Four years ago the United Nations acted on almost 30 years of advocacy by Indigenous Peoples around the world and adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, but Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda says progress on its implementation has been slow.
Saturday last saw the finals of Deadly Funny for 2011 which saw more amazing comedic talent emerge from Australia's Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander communities.
First Australians need dignity and respect. We hear a great deal about what First Australians need and even more noise about "solutions" to "problems". The language used though, still refers to First Australians as though they aren't in the room. Old paternalistic habits die hard, there remains a distinct lack of...
By Damian Baker: As part of our new focus on development and human rights issues, theangle.org is reposting old articles printed on the site which still have a high degree of revelance. We start with co-founder Damian Baker’s trip to Papua New Guinea in November 2009 where he encountered the lives of the people...
A UN human rights committee has said discrimination against Aborigines is "embedded" in Australian society, criticising what it describes as the unacceptable level of social disadvantage experienced by Indigenous people in the country.
The Australian Greens have given their support to a legal action brought by traditional landowners around Muckaty Station in the Northern Territory over the siting of a proposed radioactive waste dump, saying the federal Government had acted incorrectly in its attempts to resolve the matter.
The Australian Greens have called for better water monitoring methods to be implemented in the wake of allegations that contamination of creek systems has occurred near the Ranger Uranium Mine in the Northern Territory.
By Sue Pennicuik and Bob Hale: ‘Fair Share’ was the theme of the second Asia Pacific Greens Network Congress (APGN), hosted by the Green Party Taiwan and Taiwan Friends of the Global Greens, that we attended on the weekend of 30 April – 2 May. It was a huge effort for the small group...
Queensland's Crime and Misconduct Commission report into the investigation following the 2004 death in custody of Palm Island's Cameron Doomadgee (Mulrunji), will criticise the conduct of senior police involved in the investigation, newspaper reports have revealed.
Deadly Funny is about finding and supporting the funniest up-and-coming Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander comedians in the country, made more interesting as they compete for a grand prize of $2,000.
Kevin Rennie interviews Clive Porabou — representative of the people of Bougainville — about the Mekamui people's continued opposition to the giant Panguna copper mine.
The Full Court of the Supreme Court today dismissed an appeal by the South Australian Government against a 2007 decision to compensate a member of the Stolen Generation.
Regional editor Alex Schlotzer takes a look at what lies ahead for the big, and not-so-big, political players in the Southeast Asia/Pacific in 2010.
theangle's contributing regional editor Alex Schlotzer reports on "Share the Spirit" in Melbourne -- an Australia Day festival where Indigenous and non-indigenous people come together to celebrate the sharing the country.
Political analyst Alex Schlotzer takes a look at the important events and examines Australia's influence in the Pacific's political year of 2009.
By Rich Bowden: Tuvalu Prime Minister Apisai Ielemia has refused to put his name to the non-binding Copenhagen climate accord agreed at key climate discussions held in the Danish capital last week. Pacific States have described the political agreement, which would aim to restrict global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius, as inadequate. Tuvalu...
By Rich Bowden: More than twenty percent of the five thousand children who die every year in East Timor, do so through preventable diseases caused by poor sanitation and drinking unclean water, according to a new supplementary report released by aid agency WaterAid Australia. The NGO said despite poor or non-existent sanitation facilities being...
By Alex Schlotzer New Zealand is far better placed to be a stronger regional partner, or “peacekeeper” (or even “sheriff”) than Australia. Some will decry me as being “un-Australian” or worse but in my humble opinion our neighbours from across the ditch are in a superior position to exercise successful regional diplomacy than Australia....
By Rich Bowden: As key climate talks in Copenhagen enters its second week, Australian Government climate adviser Ross Garnaut has said relocation of Pacific climate refugees was “inevitable.” Professor Garnaut, who conducted the Australian Government’s climate review, told Radio Australia that rising sea levels in the Pacific would inevitably force relocation of many low-lying...
By Damian Baker Joint venture partners in Papua New Guinea’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) development announced the go ahead of one of the country’s largest resources projects in a statement earlier this week. The AU$16.5 billion project will proceed, subject to the signing of final agreements. The consortium of companies involved in the operation...
By Damian Baker: The Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project is the biggest of its type in the history of PNG. Oil was found in the southern highlands 20 years ago but gas has emerged as the energy hope for the future. An Australian company, Oil Search, is in the process of developing its gas...
By Damian Baker: After a somewhat tense introduction we finally got to meet and talk with the leader of the remnants of the Bougainville militia General Chris Uma. Following the initial breaking of the ice, as General Uma seemed to realise we were there to tell his story, he relaxed and came across as...
By Damian Baker: Blood could again be spilled in the autonomous Papua New Guinea region of Bougainville if negotiations to restart the Panguna gold and copper mine are successful. Remnant members of the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA), now known as the Mekamui Defence Force, have said their demands must be met before they will...
theangle.org's Damian Baker previews his next assignment in the eastern Highlands town of Kainantu.
On location in the PNG Highlands, the NewsHooker describes how he evaded robbery by a local rascal.
Lae city in Papua New Guinea’s eastern Morobe Province is struggling to cope with another outbreak of cholera.
Porgera is nestled in a valley in the PNG highlands shadowed on one side by 300-meter rock walls, with all other approaches covered in dense tropical jungle.
Security guards in the PNG Porgera valley have been accused of killings, assaults and the burning villages in the name of Barrick gold.
Uncle Dootch Kennedy from the Illawarra Aboriginal Land Council welcomed two NT Aboriginal representatives, to Climate Camp '09.
Australian public health reports have found a worrying rise in HIV and other STDs among the country's Indigenous people, injecting drug users and men who have sex with other men.
The Federal Government has pledged to spend $A9.3 million on programs designed to save over 100 of the country's threatened Indigenous languages.
By Rich Bowden Img: NT Legislative Assembly. Credit: Lincolnite The Northern Territory Labor party is uncertain of holding government this afternoon after the shock resignation of Indigenous Policy Minister, Alison Anderson. Ms Anderson allegedly attended a Cabinet meeting this morning before informing her staff of her decision according to this ABC Darwin report. Ms...
By Rich Bowden Img: Heather Saville at book launch. Credit: QSA Quaker Service Australia (QSA), one of Australia’s most highly respected charities, recently celebrated its fiftieth anniversary with the publication of the book Friends in deed: 50 years of Quaker Service Australia. APMG spoke to the QSA’s Heather Saville on the Service’s aid operations...
By Rich Bowden Img: Maori flag New Zealand’s Maori Affairs minister Pita Sharples has told Radio New Zealand that his Government will ratify the non-binding United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples within weeks, reversing the previous Labour party’s policy. Previously one of only four countries – along with Australia, Canada and...
An investigative report by the New Indigenous Times has uncovered documents that appear to show federal Government deceit on Indigenous land acquisitions. Quoting leaked documents, the NIT article shows that Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin received advice from her department saying that “…consulting with Aboriginal people over the compulsory acquisition of their land [was...
By Rich Bowden Img: Sorry. Credit: Spud Murphy/flickr The release of the recent Productivity Commission’s report into the state of the Australian Government’s policy on closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians has provoked consternation in Government ranks and brought condemnation from the Australian media. As this PM report of Thursday 2/7/09 explains,...
By Damian Baker Img: West Papuans arriving. Credit: Damian Baker On January 18, 43 West Papuans stepped onto Australian soil at Mapoon on the west coast of Cape York Peninsula. Amazingly, they had traversed 425 kilometres at sea in a 25-metre traditional dugout canoe fitted with an outboard motor. They were flying the West...
