Islam in Australia: Muslim Aboriginals

Indigenous and Muslim 'A Growing Trend'
SBS.COM.AU: Dr Peta Stephenson is an honorary fellow at the Asia Institute. She has interviewed dozens of Indigenous Muslims as research for her book 'Islam Dreaming', and says numbers of those converting are on the rise.

Dr Peta Stephenson is an honorary fellow at the Asia Institute. She has interviewed dozens of Indigenous Muslims as research for her book ‘Islam Dreaming’, and says numbers of those converting are on the rise.

If we look at the 2006 census and the two before that, we do see that the numbers are rising. In 1996 and 2001 there were just over 600 Indigenous Muslims in Australia in each of those censuses.

In the subsequent one, in 2006, the number had risen 60 per cent to more than 1,000. So, not huge numbers if we look at the population of Australia, but it’s still a significant climb.

I conducted interviews with Indigenous Muslims for my book ‘Islam Dreaming’. Some of those were descended from Muslim fathers or forefathers, but wouldn’t classify themselves as practicing Muslims. (+ video +audio) » | Source: Rhiannon Elston, SBS | Friday, July 20, 2012

Julia Gillard's Shoe Held to Ransom by Aborigine Protesters
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Aborigine protesters have brandished the shoe lost by Julia Gillard as she was rescued from a violent rally, claiming they want it to be the symbol of a move to "give us back our country".

The shoe - a dark blue, size 36 Midas pump - has been handed to an Aboriginal elder, Pat Eatock, who says Ms Gillard should collect it within a week or it will be sold on ebay.
A shoe purported to be Ms Gillard's fetched bids of £1400 today before it was removed from sale.

"I see it sitting like Cinderella's shoe in a glass case in a museum 10 years from now as this is part of the history of race relations in Australia," said Ms Eatock, 75, who was the first Aboriginal woman to seek election to Parliament.

The ugly scenes in Canberra yesterday have caused a furore in Australia, prompting widespread media coverage, inflaming racial tensions and leading to the sacking of one of the prime minister's aides.

Protesters calling for Aboriginal sovereignty today burnt an Australian flag outside Parliament House, as indigenous leaders called for calm and some dismissed the recent violence as a disgrace. » | Jonathan Pearlman, in Sydney | Friday, January 27, 2012

Related video »

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: The spear of confrontation pays nation another visit: IN 1790, Bennelong, the Sydney-born Aboriginal friend to the colonisers, was present when Governor Arthur Phillip was speared at Manly Cove, demonstrating how much relations between the two peoples had soured. » | Debra Jopson | ANALYSIS | Saturday, January 28, 2012

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: PM accused of protest cover-up » | Dylan Welch | Saturday, January 28, 2012

Julia Gillard Attacked in Riot
Prime Minister Australia Julia Gillard is attacked by Aboriginal Protestors on Australia Day.

Australia on Verge of Historic Decision to Recognise Aborigines as First People of Continent
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Australia is poised to make historic changes to its constitution recognising Aborigines as the first people of the continent and removing the last clauses permitting racial discrimination by the state.

Proposals presented on Thursday would ask Australians to approve a clause recognising that Aborigine and Pacific islanders were the first occupants of the land mass. A second clause prohibiting racial discrimination would override measures that allow the authorities to intervene on the grounds of races.

Only eight of 44 referendums have been approved in the 111 year history of the Australian Commonwealth. The last successful nationwide vote was held in 1967.

A report unanimously adopted by a panel of 19 experts was endorsed by Julia Gillard, the prime minister, who pledged to put the amendments to a vote before the next general election expected in 2013.

The prospects for change were bolstered by support from Tony Abbott, the Opposition leader, who said he would support any measure that did not amount to a Bill of Rights.
Ms Gillard said Australia was "big enough" to back changes.


"It is the right time to say yes to an understanding of our past, to say yes to constitutional change, and to say yes to a future more united and more reconciled than we have ever been before," she said. "It is going to require each and every one of us involved in politics to find it in ourselves to be our best selves, to advocate this case for change with the maximum degree of unity." » | Jonathan Pearlman, Perth and Damien McElroy | Thursday, January 19, 2012

Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu

Des aborigènes vont recevoir 1,5 milliard de dollars
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: AUSTRALIE | La somme d’un milliard et demi de dollars australiens sera versée sous forme de construction de logements, de programmes d’éducation et de fonds sociaux.

Les aborigènes d’une région de l’ouest de l’Australie vont recevoir 1,6 milliard de dollars américains pour permettre l’extraction de gaz sur leur territoire, aux termes d’un accord "historique" conclu vendredi avec un des principaux groupes producteurs d’énergie du pays. En échange de ce pactole, la communauté Goolarabooloo [-] Jabirr Jabirr devra renoncer au profit de la compagnie Woodside à ses droits de propriété sur 3.500 hectares, à 60 kilomètres au nord de Broome. » | AFP | Samedi 07 Mai 2011

Ken Wyatt was elected as the Liberal representative for the seat of Hasluck. Photograph: BBC
First Australian Aboriginal in House of Representatives
BBC: An Aboriginal man has won a seat in Australia's House of Representatives, becoming the first indigenous person to do so in the country's history.

Ken Wyatt, 57, took the seat of Hasluck in Western Australia for the centre-right Liberal Party.

Neither the Liberals nor the governing Labor Party gained enough seats at last week's election for a majority.

Mr Wyatt has dismissed racist hate mail he has received, saying it was time for Australia to move forward. >>> | Sunday, August 29, 2010

Aboriginal MP 'Disappointed' by Slurs
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: INDIGENOUS Australians must take matters into their own hands if they want to see more Aborigines in Parliament, according to the first Aborigine to win a seat in the House of Representatives.

Ken Wyatt claimed victory in the marginal West Australian seat of Hasluck yesterday, amid revelations he was subjected to racist taunts during the election campaign.

Mr Wyatt said the taunts had come in the form of phone calls to his campaign office, as verbal taunts on the streets and as messages on news websites.

He said they had come from both white and Aboriginal people, some accusing him of selling out his cultural heritage by joining the Liberal Party.

Mr Wyatt, who has Aboriginal, Indian and English blood, said he was disappointed by the taunts but not deterred. >>> Peter Ker | Monday, August 30, 2010

Children Found Starving in Rural Australia
THE INDEPENDENT: Aboriginal disadvantage has not rated a mention during the Australian election campaign – there are few votes in it. But as the party leaders criss-crossed the country this week, shocking evidence emerged at a government inquiry: children in remote indigenous communities are starving.

The claims were made by child protection workers, who said the situation was so dire that an international aid-style programme was needed – an extraordinary state of affairs in one of the world's most affluent nations. The workers called for essential food to be delivered by an organisation such as Oxfam or the Red Cross to ensure that children got enough to eat.

The inquiry was established by the Northern Territory government, with the aim of strengthening the child protection system. It has already heard a series of disturbing allegations, including that children in remote communities are left to wander unsupervised at night, or are abandoned when their parents go on drinking sessions. >>> Kathy Marks in Sydney | Thursday, August 05, 2010

Islam Dreaming – Australia
Watch Journeyman Pictures video here

Islam Dreaming In Australia
"Wherever you are Osama Bin Laden, I love you," proclaims Khaled, an Aboriginal Muslim.
Be prepared to be shocked by some of the controversial views expressed in the following video. “After centuries of oppression, indigenous Aborigines are now turning to Osama Bin Laden for support.” How this problem with Islam in the Western world is growing and growing and growing. One could say: Spiralling out of control.

Watch Video HERE
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Rudd to Apologise to Aborigines
BBC: Australia's new government will issue a formal apology to Aborigines for the abuses they suffered in the past, prime minister-elect Kevin Rudd has promised.

Mr Rudd, whose Labor Party swept to power in an election on Saturday, said the apology would come early in his first parliamentary term.

Outgoing Prime Minister John Howard had repeatedly refused to say sorry. >>

BBC:
Australia shifts course, away from US By Paul Reynolds

BBC:
Rudd in green gaffe

Mark Alexander

Aborigines in Northern Territory Face Alcohol Ban
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: Prime Minister John Howard has announced a six-month ban on alcohol in indigenous communities across the Northern Territory.

The move is one of a series of measures in response to a major Northern Territory report last week which revealed widespread child abuse in indigenous communities, fuelled in part by alcohol.

"We regard this as akin to a national emergency," Mr Howard said in Canberra.

Detailing measures to be taken, he said: "In relation to alcohol the intention is to introduce widespread alcohol restrictions on Northern Territory Aboriginal land for six months.

"We will ban the sale, the possession, the transportation, the consumption and [introduce the] broader monitoring of takeaway sales across the Northern Territory." Northern Territory grog ban (more)

Mark Alexander