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THE BIG READ: 2008: The NIT Blacklist (PART 2)
ISSUE 168 - 11 Dec 2008
The NIT Blacklist continued.
50. The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) withdrew a proposed Code of Conduct for journalists in NT communities after The Australian's Paul Toohey - who had been prosecuted for trespass for a flagrant breach of the permit system - gave back his Walkley Award in protest. The code had been proposed if the permit system was reinstated in NT communities.
51. A bill reinstating the permit system was voted down in the Senate, as Family First senator Steve Fielding and Independent senator Nick Xenophon joined the Coalition in opposing it.
52. Prominent didgeridoo player Alan Dargin passed away in Sydney in February.
53. Public schools in some parts of Sydney and New South Wales were being abandoned by white students because they were attended by predominately Aboriginal, Asian, Lebanese and Muslim students, a 2006 survey revealed. The phenomenon was termed "white flight".
54. Leading up to the budget, Indigenous affairs minister Jenny Macklin announced that the government would allocate $17 million to welfare debit cards, to be introduced into Aboriginal communities first. The cards would contain only a portion of a family's welfare payment, in an attempt to control how they spend their money.
55. ANZAC day came and went again this year, and while thousands of people turned up to the Australian War Memorial (AWM) dawn service, less than 100 made the short walk to the Aboriginal war memorial, located in bushland behind the AWM.
56. The appeal over the Noongar native title win in 2006 was described as a "funny decision" by South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council (SWALSC) CEO Glen Kelly. The appeal judges found that Judge Murray Wilcox had made two errors in law in his judgement, and referred the matter back to the Federal Court.
57. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's 2020 summit came and went, but some attendees at the Indigenous affairs stream accused the government of watering down ideas that emerged from the summit.
58. One of the key recommendations from the summit was a treaty with Indigenous Australians. Ironically, Labor promised a treaty prior to the election, but is yet to deliver.
59. Former Prime Minister Bob Hawke marked the 20th anniversary of the Barunga Statement, which called for a treaty, by lamenting that there was not one in place. Of course, he was the Prime Minister who first promised one in 1990.
60. A Senate committee heard that the Native Title Tribunal had enough work to keep it occupied for the next 30 years. The tribunal had 513 applications to work through.
61. The Australian Crime Commission told the federal parliament that it could find no evidence of organised paedophile activity in Central Australia, two years after then Minister for Indigenous Affairs Mal Brough made his hysterical claims, backed up by ABC's Lateline program.
62. Treasurer Wayne Swan delivered his first federal budget, but failed to make any new major funding commitments to Indigenous affairs. Out of the 37 measures to "Close the Gap", 10 were election-promises and 22 were allocated to fund the NT intervention.
63. In its first budget, the ALP also did not close the $460 million annual shortfall in black health funding, despite Health Minister Nicola Roxon labelling the Howard government's failure a year earlier as "criminal".
64. The ALP also failed to live up to its election promise to strengthen Aboriginal Legal Aid funding. The 2008-09 budget signalled a $6 million drop to Aboriginal legal agencies since last year.
65. That lack of funding to Aboriginal Legal Aid in South Australia prompted the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement (ALRM) to take the case to the UN's Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD).
66. Paul Keating's famous Redfern speech was still creating waves, but not in a good way for some. Sydney City Council Liberal Shayne Mallard called on words from the speech to be taken off a playground sculpture, saying they were "a real guilt trip" to non-Indigenous Australians who had already apologised to the Stolen Generations.
67. Bruce Trevorrow, the first Stolen Generations member to win compensation, passed away on June 20.
68. Both the Yamatji and the Pilbara native title services raised concerns that some mining companies were returning less than 0.25 percent of gross revenue to traditional owners, saying the amount was "trivial".
69. ABC Lateline broke a story detailing truck drivers trading sex with young Aboriginal girls in the NSW towns of Moree and Boggabilla. The Australian Crime Commission (ACC) revealed the practice was going on around the nation.
70. The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) was looking into controversial security patrols involving dangerous dogs in South Australian regional towns amid concerns Aboriginal residents were targeted.
71. Kidney Health Australia estimated that over 50 percent of Indigenous people over 35 in the Northern Territory suffer from kidney disease.
72. The federal government began holding community consultations over an Indigenous representative body, but poor attendance was reported at meetings across the country. The meetings were not advertised properly and residents were given short notice.
73. Arnhem Land leader Galarrwuy Yunupingu called for the abolition of the Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP), saying they were a welfare trap "killing Aboriginal people". Ironically, Mr Yunupingu and his various corporations had been accessing and benefiting from CDEP for decades.
74. Minister for Indigenous Affairs Jenny Macklin announced that a trial linking welfare payments to school attendance would be trialled in communities in the Northern Territory and Western Australia. It was a viewed by many as a pre-emptive strike against the NTER review, which was due to be released a few weeks later.
75. A court found that a north Queensland art dealer running Doongall Aboriginal Art and Artefacts had misled and deceived buyers by claiming the work of three non-Indigenous artists were authentic Indigenous art.
76. Former Treasurer Peter Costello published his long-awaited memoirs... but they didn't reveal anything new in relation to Indigenous affairs. Costello briefly mentioned the reconciliation walk across Sydney Harbour Bridge in 2000 but refrained from criticising former Prime Minister John Howard directly for refusing to join the walk.
77. Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley, the man who went to trial over the death in custody of Mulrunji Doomadgee, was again in court trying to clear his name. Lawyers for Snr Sgt Hurley told the court that a fresh inquest needed to be held into Mulrunji's death.
78. Palm Island man Lex Wotton was convicted of rioting on the island after Mulrunji's death and was sentenced to a maximum of six years jail.
79. During the trial, Detective Sergeant Darren Robinson admitted while on the stand to lying in an investigation that exonerated friend Snr Sgt Hurley of running over the foot of an Aboriginal woman, Barbara Pilot. Det Sgt Robinson admitted that he had failed to interview two independent witnesses to the incident that left Ms Pilot with a compound fracture and a bone protruding through her leg.
80. It also emerged during the trial that Det Sgt Robinson had witnessed another assault by Snr Sgt Hurley on Palm Islander Douglas Clay in the island's police station. Det Sgt Robinson described the incident as simply a "slap", while a Crime & Misconduct Commission (CMC) investigation found traces of the Mr Clay's blood in one of the cells.
81. It also emerged during the trial that Det Sgt Robinson had prepared a speech for the CMC with "friends" into "how they should conduct their investigation" into Mulrunji's death.
82. During the Wotton trial, it was revealed that while searching for a videotape of the Palm Island riot, police had entered the home of at least three Palm Islanders without their permission and held a 22-year old Aboriginal woman in custody, clad only in her nightgown, for an entire day without food. Tiana Friday, the niece of Lex Wotton, told the court it was Det Sgt Darren Robinson and a second officer who entered her flat.
83. The police officers present during the riots were awarded bravery awards. Det Sgt Robinson was among them, and received the highest medal available to police. He has still not faced any disciplinary action over his conduct.
84. A Sydney woman accused of killing her Aboriginal toddler Dean Shillingsworth was committed to stand trial for murder amid revelations the child may still have been alive when he was dumped in suitcase in a Sydney pond.
85. The Opposition booted Brendan Nelson and voted in Malcolm Turnbull, but the new shadow ministry proved disappointing. Turnbull kept Tony Abbott in the shadow Indigenous affairs portfolio, much to Abbott's disappointment. He wasn't alone.
86. An Aboriginal elder suffering from dementia died after she fell into a fire pit at the Docker River aged care facility in the NT, prompting a review of the Department of Health and Ageing's Indigenous aged care policy.
87. The federal government released a discussion paper on CDEP reforms proposing while CDEP would be restructured in remote areas, it would not be reinstated in non-remote areas but instead replaced with the Indigenous Employment Program (IEP) and Universal Employment Services (UES).
88. The WA Indigenous community of Narrogin raised concerns at a meeting with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma after recording six suicides in six months, as well as several other attempted suicides.
89. A fight between two North Queensland Indigenous councils and the state government erupted, with Kowanyama joining Aurukun in the Supreme Court claiming discrimination over the government's liquor restrictions.
90. Queensland Premier Anna Bligh attacked several Queensland Aboriginal councils for complaining about the loss of their liquor licenses. She neglected to mention much of the under-funded councils' revenue came from canteens.
91. The tragic death of Indigenous NRL star Johnathan Thurston's uncle in a Brisbane park raised racial tensions amongst the local Indigenous and Pacific Islander communities. Richard Saunders died after being bashed by a group of Pacific Islanders, nine of whom were charged over the attack.
92. Aboriginal fashion designer Joanne Pellew, who runs the successful Kooee swimwear label, was convicted of conspiring with her husband to sell or supply cannabis.
93. Statistics from the Department of Community Services (DoCS) in NSW found that Aboriginal children in the state are being removed from their homes in greater numbers than during the Stolen Generations.
94. The Aurukun and Kowanyama councils in far north Queensland lost a Supreme Court fight against the Queensland government's legislation to close their canteens. Both councils will appeal the decision.
95. The State of the Service report into the Australian Public Service (APS) found that there had been a drop in the number of black employees in the public service since the Rudd government took office. During 2007-08, the APS employed 5,000 new people, but it's Indigenous staff dropped by 49.
96. Up and coming Indigenous boxer Willie Kickett got sensationally knocked out by Ahmed Elomar. Up until that fight, Kickett was undefeated. He was tagged by a lucky punch to the temple from Elomar in the first round. The defeat prompted a brawl among sections of the crowd. At one point, a chair was thrown into the ring, striking officials.
97. The Country Rugby League attempted to wipe out the fledgling Aboriginal Nations Super League, which is providing a rugby league competition for Aboriginal players in the north west of NSW. Interestingly, the CRL has ignored the region for almost two decades, but this year threw money at a competition in the region after the ANSL - out of sheer frustration - tried to start its own competition. The dirty tricks campaign included the CRL booking up ovals in the region, even though they had no established competition. The ANSL survived the year... and is looking even stronger for 2009.
98. The western NSW town of Griffith was home to one of the truly outrageous acts of overt racism in 2008. A group of Aboriginal teens, including a pregnant young woman, were walking through the streets of Griffith late one night, when a local man dressed in a KKK hood and carrying a tomahawk jumped out of a vehicle and began threatening the youths. A fight ensued, and police were called. The man hid the tomahawk and hood in the back of his ute, but when police arrived he was ordered to leave the scene. Despite protests from the Aboriginal teenagers, police refused to search his vehicle. Instead, they arrested the black kids... with the help of some capsicum spray. Complaints forced police to investigate. They later established the teenagers were telling the truth, but claimed the man was simply playing a practical joke. The black youths were subsequently charged with a range of offences, including resisting arrest.
99. Gregory Andrews - the former anonymous youth worker who claimed media coverage of his controversial 2006 bogus Lateline appearance destroyed his life - was back in the limelight, this time in an interview with The Australian newspaper. The current CEO of Indigenous Community Volunteers attacked the "cappuccino" set from metropolitan regions who oppose the human rights breaches contained in the NT intervention.
100. The Australian newspaper is renowned for misreporting Indigenous affairs, but even by its own dodgy standards it thoroughly outdid itself in March with a beat-up of Joe Frazier proportions on Indigenous affairs minister Jenny Macklin. During a trip to Aurukun, in Cape York, Macklin stayed on a boat called the MV Pikkuw. The Oz attacked, claiming she was living it up on a "luxury" charter boat that cost $680 a night. In fact, the boat came much cheaper, it was anything but luxurious, and it was built by local Aboriginal kids as part of a CDEP project and operated on a not-for-profit basis by the community.
101. After first opposing the NT intervention, then switching on the eve of the 2007 election campaign, Arnhem Land leader Galarrwuy Yunupingu came out swinging on the one-year anniversary of the intervention. In August 2007, Yunupingu had called the intervention 'sickening, rotten and worrying'. By October 2007, he was supporting it wholeheartedly. By July 2008, he was attacking it again, telling ABC radio: "I think people are getting sick and tired of what it's doing to their lives, which means that they would like to see a reviewed process happening, whereby it's not affecting their lives seriously and damaging it."
 
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