CAAMA Radio News May 15 – 2023 Get in contact with the CAAMA newsroom: news@caama.com.au CAAMA Radio produces two local news bulletins airing at 12pm and 5pm every weekday.
A full bulletin can also be heard online.
In this bulletin:
The Northern Territory’s corruption watchdog has cleared former Chief Minister Michael Gunner of alleged political interference in the decision to charge Constable Zachary Rolfe with murder.
A pregnant woman remanded in Darwin prison will be separated from her baby, partly because overcrowding at the jail means they can’t stay together in the dedicated mother’s section.
A group of Yolngu students from the Gunyingarra community have made history by competing in the world robotics championships held in in the US city of Dallas.
A motion put forward in March by Alice Springs Town Councillor Michael Liddle calling for Alice Springs to stop hosting the Sunday country AFL competition meant community football games would no longer be played on Alice Springs Town Council grounds. Counselor Liddle said the town can’t afford the anti social behavior that bush AFL brings to the town on weekends.The upcoming season will now have to consider playing games in communities hundreds of kilometers away from Alice Springs. The NTFL said it was disappointed by the decision and that there is no evidence showing community football brought anti-social behaviour to Alice Springs, with research actually showing it had a positive impact in the town
“This is the time that the light has to come on now we are at a point in time where our identity is being questioned – how can we have knowledge about country when we don’t have knowledge about ourselves and where we’re going ?”……Michael Liddle
A time out where people can sit back… take a step backwards… and make a plan of how we can manage this…. Floyd Doyle.
Floyd Doyle talks with Alice Springs Town councillor Michael Liddle about why council took the decision to suspend community games at its grounds in Mparantwe/ Alice Springs.
With 3174 of every 100,000 Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory currently incarcerated, Aboriginal people are 13 times more likely to be imprisoned than their non-Aboriginal counterparts. This extreme over representation of the Indigenous population can be limited through effective justice reinvestment. …..Northern Territory Prison System Report 2023
The report also makes several recommendations to allow prisoners to adequately rehabilitate in prison, and reintegrate back into society without making further contact with the criminal justice system. These include: . Incarceration as a last resort . Justice reinvestment from corrections to community based alternatives . Isolating youths from staff charged with misconduct. . Taking greater steps towards improving the handling of cases of mental illness, suicide and self-harm for women prisoners. . Developing better educational and training programs for all prisoners in the Northern Territory.
The three key aims of the Aboriginal Justice Agreement are to reduce re-offending and imprisonment rates of Aboriginal Territorians to reduce crime, engage and support Aboriginal leadership and improve justice responses and services for Aboriginal Territorians.
Davina is a client at the Alternative to Custody Life Skills Camp in Mparntwe / Alice Springs.
“I really like it in here – prison is not the place to be and its very good having programs everyday, getting you to be somewhere once you leave and maybe changing your lifestyle of alcohol and things like that”
Get in contact with the CAAMA newsroom: news@caama.com.au
CAAMA Radio produces two local news bulletins airing at 12pm and 5pm every weekday. A full bulletin can also be heard online.
In this bulletin:
Federal Parliament pays tribute to the late Yolngu Elder Mr Yunupingu;
The Federal Budget sets aside $250 million for Central Australia and $360 million for an Indigenous Voice To Parliament, if it’s supported at the referendum;
Two groups from the “No” to the Voice To Parliament campaign merge into one group;
And Tennis champ Ash Barty urging Australians to Buy Australian.
The Territory Government handed down their 2023 budget in the NT parliament yesterday morning.
The government has already announced that it will be spending 2 billion dollars on the NT health department in the next financial year and will be putting 71 million dollars into increasing the subsidy it pays to every Northern Territory power bill.
Six million dollars has been put towards further remote housing infrastructure, while 15 million dollars will go to initiatives under the Aboriginal Justice Agreement, including “Alternative to Custody” facilities in Alice Springs and Groote Eylandt and the establishment of community courts and law and justice groups.
Northern Territory treasurer Eva Lawler who handed down the 2023 Northern Territory Budget yesterday was also keen to assure that this year’s budget is one which will deliver for all territorians as the territory progresses on an upwards growth trajectory .
The treasurer also addressed important issues that continue to impact on a daily basis….
Budget 2023 includes new policy commitments for core government services, it reduces cost of living pressures for territorians while making historic investment in justice reform and the prevention of domestic family and sexual violence.
The Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women’s Voices) National Summit will be held over three days from 9-11 May 2023, with an additional one-day Youth Forum on 8 May 2023. The Summit will bring together over 200 First Nations women delegates from across Australia, for decision-making, innovation and celebration.
The National Summit is an outcome of the Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women’s Voices) project, led by Commissioner June Oscar AO, in partnership with the National Indigenous Australians Agency. It is the first ever national gathering of its kind.
The Summit is a once-in-a-generation platform for agreement-making where First Nations women will come together, raise their collective voice, and determine the way ahead. It will be a space for showcasing and decision-making with multisectoral stakeholders from governments, academia, business and more. At the Summit, serious commitments and lasting relationships will be formed across these diverse sectors to invest in the vital work identified through Wiyi Yani U Thangani, guaranteeing it is made real and drives systemic change over the long-term.
First Nations women and girls’ voices are vital to paving the way for a future that all Australians deserve and have a right to.
Text supplied Australian Human Rights Commission.
Sometimes we think that we’re behind in a lot of these opportunities where we’re raising our issues… we’re actually leading in some of this area of work which is very surprising.In fact we’re pleasantly surprised when we’re leading on these fronts in elevating our issues. June Oscar Aboriginal and Torres strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner June Oscar talks with Jenni Hubert. Listen here :