fear of A Brown Planet
After performing to sold out shows at the Melbourne Fringe Festival this emerging comedy act is in Brisbane for one night only to support Lex Wotton's fight for justice.

For an uncompromised snapshot of difference and
some beautifully distilled fury, see this show.
Three young comedians take the western understanding
of Islam as their central topic of inquiry. 
As earnest as such a project might seem,
these lads effect it with humour that borders,
at times, on brilliance.

If you're prepared for an uncompromised snapshot of difference and some beautifully distilled fury, see this show.Even for a comedy junkie, this show has the sheen of something new and remarkable.
The Age, 2008.

Tickets- $7/$10

Friday October 3rd
7:30pm for 8pm start
Ahimsa House
26 Horan St, West End

BYO, Food and drinks available.

www.brownplanet.com.au

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Day of Action
Justice For Aboriginal People
Rally and March

End the NT and QLD Interventions!
Restore the Racial Discrimination Act!
Drop the Charges Against Lex Wotton!
Stop Black Deaths in Custody!

Speakers:
Sam Watson, Deputy Director,... [More]

Tags: events

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Overview - History of Palm Island

Author: FAIRA - http://www.faira.org.au/The history of the Queensland Aboriginal reserve system from its foundation in 1898 was characterised by a largely incompetant and dishonest administration which acted with a blatant disregard to basic human rights.

Of the many Aboriginal reserves set up across Queensland, Palm Island in particular gained a reputation as a "punishment place", a reputation which still lingers today.

Before white invasion in North Queensland, Palm Island belonged to the Manbarra people. Descendants of the Manbarra were still living on the tropical island, 65 km NE. of Townsville, when in 1914 the Queensland Government gazetted the Island as a reserve.

No further action was taken by the Government until 1918 when a cyclone flattened the Hull River Aboriginal Reserve near Tully. The Queensland Protector, J.W. Bleakley, then decided that Palm Island would become the replacement site. He regarded the location as an ideal place to confine Aboriginal and Islander people who were regarded by white society as "problem cases" and "uncontrollables."

Over the next two decades around 1630 people from 40 different Aboriginal groups across Queensland were removed by the Department and deposited on the Island.

Removal to Palm Island was the... [More]

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See below for details of rallies in each city

Call for a National Day of Action on Saturday June 21

Endorsed by the national conference called by the Aboriginal Rights
Coalition May 23-25 in Sydney attended by over 200 people.

- Repeal all "NT intervention" legislation
- Restore the Racial Discrimination Act
- Fund infrastructure and community controlled services
- Sign and implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples
- Aboriginal Control of Aboriginal Affairs

June 21 will mark one year since the Howard Government announced the NT
intervention. Far from improving child welfare, the intervention has
created a new wave of dispossession and is compounding social problems.

The Racial Discrimination Act has been suspended, land taken over and
business managers imposed on communities.

The universal quarantining of welfare payments, the closure of many
Community Employment Development Projects (CDEP) and the compulsory
acquisition of Aboriginal property has forced thousands of people from
their communities into urban centres.

Bagot town camp in Darwin, for example, has increased in population from
500-1200 people since the intervention. People are facing extreme
hardship without jobs, services or stable accommodation.

While the Rudd Labor government made a symbolic apology for the... [More]

Tags: 2008 rallies

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Palm Island tensions flare again on claims Submit comment By Peter Michael SENIOR police have flown to Palm Island to try to calm the north Queensland Aboriginal community amid claims of police victimisation. The rising tensions followed a tough new alcohol crackdown and after a police ethical standards investigation cleared two officers who ordered an Aboriginal man to publicly strip to his underwear for a search. Palm Island leaders, elders, Aboriginal lawyers and civil libertarians slammed the findings as "bodgy, utterly unacceptable and a clear breach of police powers". They warned of rising anger among residents who believed they were being unfairly targeted and discriminated against by the tough new grog laws. "People are angry. They feel like there is one law for whites and one for blacks," deputy mayor Raymond Sibley said. "And now with police pulling people up and strip searching them in public, it is getting out of hand." It comes ahead of a high-profile test case involving a Palm Islander, expected to affect hundreds of cases statewide. The case, to be heard on appeal in Townsville Supreme Court in July, revolved around whether the grog laws were racially discriminatory. Father-of-three Charlie Gibson, who was the subject... [More]

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This blog will announce developments, planning and events related to indigenous advocates.

Please add your comments and share your feelings and experiences.

 

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