Indigenous

Works on a stretch of the Sturt Highway west of Hay are under threat as claims that Aboriginal sites have been destroyed have been levelled at Transport for NSW. “We aren’t going to let it rest,” Hay Local Aboriginal Land Council (Hay LALC) CEO Ian Woods said. “We’ll take it all the way to the Environment Court if we have to.”

As mentioned on page one, Leroy Johnson and the Waterbag band played the Culture on Country Survival Day concert last January. The original plan had Leroy and band opening the stage for Uncle Vic Simms. Uncle Vic wasn’t feeling so good so he swapped the playing order.

The recent decision in the Tony Maddox case is yet another example of how Western Australia's Aboriginal heritage laws have become a legal minefield for private property owners. What was once a well-defined, albeit imperfect, piece of legislation largely aimed at the mining sector has evolved into a tool for increasingly ambiguous and arbitrary interpretations of cultural heritage.

Exorbitant prices for groceries in outback stores are often the subject of outrage but are rarely dealt with a great deal of logic ... Why should the public purse kick in $50m over four years from 2025-26 to provide remote stores with low-cost access to about 30 food products?

Legal action taken by MLDRIN, a Confederation of First Nations from the southern half of the Murray-Darling Basin, has led to the Federal Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek conceding she made a mistake in accrediting the NSW Fractured Rock Water Resource Plan.

Madison Eastmond. The Department for Environment and Water (DEW) have collaborated with First Peoples of the River Murray and Mallee Region (FPRMMR) to develop a field guide on the plants and cultural significance of Riverland floodplains.

First Nations environmental lobbying group Murray Lower Darling River Indigenous Nations (MLDRIN) is in the Federal Court today to challenge the decision by Minister Plibersek to accredit the NSW Fractured Rock Water Resource Plan (WRP) ... “We repeatedly advised the MDBA that the Fractured Rock Water Resource Plan should not be recommended for accreditation," Brendan Kennedy, Chair, MLDRIN, Tati Tati Nation member, said.

All Territory Aboriginal persons facing criminal charges since August last year received high quality legal representation unless they chose not to use the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency, or it had a conflict of interest. CEO Anthony Beven was responding to allegations made anonymously to the Alice Springs News that “there is more chaos at NAAJA”.

Two Kaartdijiny Boodja events to celebrate learning from Country last month brought people together to explore the local landscape’s cultural and environmental significance.

How many troubled children in Central Australia fall under the umbrella of the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA)? Surely that was a known number upon which Anthony Albanese’s $250m “special grant” was based.

While Australia Day celebrations took pride and place in Narrandera on Sunday, some locals marched to display their "resistance". A Survival Day march attracted a crowd of about 100 people who marched along East Street to the Narrandera Memorial Gardens ... One of those who spoke at the Gardens was Narrandera Shire Councillor Braden Lyons.

This February, the Wycheproof Railway Station will transform into a space of storytelling, healing, and connection as part of the “Visions of Tomorrow” workshops and exhibition. Guided by Gunditjmara and Wotjobaluk artist Tanisha Lovett and Barkindji Ngiyampaa Maligundidj artist Tracy Wise, the “Visions of Tomorrow” initiative provides up to ten participants with an opportunity to explore artistic traditions, reflecting on their own connections and local history.

Sean Cunningham. This Sunday, January 26, is a date that carries two vastly different meanings for many Australians. To many it is known as Australia Day and is a celebration, but for others, especially the indigenous population, it is a painful reminder of a day they call Invasion Day or Survival Day.

Twenty-five finalists were selected from over 80 entries, showcasing the incredible diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artistic expression ... The $10,000 Koori Mail Art Award was won by Penny Evans for 'The Elephant' 2024.

The Betts/Barbour/Hume family’s 157-year-old agricultural and biodiversity conservation property is at a critical point. It may not survive this latest challenge to its viability. If it fails, it will take with it decades of labour and investment expended on protecting an extremely environmentally, historically, agriculturally and culturally important area.

Sarah Herrmann. An exhibition featuring works by two Narungga artists has been recognised with a statewide award. Saltbush Country, a Country Arts SA curation of seven regional Indigenous artists’ works, won the Outstanding Regional Event or Project ... Narungga sisters Deanna Newchurch and Lynette Newchurch worked together to create a major element of the exhibition — a possum-skin cloak thought to be the first of its kind made in more than 100 years.

The public isn’t going to learn much from official channels about the bashing – alleged – with a blunt weapon of a two months old infant, inflicting serious head injuries. Because the accused are under 18 we will not learn their names ... The known facts in this case are limited to the media release by the police ...

Dr David Ward. The tongue of experience has the most truth. Old Arab Proverb ... a pair of interesting scientists, Valerie Densmore and Emma Clingan, both from DBCA , and both with actual practical experience in fire fighting and lighting ... have found that, at least on the Swan Coastal Plain, Carnaby's feathery friends may have more food where the bush is burnt frequently, with light and patchy fires every few years, rather than roaring wildfires after decades of fuel accumulation.

A talk by Professor Barry Golding about the First Nations history of Mount Tarrengower attracted a large and engaged audience at Maldon Community Centre on Sunday 8 December. The event was one of a number of talks about the hills featured in his new book: Six Peaks Speak: Unsettling legacies in southern Dja Dja Wurrung Country.

...Uncle Owen Whyman presented as part of an Indigenous panel at COP29 during the ‘United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’ in Baku, Azerbaijan. Uncle Owen is a respected Wilcannia community leader, volunteer board member of the Indigenous Peoples’ Organisation, Chair of the Paroo-Darling National Park Co-management Committee, Deputy Chair of the Mutawintji National Park Board of Management, board member of North-Western Water Council, and founder and convenor of the Indigenous - Aboriginal Party of Australia (IAPA).