Our focus this month is very much on the forthcoming ACT election and our campaign with Active Democracy Bean: Beyond the talk – Indigenous-led solutions NOW! Find our more below and at: Election 2024 – ANTaR ACT.
On elections, ANTaR ACT congratulations the newly elected members of the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body (ATSIEB): Billy T Tompkins, Helen Wright, Maurice Walker, Deanne Booth, Kaylene McLeod, Vicky Bradley and Bradley Bell. Members – Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander – Elected Body (atsieb.com.au) ATSIEB have an important role to listen to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Canberrans and represent their ideas and concerns to the ACT Government.
ANTaR ACT Organising Group
The next meeting of the ANTaR ACT organising group will be online at 6pm on Monday 9 September. If you would like to join us and be involved in our ongoing advocacy and actions, please email info@antaract.org.au and we will send you the details.
ACT Election: Beyond the talk – Indigenous-led solutions NOW!
ANTaR ACT and Active Democracy Bean are working together on a campaign for the 2024 ACT Election to highlight what Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people are calling for in the ACT: real actions and real commitments, leading to real change. Here are some updates on the campaign and also information about some First Nations parties and candidates in the ACT election.
ANTaR ACT – briefing notes and scorecard
ANTaR ACT worked with ANTAR National and Active Democracy Bean to develop questions for a scorecard, to see responses from each party contesting the ACT election on issues of key interest. At present, this has been sent to all parties and we are waiting for responses. We are also researching how public statements from the parties address these issues. We are still anticipating releasing this scorecard in September.
A particular focus in our campaigning – and included in our scorecard – is the high incarceration rate of Indigenous adults in the ACT. This is explore more in these briefing notes, one on the issues, and another on some of the solutions.
- Briefing: Reduce the high incarceration rate of Indigenous adults in the ACT
- Briefing: Expand Justice Reinvestment in the ACT
You can find all the briefing notes and other materials on our website: Election 2024 – ANTaR ACT.
Active Democracy Bean – candidate visits
Active Democracy Bean is focusing on constituents visiting elected representatives to discuss our two top priority asks – returning Boomanulla Oval and transferring the Ngunnawal Bush Healing Farm to community control within 12 months of the election.
Groups of volunteers have met with Mick Gentleman (Labor – Brindabella), Laura Nuttall (Greens – Brindabella) and with Liberal sitting members Elizabeth Lee (Kurrajong), Mark Parton (Brindabella) and Jeremy Hanson (Murrumbidgee). Meetings have also been arranged with Labor members Rachel Stephen-Smith (Kurrajong) and Marisa Paterson (Murrumbidgee) and a request sent to Chris Steel (Murrumbidgee). We also have some volunteers in Yerrabi interested to meet with local MLAs there.
We await the outcome of actions these MLAs committed to, but we have succeeded in elevating these two asks, with both Boomanulla and the Ngunnawal Bush Healing Farm discussed recently at Estimates: est32.pdf (act.gov.au).
A group of ADB members will visit the Ngunnawal Bush Healing Farm on Friday 16 August to learn about the facility.
Once candidate forums commence we will be asking our volunteers to raise these issues with candidates. We will also encourage them to write letters to MLAs and to the media elevating these issues as well as the poor progress with Closing the Gap targets in the ACT.
If you would like to get involved in this campaign, please contact Active Democracy Bean (activedemocracybean@outlook.com).
Parties and candidates in the election
With our focus on the election, we are also very interested in the First Nations candidates who are running for office. ANTAR ACT is non- partisan and does not endorse specific parties or candidates, rather provides this information so individuals are aware of First Nations candidates who are running and can support candidates as they wish.
Independents for Canberra
Paula McGrady is Independents for Canberra’s lead candidate for Murrumbidge: Paula McGrady – Independents for Canberra. Paula is a Goomeri/Bigumbul woman and is the outgoing Deputy Chair of the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body.
Independents for Canberra’s first policy release was for commitments focused on supporting Canberra’s most vulnerable, and included a commitment for funding full-time roles for the Chair and Deputy Chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body to advocate for Indigenous people. Independents for Canberra said they are calling for this funding as it’s time to close the gap and, with the right resources, the Elected Body can help the ACT do that. Media Release: Independents Announce Policy Commitments Focused on Supporting Canberra’s Most Vulnerable – Independents for Canberra.
More information and contact information at: Independents for Canberra.
First Nations Party
Another party led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is the First Nations Party, created by Ngambri-Kamberri and Ngunnawal custodian Paul Girrawah House.
As reported by NITV, the Party is running on ‘A voice in the ACT Legislative Assembly’, and is calling on Canberrans who supported the Voice to vote 1 for First Nations candidates. “Health, housing and traditional land management are critical areas where First Nations people’s voices need a strong and compassionate seat at the table,” Mr House said. A new First Nations Party will be running in the upcoming ACT elections | SBS NITV.
City News reports that the Party’s policy mandates the transfer to local Aboriginal people of full control and rights of all Crown Nature Reserves, which cover more than 60 per cent of the ACT. In addition to Namadgi National Park, the policy includes most of the urban bushland within the city boundaries. House throws spanner in the Kurrajong works | Canberra CityNews
The party is seeking donations and looking for volunteers for letterbox drops. More information and contact information at: Home – First Nations Party.
Events coming up
LOCAL Politics in the Pub – Closing the Gap in the ACT – what needs to change?
Monday 19 August 5.30-7.30pm, Austrian Australian Club, Heard St, Mawson
The guest speaker is Paula McGrady, outgoing Deputy Chairperson of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body (ATSIEB) and Independents for Canberra candidate for Murrumbidgee.
Paula will speak on Closing the Gap in the ACT – what needs to change? and will also talk about the Elected Body in her remarks.
The local Politics in the Pub series will be an informal locally focused event on the third Monday of the month. People will gather from 5.30pm, with a speaker and Q&A from 6pm, and the option of dinner afterwards for those interested.
Jurrungu Ngan-ga [Straight Talk]
Friday 23 August (7pm) and Saturday 24 August (2pm and 7pm), The Playhouse
Jurrungu Ngan-ga, translated from Yawuru as ‘straight talk’, takes inspiration from the words and experiences of Yawuru leader Patrick Dodson, Kurdish-Iranian writer and former Manus Island detainee Behrouz Boochani, and Iranian-Australian scholar-activist Omid Tofighian. Blending movement, music, soundscape, spoken word and projection, Marrugeku’s unique intercultural work reflects the impact of government-sanctioned brutality. The company’s exceptionally talented dancers evoke dark aspects of the Australian psyche, drawing on cultural and community experience to move deftly between horrific surrealism, truth-telling and stunning physicality.
More information and bookings (costs apply): Jurrungu Ngan-ga [Straight Talk] | Canberra Theatre Centre.
Cultural Awareness Training: Yuma!
Wednesday 28 August, Weston Community Hub, 1/6 Gritten Street, Weston (repeated on Thursday 24 October)
ACTCOSS are holding a Cultural Awareness Workshop led by local Ngunnawal Traditional Custodian, Bradley Mapiva Brown. This one-day course is designed to enrich your understanding of the cultural landscape and protocols within the ACT and its surrounding regions.
More information and bookings: Cultural Awareness Training – ACTCOSS. Cost involved – note ACTCOSS may be able to reduce or waive fees for consumer representatives, people experiencing disadvantage or small community organisations. Please contact them to discuss if applicable.
Launch of Caring About Care Report
Tuesday 10 September, 12noon, Acton Theatre, Crawford School, Liversedge St, ANU
The Caring About Care Report will be launched by Professor June Oscar, formerly Social Justice Commissioner and now Chair of the Wiyi Yani U Thangani Institute at ANU.
This report presents the findings of research that aimed to support the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner’s work on Wiyi Yani U Thangani, and contribute to understandings of the scope of care work performed by Indigenous women. Specifically, the project explored:
- how Indigenous women conceptualise care work, including its scope and nature,
- how Indigenous women value and experience care work,
- what volume and type/s of care work Indigenous women are regularly engaged in, and
- how the care work of Indigenous women might be better recognised and valued in policy.
Download the report here: Caring about Care Report 2024.pdf (humanrights.gov.au). For more information about the project: Caring about Care | ANU Gender Institute.
Authorised by Janet Hunt on behalf of ANTAR ACT.
ANTaR ACT wish to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which Canberra is situated, the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people. We wish to acknowledge and respect their continuing culture and the contribution they make to the life of this city and this region. We would also like to acknowledge other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who may visit this area.