In defence of free speech and the rights of First Peoples

On 8 April 2011 North Coast Voices embedded a Vimeo video made by the Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation here on our blog.

Since then Crikey has published this:
Lawyers representing Fortescue Metal Group (FMG) and CEO Andrew Forrest have sent legal letters to a video hosting website requesting they take down a controversial clip of a native title meeting held in Roebourne last month despite issuing a denial to Crikey yesterday that they'd been in touch with Vimeo.
In an email from FMG's legal team to Vimeo, Fortescue say the video is defamatory, misleading, "incites racial hatred" and is "designed to intimidate."
Uploaded by Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation, the video attracted 12,000 plays in nine days before being removed on Tuesday by the New York-based video hosting site in response to the threats.
The video has since been uploaded to YouTube and has been the subject of heated discussion on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.
A spokesperson for Vimeo confirmed that the videos had been taken down for legal reasons. Fortescue spokesman Cameron Morse told Crikey yesterday his company had not had any contact with Vimeo about the controversial video. When contacted by Crikey this morning, Morse declined to clarify his comments.
Michael Cheah, legal counsel representing Vimeo, says the video was removed after the hosting site received correspondence from lawyers for FMG and Forrest alleging that the video contained defamatory and misleading statements about them.

So in the interests of free speech, North Coast Voices again embeds the video - this time in two parts from YouTube.





YINDJIBARNDI PRESS RELEASE: Vimeo forced to delete “FMG’s Great Native Title Swindle” video after legal threats from FMG and CEO Andrew Forrest.

Black Caviar-gate

My second cousin, who's a nephew of the late Clarence the Clocker, was at Royal Randwick when Black Caviar donkey-licked her opposition and won the Group 1 T.J. Smith Stakes over 1200 metres last Saturday.

But, here's the rub. Officially, a crowd of 25,368 was reported to have turned up to see her. However, my second cousin says he's prepared to take London-to-a-brick-on odds about the crowd being closer to 35,000 and not the reported 25,000.

So, who tickled the till? Who helped themselves to the gate takings? Nothing less than a Royal Commission is required to get to the bottom of this scandal. 

Credit: Image of BC from formguide.cyberhorse.com.au

Wahluu: Australia's premier car racing circuit

While much debate continues to rage about how to pronounce the name of the NSW city that hosts Australia's premier car racing event, Aboriginal man Bill Allen is pushing for Mount Panorama at Bathurst to be given duel names in order to recognise its Wiradjuri name, Wahluu.

Mr Allen will be taking his case to the local naming authorities and is hoping for a positive decision by October when the city hosts the NSW Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout, just prior to the next Bathurst 1000 motor race.

Speaking on ABC North Coast local radio, the Koori Mail's Darren Coyne remarked that people readily acknowledge Wollumbin and Mt Warning are one and the same thing.

So, there shouldn't be a problem using Wahluu and Panorama in the same breath, should there?

All that's needed will be an educational program for television and radio broadcasters, especially those from the Old Dart (and their cronies), to add Wahluu to their lexicon. Admittedly, that task will be a bit difficult, but not impossible.

Source: The Koori Mail

Help Yamba Go Plastic Free

Live in Yamba? Visit on weekends? Holiday there?

Then you can help Yamba keep its environment litter free by spurning plastic shopping bags in favour of the environmentally friendly variety. Bring your own or buy them in the town.

Since 2009 the Yamba Chamber of Commerce and a committee of concerned local residents (in conjunction with Clean Up Australia, Australian Retailers Association and the Australian Government) have been promoting sustainable shopping by selling hemp shopping bags.

These large, durable, attractive cloth bags sell for $5 each and, money raised will be used to purchase more of these bags for sale in the town.

For more information email: info@yambaNSW.com.au

SAY NO TO PLASTIC

PCEHR opt-in provision expected to allay privacy concerns. Pull the other one!

Sometimes I wonder exactly where on the globe this LaLa Land pollies live in is to be found.
Because no-one could seriously believe that the e-Health initiative (laughing called the voluntary Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR) System) that Roxon and Co are intent on saddling Australia with is not part of a national database which will be packed with inerasable and sometimes error-riddled records.
A system which will allow every nosey parker, from police through to the local chemist, access to someone else's personal information if they decide to class their data crawl as an 'emergency' request.
To make the entire situation a little more bizarre; it seems that if an emergency request goes in on someone whose does not yet have a digital health record in this system (and perhaps never wanted to opt-in) then one is created without that individual's knowledge or consent.
Once created this new record can be hidden from view but can't be eradicated.
Even death won't see your record disappear; so be prepared for the possibility that eventually these records will turn up in the National Archives for your great-grandkids entertainment. Just as anyone can now find out if their dead Anzac grandpa contracted the clap on the way to the front in WWl by looking at a copy of his military record online.
And apparently this e-Health system can be accessed after July next year by Roxon's nosey parkers on the move using iPhone and Blackberry.
The potential for abuse is enormous.