I was very glad to be able to offer a small amount of financial support for a delegation of Indigenous people from East Arnhem Land to travel to Canberra to put their case to the Federal Government. The Northern Territory government plans to restrict its funding to a small number of urban population centres thus requiring the people who live in their traditional Homelands to travel out of country to access services.
The delegation met with Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin;Minister for Indigenous Health, Rural and Regional Health & Regional Services Delivery, Warren Snowdon; Senator Mark Arbib; and advisors to the Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
This short video shows some of the delegates expressing their thoughts on the meeting. I pray that the concerns of this delegation will not fall on deaf ears, and that the federal government will put pressure on the NT government to ensure a fair deal for the people in the Homelands. You can learn more about the Homelands by watching the following video.
Glen,
ReplyDeleteHow did you develop this interest in indigenous issues? I'm curious.
It's a long story Ross, going back to unconfirmed family stories about a possible Indigenous background in our own family tree, my first sermon being in an Aboriginal church, friends among Aboriginal Christians in the Northern Rivers area of NSW and then of course teaching Australian History for several years with a strong focus on Indigenous issues.
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