Stan Grant's speech : seen as a book-end to Paul Keating's Redfern Speech

From http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-24/stan-grant's-racism-is-killing-the-australia-dream-speech-viral/7110506
A powerful speech by Indigenous journalist Stan Grant in which he says the "Australian dream is rooted in racism" has gone viral.

Key points:

• Grant spoke about the impact of colonisation and discrimination in Sydney
• He said when Adam Goodes was booed "it said to us again, you're not welcome"
• Speech viewed more than 736,000 times on Facebook and 15,000 times on YouTube

Grant addressed an audience in Sydney on the impact of colonisation and discrimination as part of the IQ2 debate series held by The Ethics Centre.

The speech was made last year but was published online just a week before Australia Day. It has resonated with Australians, having been viewed more than 736,000 times on Facebook and 15,000 times on YouTube.

In his address Grant was asked to argue for or against the topic "Racism is destroying the Australian Dream", and said racism was at its heart.

Grant opened his speech acknowledging when AFL player Adam Goodes was "hounded" and booed, and told "he was not Australian".

"When we heard those boos, we heard a sound that was very familiar to us ... we heard a howl of humiliation that echoes across two centuries of dispossession, injustice, suffering and survival," Grant said.

"We heard the howl of the Australian dream, and it said to us again, you're not welcome."

He said we sung of the Australian dream, "Australians all let us rejoice for we are young and free".

"My people die young in this country," Grant said.

"We die 10 years younger than the average Australian, and we are far from free. We are fewer than 3 per cent of the Australian population and yet we are 25 per cent — a quarter of those Australians locked up in our prisons.

"And if you're a juvenile it is worse, it is 50 per cent. An Indigenous child is more likely to be locked up in prison than they are to finish high school."

He referenced a famous poem from Dorothea Mackellar, saying his people's rights "were extinguished because we were not here according to British law".

"I love a sunburned country, a land of sweeping plains, of rugged mountain ranges," Grant quoted from the poem My Country.

"It reminds me that my people were killed on those plains. We were shot on those plains, diseases ravaged us on those plains."

Grant has received praise online, including from journalists Hugh Riminton and Fran Kelly, as well as Mike Carlton who described it as a "Martin Luther King moment" on Twitter.

He said he had succeeded in life not because of, but in spite of, the Australian dream.

"My grandfather on my mother's side, who married a white woman, who reached out to Australia, lived on the fringes of town until the police came, put a gun to his head, bulldozed his tin humpy, and ran over the graves of the three children he buried there. That's the Australian dream," Grant said.

"And if the white blood in me was here tonight, my grandmother, she would tell you of how she was turned away from a hospital giving birth to her first child because she was giving birth to the child of a black person.

"The Australian dream. We are better than this."

Reforming NDIS : Online Consultation - First Round : Revolutionising Disability Services : Reforming Mental Health : Breaking the Inertia in Reform

National Reform Series 2016 | Civil Society Australia Reforming NDIS: Fulfilling the Promise to Revolutionise Disability Services       Online Consultation - First Round   What Do You Think? The following are proposals for reform of NDIS. There are twelve (12) proposals on which comments are invited. We want to know what you think. Our aim is to receive comments on these proposals so that refined proposals can be presented to the National Conference on Reforming NDIS on 21 March 2016.  1      Participants' Plans  2      Participant-Controlled Information Tool  3       Local Area Circles and Networks  4      Registered Providers of Supports  5      Monitoring and Protection of Self-Direction  6       NDIS Board and Advisory Council  7      Election of 50% of NDIS Board by Participants  8      Control of Management and Administration Costs  9      Participant-Driven Employment Assistance  10    Small /Micro-Business Development Grant  11    Family Support Entitlement  12    Advocacy Voucher for every NDIS ParticipantIf you have suggestions for reform of NDIS and its operations, processes and culture, you have until the end of January 2016 to send them in.  CLICK HERE to submit a proposal. People with disabilities, families, friends, support organisations, community groups, services and policy makers are invited to contribute to this people-driven process to ensure NDIS delivers on the promise to Revolutionise Disability Services. Reforming NDIS: Process and Timeline 1 December 2015 - 31 January 2016 Submit your suggestions and proposals for reform of NDIS. Proposals will be distributed  for consideration. Participants consider various suggestions and proposals for reform, and offer their assessments. 1 February - 21 March 2016 Refinement of proposals based on participant feedback. 21 March 2016 Conference participants assess proposals for NDIS Reform and establish mechanisms for driving an ongoing reform process. CLICK HERE to register your interest in participating in this process.  CLICK HERE to submit a suggestion or proposal for reform.  CLICK HERE to read the submitted proposals and add your comments.  CLICK HERE to register for the 21 March 2016 national conference.

Two Days in March 2016This process and conference on Monday 21 March 2016 forms part of a series of reform events hosted by Civil Society Australia in 2016. Two events will be held in March 2016. Participants may attend one or both of these as they wish. Monday 21 March 2016  Reforming NDIS Revolutionising Disability Services Tuesday 22 March 2016  Reforming Mental Health Breaking the Inertia in Reform CLICK HERE for further information. Venue The Angliss Conference Centre is located in the Melbourne CBD, on the corner of LaTrobe and King Streets, on the fifth floor. It is close to train and tram services. Flagstaff railway station is one block away in LaTrobe St, and Southern Cross station is three blocks away in Spencer St. Trams 23, 24, 30, 34, and City Circle run along LaTrobe Street. There are numerous accommodation options close by, to suit all budgets. Start and Finish Times Both events begin at 9.15am, finishing at 5.00pm.  CLICK HERE to register for one or both of these events.  Further Information CLICK HERE for further information. CLICK HERE for Civil Society Australia website.

Civil Society Australia.

Showing the face of bigotry in Australia. A report on Australia's Islamophobia and statistics on bigotry among religions.

This report will provide interesting reading for Australia's inhabitants. It pinpoints how they feel about their Muslim neighbours.

For people of faith, or those interested in religion,  the statistics on attitudes among faith communities is enlightening but not surprising.

A POST OF RECORD : A BIG THANK YOU : THE BLESSINGS OF CHRISTMAS

Picture above from here

This week The Network has exceeded 550,000 page views.  

I find this amazing.

Some of it is due to Andrew Bolt.  Thanks Andrew.

Back when Andrew was facing a trial 

when he accused some Aboriginal people of 

only using their Aboriginality for personal profit and advancement,

he sent his readership to this blog

when it would have been a dicey matter

for him to keep conversing with his readership.

The inference was that I was of the Left.

For Andrew's benefit, I am usually too Left for the Right

and too Right for the Left -

which should place be pretty much in the middle, I reckon.

Perhaps Andrew thought it would teach me a lesson.

The surprise, from my point of view, came for his fan base.

I treated them courteously.

I rejected only one comment - and that was because of bad language.

I advised the writer that English was a flexible language.

I suggested he re-write his comment without the bad language

and there was every likelihood I would print his work.

I didn't hear from him again.

One of Andrew's fans even complimented me.

He said that, even though he did not agree with my politics,

he liked my style - or words to that effect.

Over the years - and in particular in recent months -

the statistics of many blog posts has reached three

and sometimes four figure statistics.

That's quite a lot for me.

So I express my sincere gratitude to those who

have notched up the numbers for The Network.

Many of you don't live in the Great South Land of Oz.

You live in Europe, Asia, and the Americas -

to mention three of the five continents.

Many of you come by other social media.

The wonders of 21st C widespread communication!

The Network emerged from a previous blog, The Eagle's Nest.

So one could say that there was a dry run - 

even though it was not planned as such.

The format of The Network has changed 

as Blogger has permitted and I have tried different things.

There is one Networker I would like to mention by name.

My friend and comrade-in-arms, Denis Wilson.

Until recent times, Denis maintained a blog -

The Nature of Robertson. 

This year, Denis has followed a journey 

which has been spelt out on his Facebook site rather than his blog.

Denis and I met on-line with our blogging ventures -

his were environmental and mine was community and political comment.

The friendship has long since been cemented off-line

even though we live in different states of Australia. 

Denis is not the only friend I have made through blogging,

and I am most grateful for those friendships.

I hope there are many more regular readers

that I may be able to meet.

I am at an age and stage where blogging and social media

has become more vital for me.

As of this year, I am having to admit that my days as a

person with a direct role in community organising may be numbered.

I have been involved in community organisations since I was twelve.

I held my first office-bearing position at fifteen.

I have organised with a toddler on my hip

as well as the time decades later when my husband was dying.

I think I am coming to a stage when the only way 

I will be able to express fully my concerns

is via social media - particularly via The Network.

The touch-typing fingertips have not given up their task just yet.

One has to be curmudgeonly to find that this season we call Christmas

is just like any other day of the week.

To those who - like me - follow The Christ, I wish you a blessed time.

To my friends in the other Abrahamic faiths, Judaism and Islam,

I wish you blessed times as you celebrate, respectively,

Hannukah and The Prophet's birth day.  

I know my friends of other faiths  -

 I think of Sister Nivedita and Sundrum and his family and Neel and his family - 

will also recognise this time as very special.

And I must give a special mention to my beautiful Sikh friends

with whom I have shared many beautiful and constructive times -

including worship at the Gurdwara at Blackburn.

BLESSINGS OF THE SEASON TO ALL -

EVEN YOU ANDREW BOLT

Aussie Jingle Bells

Dashing through the house
In an old shirt and one shoe
Running late again
And you need the loo
Front door starts to ring
As the guests arrive
Bringing lots of gifts and pressies
Up the front drive

Oh jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Your family’s gathered round you
On a warm Christmas day (hey!)
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Santa says g’day
Oh what fun it is to spend
Christmas the Aussie way

Now the pressies are unwrapped
We’re sitting by the tree
Lights are all turned on
Looks pretty as can be
We talk about old friends
And have a glass of wine
While the kids play with their toys
Out in the sunshine

Oh jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Your family’s gathered round you
On a warm Christmas day (hey!)
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Santa says g’day
Oh what fun it is to spend
Christmas the Aussie way

Soon it’s two o’clock
We’re by the barbeque
Eating snags and prawns
And drinking beer too
Grandma’s made the cake
It’s a little dry
We try to eat it with one hand
While we’re busy swatting flies

Oh jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Your family’s gathered round you
On a warm Christmas day (hey!)
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Santa says g’day
Oh what fun it is to spend
Christmas the Aussie way

The light is getting dim
It’s almost time to go
We take a family snap
Under the mistletoe
The kids are fast asleep go cut
We’re singing Christmas songs
Don’t you wish Christmas day
Could last all summer long!

Oh jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Your family’s gathered round you
On a warm Christmas day (hey!)
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Santa says g’day
Oh what fun it is to spend
Christmas the Aussie way

Oh what fun it is to spend
Christmas the Aussie way!

Picture and Jingle Bells from here.

The USA and Australia - prioritising or excluding Syrian refugees ... or could we just select for need and urgency?

Thanks to Advocacy @ St Paul's for this post.

Here in Australia we have some who want to priotise Christians.

There are those who say that Christians should not be prioritised.

Can't we just say that we will prioritise according to 

need and urgency?

And here is a comment upon the irrationality of the American decision:

Something Christian Millennials “Don’t get”

I should probably be working on one of my three term papers right now, but something is on my mind. Also, this one is just for the Christians. If you’re not a Christian, go ahead and read it, but it’s not really directed at you.

As I am writing this, 17 state governors have declared that they will not accept any Syrian refugees. I’ve seen a lot of praise over this, largely coming from Christians.

I understand the fear. Really, I do. It is, I admit, quite plausible, as we have seen from Paris, that ISIS operatives can and will sneak in with the hundreds of thousands of people fleeing from certain death or worse. However, there is a holocaust going on, and speaking for myself and I am sure many others, we cannot understand the coldness toward refugees coming from other Christians. If you will please stick with me for a few paragraphs, I will explain why we just don’t “get it.”

I was raised in a small-town Baptist church. I was taken there Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday nights. I don’t care how much you like to goof off, if you spend that much time in a church, you’re going to pick up on major themes whether you want to or not.

One of those major themes is that we should be courageous. Another is that we should love our neighbors as ourselves. Another is that life is eternal.

These themes are all over the Bible. “Be strong and courageous,” God told Joshua. “Perhaps you are here for such a time as this,” Esther’s uncle said. “Do not fear those who can kill the body,” Jesus said. Jesus also told a story that would be, on the danger scale, the equivalent of a Native American carrying a bloodied and beaten white man into an Old West town saloon for help in the pioneer days. (The Good Samaritan)

And the stories didn’t just include Bible stories. Just about every evangelical (especially Baptists) know and praise the Jim Elliots of the world and their wives. If you don’t know, Jim Elliot was a missionary to somewhere in the Amazon. He and several others were killed by the natives. Later, their wives evangelized the same people who killed their husbands!

We were taught to admire people like that. The idea that nothing, and I mean absolutely NOTHING in this world is more important than expanding the Kingdom of God — not even my own life — has been drilled into me since I was a small child. And, you know what? I believe it’s the truth still!

Am I not supposed to actually believe all that stuff?  I find myself today witnessing some Christians who seem to want to be as not like Jim Elliot as possible. I do not understand this. This is what I do not “get.”

For years and years and years it has been nearly impossible to get missionaries (even sneakily) into parts of the Middle East. It’s so dangerous, some, assuming they can even get in, are likely to be killed so quickly they can’t do much evangelizing. And now, hundreds of thousands of beaten, hurting, orphaned, widowed (google “pure and undefiled religion") and broken people are trying to come to US.

Is it possible that a small percentage of them want to kill us? — Let me counter that question with another question:

Does it matter? 

Maybe it’s because I grew up in a post Columbine, post 9/11 world that we youngsters think this way, but refugees or no refugees, some folk are getting murdered in the United States today. Refugees or no refugees, there will be another school shooting somewhere. Refugees or no refugees, terrorists will find a way. Life is terminal. You WILL die.

I find it astonishing that many people want America to be recognized as a Christian nation. God forbid!

“Dear Syrian refugees,

We, the Christian nation of America, do not want you. There are some bad eggs mixed in with y’all. We’ve seen the photo of the little boy who washed up on shore. We’ve heard from Christine Caine and the A21 people who talk about how desperate the situation is. But we also have some news sources that told us that it’s all men and the women and children aren’t even there! Whew! You almost had us fooled! Have a nice life in that land of opportunity you just floated to, the bankrupt and socially troubled country of Greece. We’ll send some food over for a while. Please, steer clear of the human traffickers and report all suspicious activity to the police.

God Bless.”

Maybe I’m just wound up. I suppose it’s possible to be too wound up or emotionally stirred at something like this. But if you want to curb my youthful enthusiasm, here’s all you need to do:

Open up a Bible and make a convincing argument that Jesus wants us all to be safe more than he wants us to reach the lost and help the hurting. I was taught, after all, that Jesus trumps all — even those teaching me that Jesus trumps all. Am I supposed to believe that or not?

It’s not like I’m declaring all of us must quit our jobs and go. But not only will we not go, we don’t even want them to come to us? I am genuinely confused. Somebody help me out here.

Meet Mr Gerald Mander --- courtesy of Clarke & Dawe

Posted by Labor Now on Thursday, 24 September 2015