NAIDOC WEEK
July 8, 2008
| July 6, 2008 | to | July 13, 2008 |
NAIDOC Week celebrates the survival of Indigenous culture and the Indigenous contribution to modern Australia. The national theme this year is Advance Australia Fair? And all Australians are encouraged to participate in the many NAIDOC Week activities that will be held across the Victoria. NAIDOC celebrations are held around Australia in July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. NAIDOC originally stood for ‘National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee’. This committee was once responsible for organising national activities during NAIDOC Week and its acronym has become the name of the week itself. See http://www.naidoc.org.au/ for full details. The Victorian NAIDOC Coordinator this year is Robert Britton – 9416 9240 / 0400 057 678. For information on events happening around Victoria in NAIDOC Week go to the Reconciliation Victoria website www.reconciliationvic.org.au
Re-Action: Reconciliation Youth Network Launch
May 27, 2008
| May 31, 2008 | ||
| 2:00 pm | to | 7:00 pm |
Bar 303, 303 High St Northcote
$5 entry
Come and celebrate reconciliation week, hear great music, meet like-minded people interested in combating racism, advocating for indigenous justice and find out how to voice your views and act on these issues.
Featuring: Tjimba & the Yung Warriors, Brolga Boys, Deline Briscoe and many more.
More Details:
Contact – Matt Bell,
matt.bell@reconciliationvic.org.au
Join Facebook Group: Reconciliate Youth
International law from conservative commentators
May 12, 2008
Not sure if people saw this great post from Ben down in the feeds
Gerard Henderson goes all populist in his rant denying that past Australian Government policy and actions towards Indigenous Australians might ever have amounted to genocide. Because the “person on the street” understands genocide as mass murder, and because mass murder didn’t take place, therefore Australian Governments can’t possibly have committed genocide against Indigenous Australians.
He knows, of course, but glibly dismisses – “legalisms and academic debates aside” – that the real definition of genocide in international law is something quite different.
Genocide is the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, through acts including murder, inflicting life conditions calculated to bring about physical destruction of the group, preventing births within the group, and forcibly transferring children away from the group. continue reading over at Ben’s
UpperRoom - Close the Gap
May 3, 2008
| May 5, 2008 | ||
| 6:00 pm | to | 9:00 pm |
The Upper Room Project meets the first Monday of each month (6-8:30pm) to engage with spirituality and justice as struggled with and fought for by the Prophets and Jesus. We meet in the S Bar (Shop 18, Village Walk, O’Sullivan Road, Glen Waverley ) with gallery space, discussion corners, opportunity for practical response and pondering space.We hope the upper room will be
- Space to rest/relax with your tribe
- Be challenged by the prophetic call of compassion
- Connect with heartbeats for living
There will be food, wine and friends plus
- a gallery space for photos and other art.
- activist space - activities, information and people deeply into that topic to meet
- conversational space - multimedia and communally led (an interview, music, texts, a place to chat)
Please bring your friends - all are welcome
This month we will be thinking about Closing the Gap and the communities potential response to Rudd’s Sorry Day Speech. Rod’s Schools work has been working on making resources down this line - we get to be one of the test mobs :). As always there will be others of our tribe to eat, drink and chat with and some art, info etc to fuel the conversation . So cya there. All are welcome 
JustAct - close the gap
April 17, 2008
| April 22, 2008 |
This month we are taking action to close the gap in indigenous and non indigenous Australians’ life expectancy. Health issues are affecting Indigenous Australians all across the country, even here in
E-Card Campaign - Close the Gap in this years Federal Budget
February 29, 2008
Now is the time to show your support for the apology of 13 February and urge the Government to carry forward their promises. The Social Action Office has launched an e-card urging the government to allocate the additional $460 million (the amount recommended in the Oxfam CLOSETHEGAP campaign) in this year’s federal budget to set up the action plan and programs to achieve better health outcomes for Indigenous Australians. Government departments are working on budget submissions for the 2008/2009 budget now.
There are 2 cards – one to the Treasurer, Wayne Swan, and the other to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Jenny Macklin. Click here to access the e-card from the SAO website. http://www.sao.clriq.org.au/indigenous_issues/indig_health_ecard.html
Sorry
February 13, 2008
Well it happened!!!! It seems a weird mix of emotions that saying ’sorry’ wells in me the need to celebrate.
I’m sure most have seen it but just in case.
Links and a full transcript here
UCA - Welcomes Apology
February 9, 2008
Bear fruits in keeping with repentance (Luke 3:3)
The Uniting Church in Australia and the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC) have today congratulated the Federal Government on its planned formal apology to members of the Stolen Generations.
A formal apology was made to Australia’s Indigenous people by the Uniting Church more than a decade ago.
The President of the Uniting Church, Reverend Gregor Henderson, said the Christian view of confession was a recognition of wrongdoing.
“We take confession to mean that what has been done is not in accordance with the hopes and possibilities that God has for us,” Rev. Henderson said……
Also have a poke around therest of UCA- NYYAM site for exposures, info & resources
Yalukit Wilam Ngargee (People Place Gathering) - St Kilda Festival
January 30, 2008
| January 30, 2008 | to | February 2, 2008 |
A four-day indigenous festival – Yalukit Wilam Ngargee or ‘People Place Gathering” in Boon Wurrung – marks the start of this year’s St Kilda Festival. Like the Festival itself, Yalukit Wilam Ngargee is produced and presented by the City of Port Phillip and is free. Yalukit Wilam Ngargee begins at 6pm Wednesday 30 January with a wominjeka/welcome ceremony arriving by sea on St Kilda Pier.
The festival includes workshops, an indigenous trail walk, a music forum and a night of short films. Kev Carmody heads an all star line up for the main festival day on Saturday 3 February from 11am-11pm at O’Donnell Gardens.
More information: http://www.stkildafestival.com.au/yalukit-wilam-ngargee
NT Intervention letter/web action
November 14, 2007
http://www.australiafair.org.au
In recent months the Commonwealth Government has rolled out its intervention into the Indigenous communites of the Northern Territory. This intervention is distressing to many people in the communities because it is undermining their capacity to positively shape their lives for the future. In July the Congress came to the Assembly Standing Committee and asked that efforts be made to bring this issue to the forefront of the minds of Australian voters. It is also hoped that by raising this matter with members of Parliament and candidates at this time it will assist us to progress the discussion after the election - irrespective of who wins power.
Attached are two letters. One is from Rev Shayne Blackman as National Administrator of the UAICC and Lin Hatfiled Dodd as National Director of UnitingCare Australia outlining what has been done in response to the July ASC decisions and also how you can be involved in a campaign through a web based strategy and letter writing (with australiafair.org.au) A draft letter to Federal Members/candidates is also attached for your use.
jointletteranddraftfedmember.pdf
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