Helen Praetz Daffey. Dr Jim Bowler is well known as the scientist who discovered Mungo Lady and Mungo Man, ancient remains buried on the dried-up shores of Lake Mungo in outback New South Wales, subsequently dated at 42,000 years old. Their discovery changed our understanding of how and when Australia was occupied. It also profoundly […]
Peter Whiting. Until recently, for the last 20 years or so, I have celebrated Australia Day at my home with a group of my friends. As part of the entertainment, I would compile a short quiz on a particular Australian theme: bushrangers, prime ministers, Australian poets, prominent Australians, place names, and so on. Intentionally, I […]
Michael Breen University of Melbourne After years of debate, the process for achieving constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians has reached a crossroads. More than a year has gone by since the Uluru Statement from the Heart, when Indigenous peoples rejected symbolic constitutional reform and asked for more practical changes. Instead of looking at selected components of […]
Henry Reynolds University of Tasmania US slave owners wrote and spoke about liberty, equality and the pursuit of happiness. Similar hypocrisy, buried in the foundations of settler Australia, has escaped comparable scrutiny. The nature of the early settlements is so well known that it is frequently taken for granted. But for the first 50 years […]
Sherry Balcombe. As Aboriginal people, we are spiritual beings by nature. I suppose that was God’s purpose. Our spirituality is so entwined with our culture, customs and lore, they cannot be separated and exist together. We have a deep respect for everything in our world. The land we consider to be alive; she is our […]
Neale Cohen Baker Heart & Diabetes Institute Jonathan Carapetis Telethon Kids Institute Sue Kildea The University of Queensland While death rates from heart and kidney disease have dropped among Indigenous people, death rates from cancer are on the rise. The tenth Closing the Gap report to be tabled in Parliament today is expected to show progress in […]
Nicholas Biddle Australian National University At first glance, the most recent review of government expenditure on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Australians is quite staggering. It estimates that direct expenditure was A$33.4 billion, an increase of around 23.7% since the first report in 2008-09 (taking into account inflation). This equates to A$44,886 per Aboriginal and […]
Henry Reynolds. From John Menadue’s blog, Pearls & Irritations, 10 July 2017. The release by Newcastle University’s Centre for 21st Century Humanities of a map of colonial frontier massacres has attracted a burst of media attention. It draws national interest back to those questions that were highlighted during the history wars of a decade and more […]
Peter Whiting. The new minimum wage rate has come into effect on 1 July. The Fair Work Commission (FWC) recently announced an increase of $18.29/hour, or approximately 3.3%. Inevitably, the decision failed to satisfy any of the vested parties within the Australian Industry Group representing employers seeking to limit the increase to $10.10/hour, citing weak […]
Diana Perche UNSW. Ten years ago this month, the then prime minister, John Howard, and his Indigenous affairs minister, Mal Brough, launched the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER) into remote Indigenous communities. With no warning, and no consultation, the federal government moved swiftly to seize control of many aspects of the daily lives of residents […]
