‘concerned Australians’ (‘cA’)
‘cA’ has received overnight the attached media release from the Berlin Office of the NGO the Society For Threatened Peoples (STP), calling on the Australian Government to form clear agreements and to enter “credible dialogue to treaty/ies with the Aboriginal Australians.”
This has occurred in the lead up to this weekend’s Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM 2015) meeting in Malta, November 27-29th.
The action also coincides with the 5th Global call to action regarding closures of Aboriginal communities on November the 27th.
A bound package of information from STP with letters of request and petitions is being delivered to the Secretary General of the Commonwealth Of Nations’, Kamalesh Sharma’s London office on November 27th and the same package is on its way to Queen Elizabeth II and PM Malcolm Turnbull.
The 3 minute footage explaining Society For Threatened Peoples, in English, action can be found at –
A one minute footage (no words) showing the Berlin protest of Nov 13th just prior to PM Turnbull’s meeting with Chancellor Angel Merkel is at –
Permission to use footage and all material is approved by the STP
The Society For Threatened Peoples Media Release is attached and below.
There have long been calls to treaties from Aboriginal people in Australia. More recently e.g. Dr Chris Sarra (founding chairman of the Stronger Smarter Institute and the Commissioner of the Australian Rugby League) included a call to treaty/ies in his Australian Senate Occasional Lecture , “Delivering Beyond Indigenous Policy Rhetoric” (13th Nov 2015).
His full speech and NITV 3minute news clip from the Parliament studio can be found at –
http://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2015/11/13/chris-sarras-delivering-beyond-indigenous-policy-lecture-full-text-and-key-quotes
The Yolngu Nations Assembly more recent call to treaty is urgent. Their document and rationale can be found at –
http://www.yolngunations.org/uploads/1/7/2/5/17257560/uca_proposal_65_passed_170715.pdf http://www.yolngunations.org/
‘cA’ Media
Contacts
Georgina Gartland 0412 396 388
Pia Pagotto 0419 541 733www.concernedaustralians.com.au
International STP contacts at end.
…..SOCIETY FOR THREATENED PEOPLE – PRESS RELEASE (Nov 26th) Göttingen / London, November 26, 2015
Rights of the Aboriginal Australians in the Commonwealth: STP submits appeal in LondonOn Friday (November 27), on occasion of the global day of action of the Australian initiative #SOSBLAKAUSTRALIA, the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) will hand over an appeal to the Commonwealth Secretariat in London: The appeal, which focuses on the rights of the Aboriginal Australians, was signed by 2,000 German and European supporters.
“The Aborigines need clear agreements with the majority society. If they are not granted clearly defined rights, they will not be able to achieve self-determination – leaving them dependent on the government and the authorities,” stated the international human rights organization on behalf of the ethnic and religious minorities.
“Following centuries of exclusion, racism, oppression and persecution, most of the 460,000 aboriginal Australians are now living on the fringes of society. They have no real perspective, and many of them are ill and uprooted.”
The STP’s appeal is addressed to Kamalesh Sharma, the Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Nations, and will be handed over as part of a protest action initiated by the “London Australia Solidarity Activism Hub”.
The protest action will take place on Friday, November 27, 2015 (starting at 12 o’clock), and the demonstration route will lead from the Australian Embassy (Australia House, Strand, London WC2B 4LA) to the Commonwealth Secretariat (Marlborough House, Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5HX).
In June, the STP had already addressed an appeal to the Head of the Commonwealth, Queen Elizabeth II. Further, the STP held a vigil during Malcolm Turnbull’s inaugural visit to Berlin in November, urging the Australian Prime Minister to finally enter a credible dialogue to treaties with the Aboriginal Australians.According to the STP, the situation of the Aboriginal Australians is “depressing”.
The life expectancy of the indigenous people is ten to twelve years shorter than that of the majority population – and the infant mortality is twice as high. An alarmingly high number of Aboriginal Australians are dying from diseases that could be treated, such as diabetes.
27.4 percent of all prison inmates in Australia were of Aboriginal descent in 2013-2014 – although they only make up 2.3 percent of the population.Recently, on November 9, 2015, the UN Human Rights Council criticized Australia in this respect.
More than 100 UN member states submitted more than 300 suggestions on how to improve the situation of refugees and the indigenous population – and the STP presented the UN with a status report on the human rights situation of the Aboriginal Australians.
When the meeting of the government representatives of the Commonwealth of Nations CHOGM in Malta starts on November 27, the concerns of the Aboriginal Australians should be on the agenda!
Contact: Yvonne Bangert, the STP’s expert on questions concerning indigenous peoples: +49 (0)551 – 499 06-14
Local contact: Marion Caris, the STP’s Australia-coordinator: +49 (0)152 – 538 186 71 (mobile)
Media Release at https://www.gfbv.de/en/news/appeal-for-the-rights-of-the-aboriginal-australians-7784/… See also background in WGAR Newsletter at https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en-GB#!topic/wgar-news/4fuwG5rJEXY worth signing up to this news
Nov 26-27th MR-International Media Release Entwurf London_englisch (2015).docx