Ted Calma soldiers on for human rights and equal opportunity

HEROC Social Justice Commissioner Ted Calma is having some trouble getting the ear of government on indigenous issues.

 

This is more than unfortunate as Mr. Calma appears to be the only indigenous person left in such a formal watchdog and consultative capacity at a federal level.

 

It's all rather sad when you realise that he is mainly asking that indigenous people have returned to them the same rights and protections afforded to other citizens.                     

 

The following are just two of the fourteen recommendations covering indigenous issues including land rights, discrimination, health, community and accountability.

 

The Northern Territory 'Emergency Response' intervention – A human rights analysis

 

Recommendation 3: Provision of external merits review of administrative decision-making

 

That the Parliament should immediately repeal all provisions which deny external merits review. These provisions should be replaced with provisions which make explicit that merit review processes do apply. This includes, but is not limited to, the following provisions:

• sections 34(9), 35(11), 37(5), 47(7), 48(5) and 49(4) of the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act 2007 (Cth) relating to determinations about Indigenous land;
• section 78 and sections 97 and 106 of the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act 2007 (Cth) in relation to decisions by the Minister to suspend all the members of a community government council, and decisions of the Secretary of the Department of FACSIA in relation to community store licences respectively; and
• new section144(ka) of the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 (enacted by the Social Security and other legislation amendment (Welfare Payment Reform) Act 2007 (Cth) ) in relation to the right to seek a review by the Social Security Review Tribunal of decisions that relate to income management.

Note on implementation: This action can only be achieved through amendments to the legislation.

 

Recommendation 4: Reinstatement of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth)

 

That the Parliament immediately repeal the following provisions that exempt the NT measures from the protections of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth):

• section 132(2), Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act 2007 (Cth);
• section 4(2), Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Other Legislation Amendment (Northern Territory National Emergency Response and Other Measures) Act 2007 (Cth); and
• section 4(3),(5) and section 6(3), Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Welfare Payment Reform) Act 2007 (Cth).

Note on implementation: This action can only be achieved through amendments to the legislation.

 

The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Social Justice Report 2007 in recommendations in full.

Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett does something right for native plants and animals, but will he stand up to Japanese pressure over whaling?

The Age yesterday on the nation's land reserve system.

 

AUSTRALIA'S National Reserve System will get its biggest injection of funds — $180 million over five years — since its establishment by the Keating government.

The money will expand the system of national parks and private reserves for native plants and animals.

The Government will commit $2 for every dollar advanced by state, local government or private sources, ensuring at least $370 million is available.

"It will mean that private conservancy organisations, those private investors who want to get in and protect important parts of bush — say for example in Cape York that connect with existing national parks — will have access to investment funds," Environment Minister Peter Garrett said.

Mr Garrett said priority would be given to regions of sub-tropical savannah, the Mitchell grass country of north-west Queensland and arid central Australia, all of which had a low level of protection.

 

It's good to see that Peter Garrett is capable of positive action, although he does not appear to have fully taken onboard the contents of the latest OECD assessment.

The trick for Garrett will be in making sure that this money is spent on land areas large enough to provide sustainable habit and ecosystems and not frittered away on small parcels which are unlikely to provide generational protection for Australian flora and fauna or on wildlife corridors which are not hectares wide.

 

The Government of Japan continues to push for an extension of its coastal right to hunt whales.

Its bloody-minded and expensive 'scientific' hunt in the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary appears to be an attempt to blackmail the international community into lifting the whaling moratorium in the Pacific Ocean.

 

The National Geographic reported last week.

 

But the possibility now exists that a deal will be struck allowing Japan to take as many as 400 minke whales from its own waters, provided that its whaling fleet leaves the Southern Hemisphere for good.

"It would be very similar to aboriginal subsistence whaling, but not identical," Palmer said.

"What we might look at is some possibility that scientific whaling be abandoned in return for some sort of concession."

Chris Howe, executive director for the New Zealand office of the international conservation group WWF, said that any deal should include an end to scientific whaling.

"Japan would whale coastally for a small number of minkes and only for domestic use, and quotas must be based on the [Revised Management Procedure] alone."

The procedure is a set of rules developed by the IWC that determines allowable catch limits based on estimates of whale numbers and catch figures past and present.

No matter what terms they might eventually discuss, many anti-whaling delegates are optimistic simply about what they see as Japan's willingness to negotiate.

Palmer says Japan may have realized that it went "a step too far" by threatening to kill humpbacks, the basis of many whale-watching operations in the Pacific.

In addition, violent encounters between whalers and protestors in Antarctic waters last month won Japan no public sympathy. (Read "Japan Denies Shooting Anti-Whaling Activist" [March 7, 2008].)

 

When examining the details of any negotiations with Japan Peter Garrett needs to consider whether the ramifications of killing 400 Minke whales annually will lead to localised extinctions and how this would affect genetic diversity and species vigour.

This century in particular is not the time to accept second-best when it comes to species protection.

If this means staring down Kevin Rudd and Cabinet, the Environment Minister needs to do that also.

A new twist in the history of war - or is that the history war?

Jasus wept! Prime ministerial stand-in Julia Gillard told the media yesterday that the Rudd Government would be holding a lengthy and complicated investigation into the wartime sinking of HMAS Sydney, including calling overseas witnesses.

The Second World War is almost 63 years gone, this ship went down around 67 years ago, respective Australian and German governments of the day are no more, their defence force chiefs-of-staff are either dead or extremely old, many of the German Navy survivors would be gone to their rest, those that remain are unlikely to change their original evidence - so why is Terrence Cole QC heading up a formal and expensive commission of inquiry?

This is a matter best left to the historians, universities and philanthropic research donors.

After almost 11 years of Howard Government neglect, there is too much government 'catch-up' funding urgently needed in the areas of health, education and the environment as it is.

No-one wants to return to Howard's strange view of WWI & ll, but this latest Labor enthusiasm is history gone mad.

The new investigation makes my personal WTF list for 2008.

ASIC 2008 "Pie In The Sky" awards for best scams

This one is for all who have ever had their Inbox cluttered with spam and scams, especially on April Fool's Day.

 

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission today announced its 2008 winners of the Pie In The Sky awards.

This trophy will be awarded each year for the most outrageous financial scheme that's too good to be true.

 

Winner

This year the award goes to a disturbing 'advanced fee fraud' scam. This email scam pleaded with people to help a Togo barrister access US$17 million from the estate of a man who along with his family was killed in the Boxing Day tsunami three years ago. This outrageous offer was just too good to be true.

Runners up

The second-place getter is Instep Super.
Instep Super was advertising on television, radio and online offering returns on investment of superannuation funds between eight and 20 per cent.
The advertisements also claimed Instep Super was 'the best performing superannuation fund in Australia'.

The third-place getter is the Electroharvest.
This device supposedly recycled 'ambient electromagnetic radiation back into usable household energy' promising to cut ordinary Australians' power bills by 37 per cent.

 

How to nominate a scam for the 2009 Award
Win $100 prize money for an entry that wins an award.