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The Western Australian Opposition has criticised the State Government for not acting quickly to compensate the family of an Aboriginal elder who died from heat stroke after travelling in the back of a prison van.
The Attorney-General has announced he will seek Cabinet approval for an interim ex-gratia payment to the family of Mr Ward, who [...]

The Senate committee in charge of the inquiry into the Federal Government’s proposed nuclear waste dump legislation is expected to decide today whether to visit Tennant Creek.
The inquiry has received more than 200 submissions.
Public hearings will be held in Darwin and Canberra and a decision is expected to be made today on whether the Senate [...]

One of the groups building houses in the Northern Territory as part of the multi-million dollar Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program has been sacked.
The alliance partner, Earth Connect Building Alliance, which operates in Groote Eylandt and Gunbalanya has been removed from housing projects there.
Northern Territory Housing Minister, Chris Burns, says Earth Connect is being [...]

The Country Liberal Senator, Nigel Scullion, says the Northern Territory and Federal Governments have reneged on a promise to properly refurbish remote Indigenous housing.
The Territory Government has admitted the budget available for every refurbishment under the Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program, or SIHIP, will not be enough to bring all the houses up to [...]

Police are no longer flying in and out to patrol the far north Aboriginal lands of South Australia.
Two new police stations and living quarters have been opened at Amata and Mimili in response to a recommendation made in the Mullighan inquiry into abuse among Indigenous children.
Superintendent James Blandford says a third police station at Ernabella [...]

Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships Minister Desley Boyle says a decline in assaults in Cape York Indigenous communities is evidence that alcohol management plans are working.
The plans limit the type and quantity of alcohol that is allowed in some communities.
The head of the Regional Organisation of Councils of Cape York says the plans [...]

An Indigenous community in Cape York in far north Queensland is to become the first in the state to lease deeds of grant in trust land to clan groups.
A Hope Vale Aboriginal corporation has been set up, with representatives from 13 traditional owner groups to allocate land title.
The State Government has granted the corporation control [...]

Indigenous singer-songwriter Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu has scored a US release for his platinum-selling debut album.
The self-titled record by the blind singer from Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory picked up a string of awards following its release in 2008, including an ARIA for best independent album.
It will be released in the US on the Dramatico [...]

The Federal Opposition says the Government must reveal how much money has been spent on the NT Indigenous housing program.
Indigenous Affairs spokesman Nigel Scullion says the Federal Government is attempting to hide failures within the Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program (SIHIP) by gagging contractors and workers.
“It is total confusion and that may be in [...]

Moree Plains Shire Council says it will not stop commercial development on Taylor Oval because of opposition from a minority group.
Last year, the Land and Environment Court blocked a proposal to build a department store on the site.
It ruled the council failed to exhibit the plans properly and said the oval is classed as Crown [...]

Aboriginal people living on the streets of Broome are being offered free bus tickets to get them back to their communities.
Hundreds of Aboriginal people sleep rough in the town’s parks and sand-dunes in conditions the local Shire has described as third world.
The shire last week called their living conditions a disgrace and said children were [...]

Queensland’s controversial Wild Rivers legislation will be examined by a Senate committee next month.
The Senate’s Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee will hold a public hearing in Canberra later this month and in Cairns in mid-April.
The hearing follows the introduction into the Senate of a private members bill requiring traditional owner agreement to the development and [...]

An Indigenous lobbyist says tensions are at breaking point in the Gulf of Carpentaria community of Doomadgee over 40-year leases.
The Federal Government has allocated funding for housing upgrades in remote communities but it is subject to the State Government administering the leases.
Indigenous lobbyist Murrandoo Yanner says residents have not been consulted and legal avenues are [...]

The Greens say Federal Liberal backbencher Wilson Tuckey should be kicked out of his party if he does not apologise for comments he made about Aboriginal people.
Mr Tuckey says acknowledging traditional owners of land at official functions is a farce and should not be done.
“I have never thanked anyone for the right to be on [...]

The Murri Task Force is calling for a new trustee to be appointed for Moree’s Taylor Oval, after Moree council approved commercial development on the site of Indigenous burials and historical sporting moments.
The call comes six months after the Supreme Court blocked a proposal to build a department store on Taylor Oval due to the [...]

The Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has been criticised for describing the formal acknowledgement of traditional owners of land at functions as tokenistic.
Tony Abbott says acknowledgement of traditional Aboriginal owners of land can fall into formalism and tokenism if it is overused.
Labor backbencher Steve Gibbons says the comments are mean spirited.
“They’re taking the redneck line in [...]

Aboriginal groups have rejected claims by the federal Opposition leader Tony Abbott that acknowledging the traditional owners of land at official functions is tokenism.
Mr Abbott says there are occasions when it is appropriate but most times it just looks like formalism and tokenism.
West Australian MP Wilson Tuckey says it is a farce and should not [...]

The Member for the Pilbara says there is an urgent need for additional housing across regional Western Australia to address overcrowding in Aboriginal communities.
Tom Stephens has welcomed the State Government’s decision to proceed with Aboriginal housing legislation, which ensures structured responsibility between the government and communities.
Mr Stephens says while there has been progress with future [...]

Outspoken Liberal backbencher Wilson Tuckey has backed Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s criticism of politicians acknowledging traditional landowners at official events.
Mr Abbott ignited debate on the issue when he accused Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and his ministers of engaging in “tokenism” and unnecessary political correctness when they acknowledge traditional owners while speaking at functions.
“I certainly make [...]

You hear it said that football is more than just sport – it’s a religion or a way of life.
Certainly in the Tiwi Islands, just north of Darwin, it is a force for social change and a flag bearer of community standards.
The islands have produced some of the biggest stars in the AFL but the [...]