NIRS NEWS STORIES 6am-9am 15 January 2014
Story 1
A National workers union is calling for an end to what it describes as ‘tokenistic’ employment of Indigenous staff through indirect casual employment, which they say is only aimed at filling government quota.
National Assistant Secretary at the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union Brad Parker says in some occasions Indigenous staff are hired on a casual basis through a labour hire company which provides little job security to employees.
Mr. Parker says while he agrees there should be a Government quota to hire Indigenous staff, companies should take responsibility and offer “real” jobs.
GRAB
Story 2
To Western Australia,
Two Palyku women have received prestigious honours along with their degrees after graduating from university.
Cassandra Tim has more.
GRAB
Story 3
The CEO of Awabakal Newcastle Aboriginal Co-operative has written an open letter to the Indigenous Advisory Council posing a number of questions.
Don MacAskill says in the letter he questions the policies, selection process, strategic plan and its role in providing for Indigenous communities.
Mr MacAskill writes that he questions the IAC’s confidentiality and says “it appears to be a worrying lack of transparency”.
Story 4
The founder of an online petition to dismantle the Indigenous Advisory Council says the council is undemocratic and is challenging its members to resign.
Ken Canning told Koori Radio’s Black Chat that previous Government bodies have failed.
GRAB
Story 5
The last remaining founding member of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy has expressed his concern about the use of the Aboriginal flag during Australia Day celebrations.
It follows the online post of a photo which shows members of a local council holding the Aboriginal flag upside-down.
Euahlayi man Michael Anderson is urging people to educate themselves about the flag before using it.
GRAB
Story 6
The Torres Strait Mayor, Pedro Stephen, has expressed his disappointment at the Queensland Government’s decision to merge the region’s health services with the Cape York’s.
State Health Minister Lawrence Springborg claims the merger will result in better governance in health systems in the far north, saying the Strait hasn’t had a health board ‘for some time’.
But Councilor Stephen has told TSIMA 4MW it’s a step backwards.
GRAB
Story 7
A report released by the Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister, Nigel Scullion, has found a significant drop in petrol sniffing in our communities over a six year period.
The Menzies School of Health Research interim study reports a drop from 546 sniffers in 15 Indigenous communities in 2005 to 97 in 2011-12.
Report co-author, Professor Peter d’Abbs, says the fall coincides with the roll-out of low aromatic Opal fuel.
But he told NITV News there’s still more to be done.
GRAB
Story 8
The NSW Legislative Council Law & Justice Standing Committee has begun an inquiry into the Bowraville murders.
Family members of two sixteen year old teenagers and a four year old child will be able to tell their stories about their loved ones and the circumstances surrounding their disappearances.
The three Bowraville residents went missing in separate incidents from the same road in the northern NSW town over a period of five months from September 1990.
The families have been campaigning to have the murder investigations re-opened.
Shaoquett Moselmane is one of six committee members who will preside over the inquiry, which is expected to conduct at least two hearings in Bowraville in April.
GRAB
Story 9
Rising Australian tennis star Ashleigh Barty is out of the Australian Tennis Open after meeting a ruthless Serena Williams in her first round match.
17 year old Barty is in just her first year fulltime on the WTA tour and she battled on valiantly against a dominant Williams who confirmed just how hard she’ll be to beat in the tournament.
The number 1 player in the world, Williams beat Barty 6 – 2, 6 – 1, in just 57 minutes, but the lessons learned will stand Barty in good stead for the future.
GRAB
Kind Regards,
Michelle Tuahine | News Director
Gangulu/Ngati Kahungunu
NIRS | National Indigenous Radio Service
Lvl 2 / 2 Ambleside Street, West End QLD 4101
Phone: 07 3226 4200 | Email: michelle@nirs.org.au
Website: www.nirs.org.au | Twitter: www.twitter.com/NatIndigRadio
Facebook: www.facebook.com/NIRS-National-Indigenous-Radio-Service
Get more from your National Indigenous Radio Service here: http://www.nirs.org.au/
About the National Indigenous Radio Service
The National Indigenous Radio Service Limited (NIRS) is a national program distribution service that delivers four radio channels of content produced by First Nations broadcasters via satellite distribution and via the internet.
Operating from a central hub in Brisbane, NIRS receives programs from a majority of the 180+ First Nations broadcasting services across Australia.
Arguably, the NIRS satellite footprint is the largest for a First Nations radio network in the southern hemisphere, if not the world. Given this, NIRS and its programs are unique within the Australian media environment. Over 120 Remote Indigenous Broadcasting Services (RIBS) units, 23 Indigenous radio stations and 120 Community Broadcastes receive NIRS. To learn more about our network simply explore our new Google Map interface which show where each and every radio station is located, its website details and even includes a streaming link in some cases.
The reason why NIRS is so important to the sector is because many First Nations broadcasters haven’t the funding support to produce programs for 24/7 broadcasting or possess the funding to employ the number announcers ad producers to make enough high quality programs to support their local community audiences with the style of program that closes the gap.
So for some 15 years, NIRS has delivered its ecletic mix of broadcast programs and a national news service delivered via satellite that all major metropolitan, regional and remote communities via their Remote Indigenous Media Organisations (RIMOs) can receive and add into their regional broadcast schedules.
In this way, NIRS is dedicated to facilitating First Nations voices through broadcasting and internet radio. We achieve this by a mix of programs that provides critical commentary of the strategies directed towards our communities that seek to preserve, promote and maintain First Nations arts, culture, languages and community values. Most particularly, NIRS discusses ‘Closing the Gap’ initiatives that are aimed at achieving quality of life improvements for First Nations communities across Australia.
NIRS also encourages aspirant First Nations broadcasters and RIBS to send their own programs that can be shared and thus opening a ”window” to local community issues to a national audience.
For Broadcasters
For broadcasters who meet the licensing and equipment requirements but lack the funds or resources to provide a full 24-hour service, NIRS will enable them to fill any holes in their schedule with our continuous programming. For community broadcasters who access air time through a CBAA affiliate station, NIRS will provide the opportunity for these areas to hear national Indigenous issues, as well as enabling them to boost local airtime.
The Australia Indigenous Communication Association is also a great way of making contact with First Nations Broadcasters:
http://www.aicainc.org.au/Html/index.html
