INDIGENOUS PEOPLES – AUSTRALIA

Woke firms giving only Yes side of voice debate

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Original article by Ellie Dudley
The Australian – Page: 4 : 25-Jan-23

KPMG and Ernst & Young are among the large Australian firms that have expressed support for an Indigenous voice to parliament. A KPMG spokeswoman says the firm is likely to hold optional seminars during work hours to "educate" its staff as to why they should vote ‘yes’ in the upcoming voice referendum. Indigenous leader Nyunggai Warren Mundine has criticised "woke" companies for running "biased education programs" that favour the ‘yes’ campaign and push their corporate agenda. Former prime minister Tony Abbott says companies should let their employees make up their own minds on the issue of an Indigenous voice.

CORPORATES
KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ERNST AND YOUNG

Albanese keeps door open to legislating Voice if the referendum fails

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Original article by Lisa Visentin
Brisbane Times – Page: Online : 19-Jan-23

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is confident that the referendum on an Indigenous Voice to parliament will be passed. Albanese has stated that he is "not contemplating failure", although he has refused to rule out the option of legislating the Voice if the ‘No’ vote prevails. He has merely stated that there will be no constitutional change if the Voice referendum is rejected by voters. Meanwhile, Opposition leader Peter Dutton has again urged Labor to legislate the Voice before seeking to enshrine it in the Constitution.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

No vote would be bad look: Albanese

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 2 : 11-Jan-23

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Australia’s international reputation would be damaged if the referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament is defeated. He says a ‘no’ vote would send a bad message with regard to reconciliation, as well as the in the way Australia is perceived internationally. Albanese contends that the voice would be subservient to the parliament and will only be a voice of consultation on matters that affect Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders. Former prime minister Tony Abbott has cautioned that changing the Constitution should never be done lightly.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

‘Legacy of sadness’: Glencore says sorry to traditional owners over NT mine as it seeks expansion

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Original article by Lorena Allam
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 7-Jul-21

Steven Rooney, the general manager of Glencore’s McArthur River mine in the Northern Territory, has appeared before a federal parliamentary inquiry into the destruction of ancient indigenous rock shelters at Juukan Gorge in Western Australia. He told the inquiry that Glencore has apologised to the traditional owners for the lead and zinc mine’s impact on cultural sites and the environment. Rooney also said that Glencore is in the early stages of negotiating a land use agreement with the traditional owners.

CORPORATES
GLENCORE PLC, McARTHUR RIVER MINING PTY LTD

Telstra fined $50m for unconscionable sales

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Original article by James Fernyhough
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 25 : 27-Nov-20

Telstra has agreed to pay a $50 million penalty over the sale of mobile phone plans to 108 Indigenous consumers between 2016 and 2018. The sales were made at five Telstra stores in Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia, with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission stating the sales were made despite the telco knowing that the Indigenous consumers did not understand the product and could not afford it. The ACCC has described Telstra’s action as "unconscionable", while it noted the customers had been left with average debts of $7,400.

CORPORATES
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

Rio in Pilbara royalties scandal

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Weekend Australian – Page: 19 & 22 : 8-Aug-20

Rio Tinto has advised directors of the Gumala Aboriginal Corporation that royalties from the Yandicoogina iron ore mine in the Pilbara have been underpaid for a number of years. The resources giant has paid the GAC some $40m plus interest to cover the underpayments, but the GAC is said to have requested a full audit of Rio Tinto’s royalty payments and access to the underlying data that it uses to calculate regular payments. The Yandicoogina land use agreement was signed in 1997.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, GUMALA ABORIGINAL CORPORATION

Call to strip Rio of global ranking

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Original article by Victoria Laurie
The Australian – Page: 5 : 9-Jul-20

Rio Tinto is the highest-ranking mining company on the annual Corporate Human Rights Benchmark, which assesses 200 of the world’s largest listed companies in terms of their human rights record. Indigenous and human rights groups have called for Rio Tinto to be removed from the Benchmark in response to its destruction of ancient rock shelters in the Pilbara. Vale was suspended from the Benchmark in 2019 following a dam collapse in Brazil.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, CORPORATE HUMAN RIGHTS BENCHMARK, VALE SA

Coalition seeks to sidestep high court ruling that Aboriginal non-citizens can’t be deported

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Original article by Paul Karp, Calla Wahlquist
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 13-Feb-20

Attorney-General Christian Porter has indicated that the federal government may legislate to override the High Court’s majority decision that non-citizens of indigenous descent cannot be deported. Porter says the High Court ruling has implications for the government’s policy of deporting people who are convicted of serious crimes while in Australia on a visa. Legal experts have stated that it is too soon to determine the broader implications of the judgment.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Forrest locks horns with WA government over native title court fight

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 11-Dec-19

Fortescue Metals Group is seeking special leave to appeal against a Federal Court ruling with regard to its Solomon iron ore mining hub in the Pilbara. Western Australia’s State Solicitors Office wants the High Court to dismiss Fortescue’s application, arguing that there are major flaws in its case. The Federal Court dismissed Fortescue’s appeal against a 2017 ruling in early October, effectively stating that it had constructed the mining hub without the consent of traditional land owners.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, YINDJIBARNDI ABORIGINAL CORPORATION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Road map for recognition

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Original article by Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 11-Jul-19

Ken Wyatt, Minister for Indigenous Australians, has told the National Press Club that the federal government intends to establish an indigenous voice to parliament. Wyatt also said he will push ahead with separate plans for a referendum to recognise indigenous people in the Constitution, and that he will seek to develop a model that will have the support of all sides of politics and the general public. Linda Burney, the shadow minister for indigenous Australians, says Labor is of the view that the indigenous voice should be enshrined in the Constitution.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY