BIG NEWS:
@bridgeyb
is our new Indigenous Affairs Editor at
@abcnews
!!! Can’t wait to work with one of the most thoughtful, considered and clever journos in the biz again. (She’s also my BFF/sista which makes it even sweeter 😄)
Very loud crowd at Sydney climate rally. Several people have told me this the first protest they’ve ever attended because they’re so upset about bushfires and climate change situation
@abcnews
Another morning wake up to air raids sirens here in Lviv. Only one so far, which we’ve been told means go to shelter . If there’s a second we are being told to take shelter. A third means lock in.
Sometimes in media industry there’s a perception that you must have diverse representation only because it’s the ‘right thing’ to do. But a diversity of views, experiences and understanding actually makes for better national debate (and more interesting tv.) Top job
@bridgeyb
!
"It is not good enough anymore particularly at this moment, but I would say any week, to have a panel of white people speaking about issues when there is very little lived experience of discrimination and racism on that panel," says
@bridgeyb
.
#insiders
#auspol
Everyone at
#InvasionDay2021
rally in Sydney raises a fist in solidarity. Crowds look a bit different this year but still a large showing.
@ABCIndigenous
My last story as Indigenous affairs correspondent. It’s a look at one of the touchstone issues - housing. A big thanks to all the incredible people I’ve met in this job, especially this generous family in Yarrabah. Leaving the role with a very full heart
My bestie
@isabellahiggins
just named Europe Correspondent! The best appointment - you couldn’t find a more compassionate, hard-working and innovative journo. My only sorrow is not getting to work with her for the next few years 😭 💚💙❤️💛🖤
Right now feels like a moment of awakening, of a struggle realised, but it's a bittersweet scenario for Indigenous families where similar issues are at play but with none of the global attention
@ABCIndigenous
For some people in this country racism feels like a bigger threat to their lives than COVID. That’s why they protested. You may find it selfish but that’s their reality. Headlines like this distracts from much needed convos about how to fix the inequitable justice system
A school in Lviv has turned its basement into a shooting range. New rules allow Ukrainian residents to carry firearms to protect themselves. Parents and children practising together in preparation for a possible conflict.
If I’m counting correctly this is the 6th time air raid sirens have sounded in Lviv today. Mostly we are given a safety signal within the half hour. But I’ve watched a woman drag her 3 small, children to our hotel shelter at all hours now. Each time you feel her sense of panic
For more than a decade (possibly forever) this NT community has been drinking water with uranium almost 3x recommend levels. They have lost their legal battle for safe water.
Residents of the remote central Australian community of Laramba have lost a case against the Northern Territory Government over high levels of uranium in their drinking water:
In Lviv there were queues of people lining up to join military efforts. 52-year-old Taras Rodtsevych signed up for the reserves the day before invasion - “just in case.” He woke up to news of Russian attacks and today was on duty “fighting for Ukraine’s freedom.”
#FirestarterAU
is so good. Gives you chills and then makes you cry … thinking about what this family, dance company and country have been through … just like all the incredible
#Bangarra
works over the years.
When Stephen Page visited Arnhem Land as a young dancer, the experience changed his life, and it would have a profound impact on his work with Bangarra Dance Company (
@BangarraDance
).
#FirestarterAU
Dozens gathered in the centre of Lviv to help make military supplies. Together they tore up and threaded scrap materials to create a camouflage net. An air siren sounded and they took shelter for 45minutes before returning. “Whatever our country needs,” one local said.
@abcnews
I find it interesting that
@ABCmediawatch
would question
@4corners
’ reporting on the personal lives of male politicians ... then examine the personal life of a female journalist and question her professionalism because of who she is married to
"Do I think the royal commission brought change to our community? In honesty, no.” Families frustrated on 30th anniversary of Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody
@ABCIndigenous
"I am concerned"
@KenWyattMP
tells
@PatsKarvelas
. He says very low vax rates in Indigenous communities near NT mine linked to COVID outbreak. Also says only 89,000 Indig Australians have received first shot. About 16% of total Indig population.
Some of the (happy and not so happy) faces at the Indigenous community vaccine rollout in Mildura today. Mallee District Aboriginal Service one of the first ACCHOs to start vaccinating their community. Aunty Iris (first pic) was actually excited IRL!
@ABCIndigenous
@VACCHO_org
The Aus Day debate is our ideological wrestling over which part of this continent's history is more important: the 65,000 years before 1788, or the 240-odd that followed. It appears there’s a generational divide on which side we’d like to honour.
Interesting ... when we just heard from
@KenWyattMP
that "hesitancy" is the main thing stopping Indigenous Australians from getting vaccinated. Hesitancy or supply?
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Victorians have the highest uptake of first dose COVID-19 vaccinations for both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in Australia. [1/3]
The doctor who sent Ms Dhu back to police custody despite her showing symptoms of illness found guilty of professional misconduct. Fined max penalty of $30k
Front and centre at
#InvasionDay
rally: NRL star Latrell Mitchell. Even had a quick dance. Not pictured but his team mate Cody Walker also joined in.
@ABCIndigenous
@abcnews
“We have a shared future — Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians — and the two sides must come together to deliver lasting equality” - Pat Turner’s powerful Charles Perkins Oration. I had the pleasure of hosting this special event.
My clever Aka (Aunty) - Annie Gela. An artist, author, and community leader. She painted this epic piece for the Rockhampton Hospital to make it feel more culturally safe. Growing up I was so inspired reading her books about our people.
#BecauseOfHerWeCan
#naidoc
Many basement turned makeshift petrol bomb factory stories around here. Lviv local Timofi and his friends have made hundreds of Molotov cocktails in the carpark of residential apartment block. He says: “In Ukraine, Molotov is a beautiful liquid.”
Very excited for my friends ... and really hoping I don’t hit the wrong button while I’m filling in. Can’t wait to work with brilliant
@triplejHack
team!
More and more Indigenous kids are leaving country and culture to give boarding school a shot. I spoke to these lovely girls about the very real challenges it presents. As
#NAIDOC2020
kicks off these young women are some young leaders worth celebrating 🙌🏾
There’s nothing new about the fight against deaths in custody. More than 30 years ago Alice Dixon was pushing for change. Her quest for justice had a tragic end.
@ABCIndigenous
Scenes at Lviv train station. Shows just how many people are transiting through this city. Some leaving for a safer country, others just arriving from other parts of Ukraine. I’m told many are speaking Russian suggesting a lot from eastern parts of Ukraine.
"It brings to life what I know to be true in hard evidence.” New data shows more than 33k living members of Stolen Generations. Double estimates made just 3 years ago.
@ABCIndigenous
"It's effectively the largest litigation and largest compensation claim in the world." The Noongar people of south-west WA are pursuing more than $290 billion for "spiritual damage" caused by loss of their traditional land
@ABCIndigenous
Went on a trip to the most "Mars-like" place on earth with
@NASA
scientists. Turns out this patch of Australia could hold the key to finding life on the red planet. Aussie scientists from
@UNSW
were the teachers.
Some of the country's top Indigenous lawyers are calling for major reforms to state coronial investigation processes to help grieving families who are "losing faith" in the system
@ABCIndigenous
Some of the characters from the Coloured Diggers march in Redfern. “We want to say we'll honour and recognise you and never forget, because our people were forgotten”
@ABCIndigenous
@abcnews
Traffic jam to get to Lviv train station. This has become one of the busiest areas of the city. Queues go back kilometres. I’d guess guess an hours long wait. I’ve seen hundreds of people moving with suitcases, pets and bags of food.
@abcnews
This story was just heartbreaking. No question Tinder and police need to SERIOUSLY step up. But god as a society we have so much work to do to stop men from thinking this ok and they can get away with it. Amazing work.
@AvaniDias
@_angemccormack
@triplejHack
Looks like 8 of 34 NRL players not singing the anthem tonight in
#stateoforigin2019
? Whether that’s intentional or not. Several Indigenous players already said the song doesn’t represent them and wouldn’t join in.
@ABCIndigenous
“January 26 was not the foundation of Australia ... It simply marks the arrival of explorers and invaders from distant lands.” Fmr Vic Premier
@jeff_kennett
now supports changing date of
#AustraliaDay
. Last year he wrote that day must be “protected” .
Main observation from watching the Indigenous matters senate estimates this morning ... there aren’t many First Nations people running our national public services. Not all that surprising sadly, but for Indigenous-specific bodies you’d expect more.
My great-great uncle Kamuel Abednego. One of many hundred men who served in WWII from the Torres Strait. He was even recruited by the US Navy and rose to the rank of Lieutenant. He was badly wounded and forever after had health problems.
#LestWeForget
3 communities in the NT have been drinking water with elevated uranium levels for more than a decade. "Our kids need proper water, not with uranium" READ:
@ABCIndigenous
“There is no acknowledgement of this problem by the politicians and no effort to re-train the police to stop them from killing us” - the always fierce Marcia Langton on
#BLMAustralia
This grandmother sleeps on the kitchen floor so none of her family go homeless. Now her community is suing the NT Government over their state of their housing and water
@abcindigenous
“The National Agreement may not include everything our people want or need to make lasting change but this is a huge step forward.” Got to admire Pat Turner’s work negotiating with Gov. Some targets have almost doubled in ambition since 2018 draft plan.
The story of first contact between Dharawal people and Captain Cook's crew as you've never heard it.
@rayingrey
tell us the "story from the shore" to mark 250th anniversary of Cook's landing.
@ABCIndigenous
.
"I am proud, I am excited, emotional, but I think there are lots of good days ahead" - Cynthia Lui, the first Torres Strait Islander elected to Aus parliament on her historic election.
@ABCIndigenous
So much fun doing this story with
@DaretonS
Public School. Made me want to go back and do my primary years again. Amazing work happening at this little school.
@ABCIndigenous
@kirstiewellauer
Me when I find out the brilliant and hugely talented
@isabellahiggins
is the next
@abcnews
Europe Correspondent.
We forgot our notebooks on the first day of cadet training but Bella has v clearly blossomed into an incredible journalist since then! Could not be more proud 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾
NSW AG
@MarkSpeakman
says no major updates on raising the age of criminal responsibility from CAG meeting. Says more work to be done to understand alternatives to imprisonment. Report will be handed to the council next year.
The world has been given an insight into the cruel reality of a young Indigenous boy with a disability, but Quaden Bayles is not alone in his struggle. Families talk about struggling with “double disadvantage”
@ABCIndigenous
Almost 20 years before Australia and England faced-off in the first-ever Ashes battle, it was an all-Indigenous XI who paved the way via
@michaelamarea
@ABCIndigenous
AFL apologises to Adam Goodes for failure to address racism in the game: "We apologise unreservedly for our failures during this period ... [we] let down all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players, past and present.”
Front and centre at the Australian stand at
#COP26
a display for Santos and carbon capture. The stall next to it was promoting the end of fossil fuels.
“I don’t want to be dead and buried in the ground and this is still be a target.”
@KenWyattMP
tells
@PatsKarvelas
the current draft CTG plan aims for parody in Indigenous incarceration rates by 2093. He hopes it’s revised by tomorrow to be more ambitious.
"The idea that these people who had passed away and their blood was still in Canberra, did that mean that the person hadn't moved on to the next world?"
@ABCIndigenous
It’s important to note that an independent review of the RCIADIC recommendations (conducted in 2017) found that the Australian Government has fully or mostly implemented 91% of recommendations for which it has responsibility. 1/7
Check out my Uncle Jono explaining how the clans and totems of the Torres Strait work. So excited for
@ABCIndigenous
' new show about our country
#BlueWaterEmpire
Could be some months before the interim report considering models for an Indigenous voice is made public. Handed to Minister Wyatt’s office today. Might be out for public consultation later this year or early next year.
#estimates
Aboriginal families in the city are putting themselves into self-induced lockdown. With multiple generations in many Indigenous homes this is how they’re protecting vulnerable elders.
@ABCIndigenous
“Let’s see if together we an find that pathway to be included in the nation’s constitution ... How long do we have to wait, [for] another Prime Minister?” - Senior Gumatj leader Djawa Yunupingu at
#Garma18
@abcnews