Welfare cut-offs double in 8 months
Patricia Karvelas; 15/4/08
Indigenous people have suffered the most under welfare reforms that lead to benefits being stopped for eight weeks for people who fail to comply with the regulations imposed by the Howard government. And the Rudd Government has been condemned for not ending the system, despite promising to do so while in Opposition. New figures show that the number of people who have had their payments stopped has more than doubled over the past eight months. Under the regime, recipients who make three mistakes suffer an immediate loss of payment for eight weeks.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23540916-5013404,00.html
‘No health risk from fumes’
Natasha Robinson; 15/4/08
The level of formaldehyde that public servants in remote Aboriginal communities were exposed to in converted shipping containers that served as their accommodation was unlikely to cause long-term health effects, according to Australia’s chief medical officer. The operational commander of the emergency intervention into remote Northern Territory communities, Dave Chalmers, yesterday played down the chemical scare that forced more than 20 public servants to seek alternative accommodation in other communities. Major General Chalmers said Chief Medical Officer John Horvath had advised him it was not necessary for workers exposed to formaldehyde within the converted shipping containers to undergo health checks.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23540975-5013172,00.html
Some NT families avoiding health checks
15/4/08
Some families are avoiding health checks ordered as part of the intervention into Northern Territory Aboriginal communities for fear of it being discovered that their children have been sexually abused, a NT politician says. Close to 8,500 children have already been screened since the federal government intervention began last September, but there are still 7,000 yet to undergo the health checks.Northern Territory Member for MacDonnell Alison Anderson says some families avoided the intervention health teams because their children have sexually transmitted diseases.
See: http://news.theage.com.au/some-nt-families-avoiding-health-checks/20080415-2655.html
Aboriginal future must be freed from shackles of the past
Russell Skelton; 15/4/08
The biggest challenge for 2020 delegates mapping out a fresh strategy for indigenous Australia will be avoiding the set positions that dominate and distort the present debate. Indigenous politics is factionalised by ideology, personality and by region. The old Aboriginal industry establishment is bitterly opposed to the Government’s intervention; intellectuals such as Noel Pearson and Marcia Langton see it as an opportunity. The rights lobby led by Tom Calma, the Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander Human Rights commissioner, argues the protection of basic rights should come before all else. But women in remote communities, struggling to make their voices heard, wonder why the rights lobby has never made them and their children a priority.
See: http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/aboriginal-future-must-be-freed-from-shackles-of-the-past/2008/04/14/1208025091726.html
Aboriginal children need teaching that respects their culture
Neil Hooley; 15/4/08
It is too simplistic to insist on imposing values on Aborigines. In her latest book, Helen Hughes from the Centre for Independent Studies argues that after the 1967 referendum, two models emerged regarding Aboriginal development in Australia. The liberal model supported integration into the white economic mainstream, while the “homelands” model advocated a traditional separatist life in remote areas. In Lands of Shame, Hughes contends that the “homelands” model has failed dismally and that immediate action must be taken on health and education to ensure that white mainstream standards are achieved. This is a complicated argument. Indigenous Australia is very diverse, spread as it is over a large geographical area.
See: http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/aboriginal-children-need-teaching-that-respects-their-culture/2008/04/14/1208025085406.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
Tags: Aboriginal, Australia, Canberra Debate, Culture, health, Sexual Abuse, Support