Six years ago this week a Norwegian cargo ship named the Tampa sparked a diplomatic dispute between Australia, Norway and Indonesia as well as worldwide controversy when it came to the aid of 438 asylum seekers whose dilapidated fishing boat started to sink 85 nautical miles off the Australian territory of Christmas Island.
Internationally acclaimed didgeridoo player and composer William Barton and co-lead singer of Brisbane’s multi-platinum selling Australian jazz/rock/pop combo, George, now turned soloist, Tyrone Noonan, will join this week to sign the Giant Pledge supporting ‘Close the Gap’ ‘ a major national effort to end the health crisis facing Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
Six years ago this week a Norwegian cargo ship named the Tampa sparked a diplomatic dispute between Australia, Norway and Indonesia as well as worldwide controversy when it came to the aid of 438 asylum seekers whose dilapidated fishing boat started to sink 85 nautical miles off the Australian territory of Christmas Island.
The crisis affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is urgent ‘ but it has existed for a very long time. It is, at its core, a crisis of inequality, the type of inequality that can’t be reversed with a quick fix.
Six years since the Tampa crisis of the 2001 Federal election, urgent reform of Australia’s asylum seeker policies is called for after a new report published today (August 27) found that the Pacific Solution had so far squandered $1 billion of taxpayers’ money, exacerbated mental illness of refugees and was operating without scrutiny.
General Peter Cosgrove to start Sydney Trailwalker at 7am on Friday 24 August 2007
On United Nations Day for Indigenous people, pediatrician and former Australian of the Year Professor Fiona Stanley added her name to a petition signed by more than 75,000 Australians calling on governments to close the 17 year life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians within 25 years.
Comment on Australia’s role in Iraq and the humanitarian situation with reference to the Oxfam Internation report.
Announcement that General Peter Cosgrove will be starting the 2007 Oxfam Trailwalker – Sydney on 24 August 2007.
Launch of appeal for people affected by the floods in South Asia.