Mining

Beware there be Jinn in the forests: Indonesia and West Papua, a clash of cultures

Last weekend I took a stroll through the Mesopotamia exhibition at the Melbourne Museum. While reading the commentary attached to a number of the artefacts I realised, in a profound…

23 Comments

May 20, 2012

Asia-Pacific / Corporate profit / Corporate responsibility / Corruption / Environment / Genocide / Human Rights / Indonesia / Mining / Pacific Neighbours / Shared humanity / West Papua

Portia’s Lament: Western greed and the death of the indigenous cultures of West Papua

Fragments from the Alfoxden Notebook There he would stand In the still covert of some [lonesome?] rock, Or gaze upon the moon until its light Fell like a strain of…

19 Comments

May 9, 2012

Culture / Human Rights / Mining / Respect / Shared humanity

The Yindjibarndi lose a guiding light

Blak and Black is saddened to hear of the passing of Yindjibarndi Elder Mr Ned Mayaringbungu Cheedy at the age of 105. Mr Cheedy was custodian of the Yindjibarndi stories…

6 Comments

April 16, 2012

ACT Government / Australian Federal Police / Commonwealth Government / Environment / Government / Law Enforcement / Mining

Aux objets répugnants nous trouvons des appas

Clive Palmer finds more charm in his coal than the Great Barrier Reef, which he plans to imperil through his exports.

10 Comments

April 5, 2012

Accountability / Asia-Pacific / Corporate responsibility / Corruption / Democracy / Ernst & Young / Genocide / Globalisation / Human Rights / Indonesia / Mining / Rule of Law / Shared humanity / West Papua

Silence no longer so golden

Complicity takes many forms, as discussed in posts by both Bakchos and me. Many believe that silent complicity is the least culpable, but to my mind if the silence enables…

21 Comments

March 14, 2012

Corporate profit / Corporate responsibility / Corruption / Environment / Genocide / Human Rights / International Law / Law / Law Enforcement / Mining / Rule of Law

Corporate crimes against humanity a product of our global economy

Crimes against humanity, torture, prolonged arbitrary detention, extrajudicial executions -- all of those human rights norms are defined by actions. They're not defined by whether the perpetrator is a human…

1 Comment

March 1, 2012

Accountability / ACT Government / Asia-Pacific / Corporate profit / Corporate responsibility / Corruption / Discrimination/Racism / Ernst & Young / Government / Human Rights / Indonesia / Mining / Racism / West Papua

Copper and gold: the blood diamonds of West Papua

Ernst & Young has its fingers in projects that disadvantage Indigenous people across the world, including in West Papua.

11 Comments

February 22, 2012

Accountability / Asia-Pacific / Corporate profit / Corporate responsibility / Corruption / Discrimination/Racism / Ernst & Young / Genocide / Globalisation / Human Rights / Indonesia / International Law / Justice / Law / Mining / Political theory / Rule of Law / Shared humanity / West Papua

Genocide in West Papua, collective responsibility and the role of Ernst & Young

The TNI under Suharto was seen as different from other armies because: Indonesian army sees itself as quite different from other armies in the world, because it was never created…

2 Comments

February 4, 2012

Accountability / Asia-Pacific / Corruption / Genocide / Globalisation / Human Rights / International Law / Law / Mining / Neo-Colonialism / Pacific Neighbours / Respect / Rule of Law / Shared humanity / West Papua

West Papua and the vote of no choice!

These feelings which we Cubans have already acquired will have to be shared by someday. Today it hurts us if a Cuban is hungry, if a Cuban has no doctor,…

0 Comments

February 3, 2012

Accountability / Australian Labor Party / Corporate profit / Corruption / Culture / Environment / Equality / Human Rights / Justice / Law / Mining / Rule of Law

FMGL versus YAC – is the truth really out there

As most readers of Blak and Black, indeed as most readers of any daily paper in Australia will be aware there has been an ongoing dispute between Fortescue Metals Group…

19 Comments

November 24, 2011

Asia-Pacific / Discrimination/Racism / Environment / Equality / Genocide / Globalisation / Human Rights / Indonesia / International Law / Mining / Racism / Rule of Law / United Nations / West Papua

Rio Tinto: juggernaut of cultural fascism and participant in slow-motion genocide

A rough translation of Rio Tinto from Spanish into English is Red River. Spain's Rio Tinto is characterized by deep red water that is highly acidic (pH 1.7—2.5) and rich…

11 Comments

November 23, 2011

Accountability / Australian Federal Police / Corporate profit / Corporate responsibility / Corruption / Democracy / Discrimination/Racism / Environment / Equality / Genocide / Globalisation / Human Rights / International Law / Justice / Law Enforcement / Mining / Racism / Rule of Law

Corporate greed and an update on a call for a Royal Commission into the AFP

I have spent the last few weeks travelling around remote Indigenous communities collecting signatures in support of a Royal Commission into the AFP and statements in support of my application…

15 Comments

November 17, 2011

Corporate responsibility / Corruption / Environment / First Nations/Indigenous / Mining / Yindjibarndi

Yindjibarndi update: Site damage

Blak and Black received the following from the Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation (YAC) last week. It is reprinted here in full and describes the damage to traditional sacred sites. Follow the…

13 Comments

November 15, 2011

Not everyone is lucky in the Lucky Country

Occupy Sydney, photo Lukas Coch, Reuters

Corporate profit / Corruption / Education / Environment / Globalisation / Hypocrisy / Mining / Tertiary

Not everyone is lucky in the Lucky Country

The Occupy Sydney protests are a bellwether of societal margination under globalised economy.

24 Comments

October 22, 2011

Image courtesy Yindjibarndi Nation

Australian Aborigines / Environment / First Nations/Indigenous / Mining / Yindjibarndi

A can of worms

The disparity in attitudes to community dissent about coal seam gas mining between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people are stark.

17 Comments

August 20, 2011

Yindjibarndi Native Title map

Assimilation / Corporate profit / Corruption / Culture / Democracy / Environment / Equality / First Nations/Indigenous / Government / Human Rights / Hypocrisy / Mining / Respect / Rule of Law / WA government

Native Title: An Australian White Wash

Native Title will mean nothing if the Fortescue Metals Group Solomon Hub mining project proceeds.

3 Comments

July 17, 2011

Corruption / Culture / Discrimination/Racism / Environment / Globalisation / Human Rights / Hypocrisy / Mining / Respect

It’s time: for honesty and fairness when reporting on Aboriginal Australia

Let’s not put too fine a point on it. Without question, Aboriginal Australia is afflicted with enormous problems, not least of which are law and order and health issues. Add…

2 Comments

July 9, 2011

Arc of instability / Australian Federal Police / Indonesia / Mining / Neo-Colonialism

Drew Grant and the Organisasi Papua Merdeka

Firstly I want to dispel any illusions that my heading might have created about Mr Grant being in any way connected to the Organisasi Papua Merdeka. The connection between the…

3 Comments

June 12, 2011

Mining / PNG

Who owns Australia? Who owns the Pacific?

While the Australian Labor Party squanders billions of dollars chasing a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council to appease the ghost of its former leader, sacrificed before completing even…

0 Comments

May 17, 2011

Accountability / Corruption / Discrimination/Racism / Mining

The Swansong Budget: Screw the workers to feed the obese (miners that is!)

The resource sector is expected to spend an historic $76 billion on mining projects next financial year, with mining investment accounting for six per cent of Australia’s gross domestic product…

0 Comments

May 11, 2011

Watershedd on Autopsy of the Major Oak: How Care Becomes Harm at Scale
Major Oak feels to me a bit like the canary in the mine. If it has died what about the…
Jen on Autopsy of the Major Oak: How Care Becomes Harm at Scale
Well said: mourning an outcome is not the same as understanding the mechanism that produced it.
Ramses on Appointment Without Accountability: Jon White, the ACT DPP and the Long Shadow of a Political Prosecution
Lady Margaret I can assure you that we’re watching this case. It remains unacceptable to us that a posse of…
Lady Margaret on Words That Arm: Why Pauline Hanson’s Racism Matters
That letter to the ANZ bank written by Mr Angel Marina is absolutely disgusting. I cannot believe that a government…
Lady Margaret on Appointment Without Accountability: Jon White, the ACT DPP and the Long Shadow of a Political Prosecution
A number of interesting discussions going on under this post. What I would like to ask Mr White, how is…
Kelly Conrad on Words That Arm: Why Pauline Hanson’s Racism Matters
How did Angel Marina get away with that level of racism about a colleague, written on government stationery, and sent…

Mining

Beware there be Jinn in the forests: Indonesia and West Papua, a clash of cultures

Portia’s Lament: Western greed and the death of the indigenous cultures of West Papua

The Yindjibarndi lose a guiding light

Aux objets répugnants nous trouvons des appas

Silence no longer so golden

Corporate crimes against humanity a product of our global economy

Copper and gold: the blood diamonds of West Papua

Genocide in West Papua, collective responsibility and the role of Ernst & Young

West Papua and the vote of no choice!

FMGL versus YAC – is the truth really out there

Rio Tinto: juggernaut of cultural fascism and participant in slow-motion genocide

Corporate greed and an update on a call for a Royal Commission into the AFP

Yindjibarndi update: Site damage

Not everyone is lucky in the Lucky Country

A can of worms

Native Title: An Australian White Wash

It’s time: for honesty and fairness when reporting on Aboriginal Australia

Drew Grant and the Organisasi Papua Merdeka

Who owns Australia? Who owns the Pacific?

The Swansong Budget: Screw the workers to feed the obese (miners that is!)

RAMSI - the scion of the juggernaut of greed

AFP accused of fabricating evidence, yet again

Moti affair

Moti affair

Moti appeal exposes mixed loyalties and judicial corruption

Moti end game

Letters to the editor: Article by Bakchos

Co-operate or else! AFP thuggery for a white Australia

The strange case of Bill Johnson, a study in neo-colonial hypocrisy

Neo-colonialism in the Torres Strait

Moti and other affairs

Comment: Excellent Read