LISTENUP : Reconciliation Book Launch Passwords, bloglines and my failed attempts at the last learning tasks...

Well then,

I started to register with Bloglines, but I kind of lost the plot and baulked when I had to think of another Password, and I started to to get a little bit of Learning2.0 fatigue.

Right now I am at home on the weekend and I have dial up and it is a bit too slow, so I will have to attempt again next week, back at work. So not much progress on my pathway to close the gap in my learning, but a bit more of my diary on Aboriginal, Indigenous issues!!

On Thursday evening I went to a book launch at Readings. The book has been written in response to Howard and the coalitions "Emergency Legislation" in the Northern Territory.

It is called :

Coercive reconciliation: stabalise,normalise , exit Aboriginal Australia: edited by Jon Altman and Melinda Hinkson.

The launch was packed, and quite interesting because this book has been published in a very short time( I think about 7 weeks after the legislation was passed) It is published by Arena publications and so is a very swift response to the legislation, a bit of a record in publishing.

This book is a collection of Essays written in response to the Howard Governments legislation, and I am really learning a lot from what I have read so far. One of the key things that the speakers at the Launch said was that:

"The passing of the Howard Government’s Northern Territory Emergency Intervention Billsdemonstrates
that there is a crisis in Aboriginal and Islander policy formation and
implementation. The bills roll back Aboriginal and Islander self-determination,
land rights and the Racial Discrimination Act. They enact a national policy
framework that works against Aboriginal and Islander children, families and
communities. There is no evidence base for these actions" ( Found on Listenupaustralia.0rg website October 6th 2007)

Whilst there is a need for Government to actively seek solutions in partnership with Aboriginal people, to the problems in the communities, this legislation will not solve the " emergency".

The book launch was also the launch of a website called:

LISTENup . Go to : www.listenupaustralia.org. From here you can lean more about the Northern Territory Emergency Intervention Legislation from the perspective of the Aboriginal community , in a far more articulate way than I can write, and you can sign a pledge!