Main events
Burney also criticized the leader of the opposition, Peter Duttonfor “playing politics” with the Indigenous voice to parliament.
Next week… in the House of Representatives there will be a vote on constitutional amendment legislation to allow us to have a referendum later this year.
If Peter Dutton is fair dinkum about supporting reconciliation, if he is fair dinkum about unification and not division, then Mr Dutton will vote in favor of the bill next week. And Mr Dutton will vote “yes” in the referendum later this year.
In 1967 we were counted. In 2023, we want to hear: Linda Burney
Burney said last night the Uluru Statement from the Heart was reaffirmed as a “generous invitation from Indigenous Australians to walk together to a better future”.
In 1967 we were counted. In 2023, we aim to be heard.
We leave the base camp and begin our journey through this vast country; from Uluru to referendum day, in 2023, Australians will vote again in a referendum, this time for constitutional recognition by one voice.
This time it was asked whether we should amend the constitution to recognize Australia’s First Peoples by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice.
Linda Burney marks the anniversary of the 1967 referendum
Minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, spoke from the Northern Territory in Indigenous voice to parliament as today marks 56 years since the 1967 referendum.
Today marks 56 years since the 1967 referendum. One of the most successful federal referendums in Australian history. A day when Australians gathered to vote to change the constitution so that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are counted as part of the population.
As a nation, we look back on the 1967 referendum, Charlie Perkins and his freedom rights, the more than 90% vote “yes” done with great pride.
Looking for something to read with your morning coffee? Check out our by Imogen Dewey wrap up important readings from last week.
A woman died in a three-car collision
A woman died and another man was seriously injured after two cars and a truck collided in South Australia, AAP reports.
A 19-year-old woman died at the scene and an 18-year-old man was taken to hospital with serious injuries after the crash near Ki Ki, about 125km south-east of Adelaide.
The 35-year-old male driver of the truck was uninjured in the collision, which was being investigated by the major collision unit.
Man avoids jail after drunken attack in Indonesia
The Australian man arrested for an alleged drunken rape in Indonesia has avoided jail after settling with a fisherman who was attacked, AAP reports.
Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones23, attended a reconciliation meeting last Friday with the fisherman who was injured during the April incident and agreed to pay him compensation.
A Queensland surfer faces five years in prison after he was accused of leaving his hotel room naked at a surf resort on the island of Simeulue, off the coast of Sumatra.
He is reported to have chased and beaten people on the streets of the island in the strongly Muslim and conservative Aceh province. The fisherman needed several stitches in his leg, which angered the locals.
On Friday Risby-Jones said in an interview broadcast on ABC TV that it had taken a long time to find a peaceful resolution but it was good to finally get there.
Risby-Jones, while being handcuffed and restrained by police, said:
Staying in a cell in Indonesia for a month is hard for the body and for the mental [wellbeing] … but all things considered, I think my health is good.
At the meeting, he apologized to the fisherman and his wife and reportedly handed over brown bags full of money as part of the settlement.
He also apologized to Indonesians, saying he was “very, very sorry for the grief I caused”.
Local authorities in Aceh said the sum agreed was 250 million rupiah ($A25,000). The fisherman’s family originally sought about $A60,000.
Risby-Jones is expected to remain in custody until authorities sign the deal, allowing him to return home to Australia next month.
An exclusion zone around the scene of the burning building in Surry Hill remains in place
The exclusion zone surrounding the building that caught fire in Sydney’s Surry Hills on Thursday remains in place after an external wall moved 70mm overnight, according to Fire and Rescue NSW.
The cause of the fire remains unknown, but two teenagers helped police with their inquiries Friday after the “once in a decade” inferno engulfed the seven-story building.
On Friday, police said they were also “furiously” searching to find two people who were among the 15 who slept in the building the night before the fire. They confirmed that 13 of the people are safe and well.
Fire and Rescue NSW said firefighters remained at the scene this morning as light smoldering from deep within the rubble continued. Emergency services determine whether to carry out a controlled demolition of the building.
ABC’s lack of ambition to cover coronation leaves Stan Grant shouldering too much burden: Margaret Simons
The shortcomings of the media were exposed this week after Australia’s most prominent Indigenous journalist, Stan Grantstood aside from hosting ABC’S Q+A, saying the national broadcaster had failed to support him against “relentless” racial abuse.
Margaret Simons It’s written about how it’s an important cultural moment to discover the injustice of white journalists who are so different from who you are, as Grant says, “on the other side of history”.
Those who protest that the ABC’s golden oldies – Kerry O’Brien, Tony Jones and others – would never allow themselves to be the story in such a way are not making any sense. Indigenous journalists do not, and do not, have the same institutional relationship with the ABC, or the wider Australian media, as white journalists.
Read Simon’s take here:
Women who go through ‘change’ don’t last long
Australian women as a whole are short-changed in retirement by an estimated $15.2bn each year due to income and superannuation losses when they go through menopause, AAP reports.
The Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees estimate takes into account the impact of untreated or severe menopause symptoms on women, including not seeking promotions, working part-time or taking early retirement.
Deputy CEO Mel Birks Said cost estimates may vary but the evidence is indisputable that untreated or severe menopausal symptoms exact a heavy toll on women in the workforce.
Menopausal symptoms are one of the factors that contribute to the gender gap which sees women retire on average seven years earlier than men and have 30 per cent less in their superannuation accounts.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions is encouraging employers to include paid menstruation and menopause arrangements in the workplace for some time.
The ACTU supports measures that improve women’s workforce participation, increase flexibility and lead to better outcomes for women, in work and in retirement.
Jordyn Beazley
Happy Saturday, everyone! I’ll take you through the latest developments this morning.
Adelaide rally against planned crackdown on protest
South Australian unions stepped up their campaign against the state government’s planned anti-protest laws last night with a rally in Adelaide.
Widespread criticism and condemnation of the summary offenses bill has grown, SA Unions said, and a coalition of community representatives and experts will also hold a demonstration at Parliament House on Tuesday when the laws are introduced to the legislative council.
Offense: In a rare intervention the South Australian Bar Association has come out in support of community concerns over anti-protest laws saying:
“Rushing through legislation and skipping scrutiny is not how good laws are made” #ProtectProtest pic.twitter.com/deJAKTQcWH
— CounterAct – Building People Powered Action (@CounterActOz) May 26, 2023
SA Unions secretary, Dale Beasley, said:
These laws are unacceptable. The bill is a massive overreach, and a mess of unintended consequences. This should not continue.
Not only did the government speed up this bill through the lower house, they also rushed to enact this law to prevent the anger of the community and legal opinion experts.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage this Saturday. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll be bringing you the best of our late-night stories before my partner Jordyn Beazley fires up the computer.
Our top story is an exclusive report that David Littleproud has offered to help Labor strengthen competition law protections for farmers and suppliers in a bid to prevent potential abuse of market power by major Australian supermarkets. The Nationals leader has proposed making the grocery code of conduct mandatory, increasing fines to a “punitive” $10m maximum and adding powers to break up grocery giants for wrongdoing. More about that to come.
Former defense department chief Dennis Richardson one of the previous top bureaucrats appointed independently to oversee a major shake-up of Australia’s military. An external advisory panel will oversee the implementation of the Defense Security Review’s recommendations. The panel will include Richardson, former finance department secretary Rosemary Huxtable and former foreign affairs deputy secretary Richard Maude. It is co-chaired by former federal minister Stephen Smith and ex-defense chief Sir Angus Houston, who wrote the review report. “Realizing the ambition of the review requires major reforms,” the defense minister, Richard Marles, said.
This is the beginning of Reconciliation Week and the theme for 2023 is “Be A Voice For Generation”’, which honors those who fight for justice and those who work to resolve the unfinished business of reconciliation, including a voice to parliament. Prof Megan Davis, who co-chairs the Uluru Dialogues and has worked on constitutional recognition for more than a decade, says this year’s theme dealing with voice has particular resonance. He wants everyone to read – or re-read – the Uluru Statement from the Heart and see for themselves what it says. “The Uluru Statement from the Heart brings the flesh and bones and substance back to reconciliation,” he said.
