The News Review:
- We should not be saying sorry to Aborigines
- Government bails out textile mill
- Convict sites in world heritage bid
- Tagged seals go where no scientist has gone before
- Australia to apologise to Aborigines
We should not be saying sorry to Aborigines
NEWS.com.au – Jan 30, 2008
So why no list of names? No case histories? Simple: Lennon’s list is on the public evidence bogus. And too many people now have a vested interest in keeping such truths hidden. The public so far knows the names of only three of the Tasmanian Aborigines Lennon claims were "stolen". They are Eddie Thomas Heather Brown and Annette Peardon who all star in ads Lennon has run to prove he’s good on reconciliation even if he’s evil on pulp mills. These three were no doubt chosen because Lennon’s Government thinks their stories best prove Aboriginal children really were "stolen" – and stolen not because they were in danger but because they were black. But what do these three actually say happened to them? Here’s Eddie Thomas in testimony published by the Human Rights and Equal pportunity Commission: "He and his brother and sister had been placed in her care when his mother died after his birth on Cape Barren Island northeast Tasmania in 1936. He believed his grandmother was duped into signing a consent form… Even Brown doesn’t know why she was taken. So why assume she was "stolen" just for being black? Why not assume what’s more likely – that she went into care for the usual welfare reasons which have us take in so many Aboriginal children even today? Still more dubious is the case of Annette Peardon a "stolen generations" activist. Here’s how she described her case in a special address to the Tasmanian Parliament: "The story that we’ve learned and from some files the charge was neglect for most mothers that lost their children. I myself was removed from Flinders Island with my brother and my mother who’s now deceased was actually in prison for three months’ hard labour for neglect of children. " Peardon says she can’t believe she was neglected but at least admits this – not her blackness – was the reason given for her removal.
Government bails out textile mill
abc.net.au – Jan 30, 2008
“And on the current advice I have we have reason to be optimistic of protecting that business. Mr Lennon says the government does not want to lose all the state’s manufacturing businesses. “It’s important we keep these sorts of businesses in Tasmania if we can” he said. “We need to have a mixed economy we can’t afford to be a state that’s underpinned by 8 or 10 big businesses as we used to be in the 60s. Union happyMark Edwards from the Textile Clothing and Footwear Union says the government’s help for the James Nelson Mill is a state first. “Well this is the first time we’ve heard of it in Tasmania” he said. “We tried with the Blundstone retrenchments and we didn’t receive any assistance there and like I said we couldn’t be happier that they’ve actually dipped into their pockets to help these people.
Convict sites in world heritage bid
NEWS.com.au – Jan 30, 2008
"These convict sites are living memorials to one of the greatest penal experiments in world history – the forced migration between 1787 and 1868 of 166000 men women and children to a largely unknown land” Mr Garrett said. Currently 17 Australian sites are on the World Heritage list – all natural features except Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens and the Sydney pera House. The Great Barrier Reef the Blue Mountains and the Tasmanian wilderness are also among the 851 sites on the World Heritage list. Mr Garrett said a decision on the nomination was expected by mid 2009. Share this article.
Tagged seals go where no scientist has gone before
abc.net.au – Jan 30, 2008
The trackers will be glued to the seals’ heads and will collect data over the next 8 to 9 months on their movement patterns and behaviour. The tags drop off during the moulting season. A University of Tasmania researcher Dr Mark Hindell says the data will provide a better idea of the effect of climate change on the seals. “We’re going to be able to get data from deep in the Antarctic in the middle of winter which you can’t do using conventional oceanographic techniques” he said. “Ships can’t go in there to do the measurements. “The floating buoys that oceanographers use a lot can’t get into the pack ice where these animals are. Researcher Virginia Andrews-Goff says the research is expected to collect invaluable data usually inaccessible to scientists and will supplement data from a separate project involving elephant seals.
Australia to apologise to Aborigines
Independent nline – Jan 30, 2008
All six state governments have already made official apologies to Aborigines who were legally classed as part of the country’s “flora and fauna” until 1967. A landmark referendum that year saw Australians vote to allow Aborigines to be counted in the population. Last week the island state of Tasmania approved a A$5-million compensation fund for 106 Stolen Generation Aborigines taken from their families. State Premier Paul Lennon said no amount could make up for the hurt suffered.