Tag Archives
29 years, 437 deaths – yet no answers, no convictions and no justice
By Wendy Bacon Aboriginal families whose sons or daughters have died in custody formed a circle for a healing smoking ceremony, performed by Gadigal elder Aunty Rhonda Dixon-Grovenor at Djarrbarrgalli (the Gadigal word for ‘Domain’), during a Black Lives Matter rally in Sydney on Sunday 5 July. Protesters called for fundamental changes in the criminal […]
City of Sydney defer Aboriginal woman statue
By ALEC SMART On 2 July, City of Sydney Council voted 6 – 3 to amend and defer Councillor Dr Kerryn Phelps’ motion to commission a statue of Cadigal language teacher Patyegarang, what would have been the first publicly-funded statue in central Sydney to feature an Indigenous person. Deputy Lord Mayor Jess Scully, who issued […]
NSW Police increase reward to $1 million for info on boy’s arson death
By ALEC SMART Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are warned that this article contains an image and the name of a deceased person. On the 22nd anniversary of 13-year-old Arthur Haines’ suspicious death, NSW Police increased the reward for information to catch his killer(s) to $1 million. On 9 April 1998, the young Aboriginal boy […]
Black Lives Matter rallies attract tens of thousands
By ALEC SMART Rallies in support of Black Lives Matter on 6 June attracted tens of thousands across Australia to commemorate George Floyd, a black man who was suffocated to death by a Minneapolis police officer in the USA. Most of the demonstrators followed health authority guidelines to wear masks to limit possible spread of […]
Sorry, not sorry, for Indigenous youth, apparently
By ALEC SMART On the week of Sorry Day, the national day to commemorate the mistreatment of Australia’s first peoples by European settlers, it was revealed that the NSW Govt plan to slash vital support funding to an Aboriginal welfare service that provides essential help to Indigenous children. The Sorry Day, aka National Day of […]
The Visitors
Based on Australian historical events, The Visitors is set on the shores of Gadigal land in January 1788. The play explores the perspective of the Aboriginal elders before the arrival of the First Fleet. Muruwari Australian playwright, Jane Harrison who had previously written Stolen and Rainbow’s End, adds a modern twist to her new play, […]
Aboriginal footy show kicked out of bounds
By ALEC SMART Viewers of the Marngrook Footy Show are incensed that NITV and SBS have axed the popular program and it won’t be broadcast to coincide with the 2020 Australian Rules’ Football season. National Indigenous Television (NITV), a free television channel that broadcasts programs produced largely by Aboriginal Australians, and its managers Special Broadcasting […]
Coathanger climb, cruise ship crusade, diving birds, diving for trash: News Bites – 18 Sept 2019
Bite-sized bulletins by ALEC SMART Climate of peers Thousands are expected to attend Friday’s Global Climate Strike gathering at The Domain in Sydney. On September 20, three days before world leaders meet in New York for the United Nations Emergency Climate Summit, hundreds of thousands of school students and workers across Australia will join millions […]
Racism not Goodes enough
BY ALEC SMART The allegation that racism was at the heart of the relentless crowd booing that irked Australian Rules’ football player Adam Goodes has reignited, following recent screenings of a documentary film on his career, The Final Quarter. It was further augmented by ABC sports commentator Charlie King, himself of indigenous descent, who singled […]
15 years awaiting justice
BY ALEC SMART Search for ‘TJ Hickey’ on the internet and you’re likely to be directed to webpages featuring articles headlined ‘TJ Hickey, 10 years, no justice’, ‘TJ Hickey, 13 years, no justice’, and so on. The latest links are reminders that 15 years have now elapsed without a Public Inquiry that might satisfy the […]
