We request the refunding for critical support services and counselling for criminalised women pre and post release prison in North Queensland by the LNP who cut the funding last week.

Why is this important? Criminalised women have the highest rate of sexual and physical abuse perpetrated against them in our community. Due to this horrendous abuse women turn to self medication with illiiegal drugs and / or alcohol. Nearly 60% of the women have a mental illness.

In Townsville women’s prison over 80% of women are Aboriginal and over 90% of the women cannot read and write. These issues have to be addressed, so that women when released into the community can move on with their lives and not return to drug and alcohol abuse and offending to feed their addiction.

Housing is also a fundamental part of their success on release. The support of our services assists women in healing their traumas and practical needs so when released they can reconnect with their children and families and move towards their goals and being a part of their communities.

(via Save Sisters Inside | CommunityRun)

Sister’s Inside is founded and run by primarily ex-inmate women and some lawyers. It’s been an internationally recognized success model of a service that helps;

- inmate mothers and their children re-establishing or maintain functional relationships during/after imprisonment.

- improved prospects of literacy, safe accommodation and finding work on release.

Allowing how many female inmates in Qld are ATSI women being punished for defending themselves in domestic violence situations, or arrested for petty ‘offences’ related to homelessness, this being top of the list for service shut down tells you exactly where real state priorities are.

Probably not coincidentally: they host the Is Prison Obsolete? Conferences, being one of the few regional public forums about changing the overall high imprisonment of marginalized people, not just services.

Oz folk - pls. signal boost on your other networks, not many politics Oz folk on tumblr.  Non-Oz folk - ATSI = Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. Native + Black.

The traditional owner, an older woman with a tough grace, welcomed us to her land. Her words were plain and her voice was tinged with a sense of pride. Her group was one of the few in southern Australia to obtain a native title determination recognising the members as native title holders.  (via Reading the Constitution out Loud · Meanjin)

Marcia Langtons’ article on the history, process &  issues around constitutional reform for recognition of Aboriginal Australians.  Photo: Untitled (Marcia Langton) 2002, detail, Christian Bumbarra Thompson.

kcvmh:

Tell me the truth, do you want an end to this engagement?

Game of Thrones - S2x04 - “Garden of Bones”

provocatoria:

Advice for white Indigenous activists in Australia (Gary Foley)

Aboriginal historian, activist and leader, Gary Foley, explains the do’s and don’t’s of white activism. 100% Juice from an inspiring orator, and priceless advice for all would-be allies of Indigenous people in the struggle for justice.

Filmed during the public discussion forum: ‘Deactivating Colonialism / Decolonising Acivism’ convened by Clare Land at MAYSAR (Melbourne Aboriginal Youth, Sport and Recreation), Fitzroy: August 31st, 2010.

What would you do if you came across someone on the street that had not had anything to eat for several days? Would you give that person some food?

Well, the next time you get that impulse you might want to check if it is still legal to feed the homeless where you live. Sadly, feeding the homeless has been banned in major cities all over America. Other cities that have not banned it outright have put so many requirements on those that want to feed the homeless (acquiring expensive permits, taking food preparation courses, etc.) that feeding the homeless has become “out of reach” for most average people.

Some cities are doing these things because they are concerned about the “health risks” of the food being distributed by ordinary “do-gooders”. Other cities are passing these laws because they do not want homeless people congregating in city centers where they know that they will be fed.

But at a time when poverty and government dependence are soaring to unprecedented levels, is it really a good idea to ban people from helping those that are hurting? This is just another example that shows that our country is being taken over by control freaks. There seems to be this idea out there that it is the job of the government to take care of everyone and that nobody else should even try.

via Feeding The Homeless BANNED In Major Cities All Over America

I’m sure some ppl. will point out the journalistic bias of this. I will point out the power dynamic bias, and assuming people can’t interpret news for themselves, bias in such feedback.

guerrillamamamedicine:

Readers of this blog will not be unaware that in 2009 my third child was stillborn at home. In October last year the NSW coroner’s office decided an inquiry needed to be held. We received the brief a few weeks ago and today I received my bill for the upcoming legal services I’ll be accessing for preparation and 3-4 days of the inquiry. As you might imagine, this is considerable. In fact it’s AU$60,000. Yes, really.

My lawyer has been sterling and has worked for me thus far pro bono. His support and commitment has made a brutal process somewhat more approachable and manageable. I could not be more grateful to him. I now need to hire a barrister because this is not just my family’s problem, this is about the right of every single Australian woman to choose her place of birth.

I hope that you, dear readers, will consider a donation to help my family out in this instance. It is because of the work I do in birth that I have been targetted in this way and while I will never stop doing this work, I have paid high prices professionally and personally and now in a very real and literal sense, for speaking the truth about birth in Australia.

You can paypal to janetlegalfees@gmail.com if you feel moved to donate. I will be eternally grateful and each one of you will know that you did something concrete towards helping me and the families with whom I’ve worked. Thank you.

There are lots of things about coronial processes which are invisible outside of those involved. I’m not asking for pity but I think it important to share that as part of preparing for court I am required to watch the video of birthing and commencing resus on my stillborn babe over and over, in the company of my lawyers. I find it hard to imagine many women whose babes are born in hospitals being asked to participate in this and for that I am thankful because no woman should. While I never get to parent my younger daughter, I can do this for her and for the child and woman she would have been had she not been unable to stay with me. So sending me loving thoughts on Monday would be a help to me as I slog through another day preparing. Thank you, everyone. I feel so blessed by love and support around me and really, who could ask for more? ♥

Addendum: with all due respect to the Sunday Telegraph, I did not say witch hunt. I never say witch hunt. I find it an historically problematic and loaded term and I refrain from using it in relation to the current international obstetric campaign against women and midwives.

Oz folk pls. circulate this on twitter/failbook etc., cos you know - not so many Oz ppl. here - and despite a tonne of campaigning/education by the local maternity coalition, it’s like the hostility to midwives and our internationally high C section rates in hospitals fall off the radar outside elections.

nezua:

The capitalist social pyramid is black at the base and white at the top. In South Africa, until apartheid was formally abolished in 1994, this pyramid was legally sanctioned. Elsewhere, while slavery and segregation have been outlawed, the richest people are still the whitest and the poorest are the blackest.

Racism suits capitalism because it’s an important way of justifying economic discrimination. It’s no accident that wherever you find racism, someone seems to be making money from it.

Racist ideas help capitalism get away with super-exploiting racial and ethnic minorities, and all non-white people.

“Those Arabs” or “Those Asians”, we’re told, “are used to doing dirty, hard work, and they’ll be glad to get a job at all.”

Or when unemployment is on the rise, it’s always handy to blame “Asians”, or whichever ethnic group is being demonised at the time, for taking jobs away from “real” Australians.

And when governments in the rich countries impose welfare funding or wage cuts on working people, they always start by targeting the most vulnerable groups — non-Anglo migrants or indigenous people. International students are often the first to cop attacks on higher education.

Racism fosters the idea that the massive under-development and deprivation faced by the people of the Third World is “their fault”. This leads to acceptance of the idea that, while rich countries should give some aid or loans, it should be tied to the recipient government agreeing to terms favourable to the donor countries, including huge interest charges.

Without racist and nationalist ideas prevalent in the populations of imperialist countries, people would be less likely to accept as “natural” or “inevitable” the huge inequalities between the First and Third Worlds or endorse wars on Third World peoples who resist imperialist domination.

In other words, racism is a way for the capitalist class to divide ordinary people from each other, within and between countries: divide and rule.

Important.

Laws that prevent people from voting, owning property or even working in certain professions on the basis of race are still permitted by our Constitution. Ours is likely the only country in the world whose Constitution still contains a ‘race power’ [section 51(xxvi)] which allows Parliament to enact racially discriminatory laws.

Today the Expert Panel appointed by the Government has handed down its final recommendations for recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in the Constitution. This historic proposal for a Constitutional referendum would:

• Add a statement recognising the prior occupation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and their unique and significant contribution to the life of this nation.

• Remove the ability of States and Territories to disquality people from voting on the basis of race (section 25).

• Remove the right of governments to make laws to the detriment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

• Create a new power to make positive laws with respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

• Add a new protection against discrimination on the basis of race, colour or ethnicity.

• Recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages as the original Australian languages.

This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to unite behind real change. It’s time to bring our Constitution into the 21st century.

Send a letter to key MPs and party leaders via this link

Hello Ozbods, online letters don’t seem popular in these parts, but just this once send anyway pls.??? Only takes a minute.

re: arguments that the ‘race power’ has existed since Federation and ATSI civil rights ‘happened’ anyway, so it’s to symbolic and irrelevant to invest resources in changing now;

• Symbolism is politically relevant.
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights did not ‘happen’, they were fought for and are currently regressing in key areas e.g health, imprisonment rates.
• Conservatives can use outmoded racist powers like this to undermine contemporary ATSI rights advocates; by pressuring them into expensive, time consuming court battles over legal interpretations, draining resources from other goals.
• The NT Intervention proved that political will exists to revive and abuse this power. 
• Why defend hanging onto a ‘race power’ if it’s so irrelevant??

ourcatastrophe:

leonineantiheroine:

From Pamela Curr, Campaign Coordinator at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre:

“THE LATEST IN DETENTION CELLS FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS

There are fifty of these being built in white one and two compounds on Christmas Island. They are for those detainees whom the Minister decides need “behaviour modification”.

Don’t be shocked - this is Australia. No police investigation, no Judge or Jury, no court required. Summary extrajudicial punishment in our Administrative detention only camps.

23 hours in a cell and then you can be let out into the fresh air cage at the back of your cell if you are lucky and well behaved, for an hour per day. This complies with requirements.”

WELL THEN

The man who took his life last night in Villawood was a refugee waiting for a security check. He had been through the rigorous Australian refugee process and found to be a refugee to whom Australia owed protection. Rest in peace Shooty - your death will not be in vain.

Why was he still in detention? That is a question for the Government. In answer to the question - “Does ASIO require irregular maritime arrivals to remain in detention whilst it undertakes its security assessment?” - ASIO has unequivocally stated: “It is not a requirement under the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979 that irregular maritime arrivals (IMAs) remain in detention during the security assessment process. The detention of IMAs is managed by the DIAC, in accordance with Australian Government policy.” ASIO ANNUAL REPORT 2011

The Government and the Department of Immigration were informed 18 months ago that ASIO did not require the detention of people during this time. ASIO in frustration put it in their annual report publicly two weeks ago. So we are left to ask why there are 1,591* refugees unnecessarily in detention awaiting security checks when they have been found to be refugees including the man who lost hope about 3:00am this morning and took his life. This man had begged to be allowed into community detention. He had Australian friends ready to provide him with accommodation and care. The Department and the Minister knew this and yet chose to keep him in detention. His coronial inquiry will reveal the level of arbitrary abuse which the detention system imposed on this man.

via Another senseless, tragic death in detention - The Drum Opinion - ABC

Does anyone really doubt anymore, that the main reason refugees are being detained is because so much abuse and failure has now been committed that neither senior politicians or DIAC staff want witnesses out in the community where they can expose it?