Abbott given position as Special Envoy on Indigenous Affairs

Federal Aged Care and Indigenous Health Minister Ken Wyatt says he will have to consider his position if Peter Dutton becomes prime minister given he boycotted the Apology to the Stolen Generations.
Mr Wyatt, the first Aboriginal person elected to the House of Representatives, holds the marginal Western Australian seat of Hasluck.
“I was disappointed when I discovered that he (Peter Dutton) had not supported the apology to the Stolen Generation … in serving, if it’s Peter Dutton, then I would have to seriously think about my position,” Mr Wyatt told 6PR radio today.

Country music legend Roger Knox has been honoured with his induction into the National Indigenous Music Awards Hall of Fame at the Darwin Amphitheatre. With a career spanning over three decades, from his first album Give It a Go in 1984 to his seminal 2013 release Stranger In My Land, Knox has spent a lifetime recording, touring and advocating for his people.

THE University of Newcastle has launched the second stage of a Colonial Frontier Massacres Map, charting verified and recorded mass killings of Aboriginal people across the country from 1788 to 1930. 250 incidents have now been logged but researchers expect that number could double by the completion of the study’s third stage due to an influx of evidence from regional communities. Stage two of the project shows for the first time massacres that occurred in the Northern Territory and South Australia, along with further incidents in eastern Australia. The research team welcomes suggestions for additions or modifications to the site, the data and the map. Visit the website or email colonialfrontier@newcastle.edu.au

THE Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) is searching for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to become the next generation of great Australian screen storytellers and inviting them to visit the school at AFTRS annual Open Day on Saturday, August 11. Head of AFTRS Indigenous unit Kyas Sherrif said it’s an opportunity to look behind the scenes at AFTRS state-of-the-art facilities, meet tutors and graduates and ask questions. Prospective students will also be able to find out about Indigenous scholarships and fee help. “For the interstate mob who can’t make it to Sydney, we’ll be live streaming all day from the AFTRS Facebook page.” The open day is on Saturday, August 11 between 10am and 3.30pm at AFTRS, Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park, Sydney.

THE National Indigenous Fire Workshop opened at Bundanon in southern NSW last night (July 12). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have gathered to share fire knowledge about traditional ways of looking after country. Firesticks Alliance Indigenous Corporation director Oliver Costello, a Bundjalung man, said there are plans to develop a seasonal burn calendar. The workshop is being hosted by Mudjingaalbaraga Firesticks and Bundanon Trust and runs until July 15.

IDENTITY, racism, displacement, country, nuclear testing, sovereignty and the Stolen Generations are being explored in a survey of contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art at the University of Queensland Art Museum, from July 28. Touring from the National Gallery of Australia (NGA), Defying Empire: 3rd National Indigenous Art Triennial brings together 30 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists from across the nation. The exhibition features artworks of various media, from painting on canvas and bark, weaving and sculpture, to video, prints, photography, metalwork and glasswork. The exhibition runs until November 11. Entry is free.