A look at all things northern... and some of the myths behind them.
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The Northern Myth
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Quintis, the NT government and picking major project losers
Bob GosfordAug 16, 20171 Comment
Similarly curious is the fact that the Gunner government has seen fit to continue Quintis' major project status. As will become clear, if there were grounds for concern about the company's activities in the NT eighteen months ago, recent events warrant even closer attention.
Yes, I can cook! Koulla Roussos on unrequited sex, art, food, jail and a pair of steel-capped boots
Bob GosfordAug 14, 20171 Comment
He winked and said, "no more chances". I slipped back into my steel cap boots, and marched confidently with a swagger towards the interview room. So yeah, I can fucking cook.
Buzzfeed, the Garma Festival and the noble savage
Bob GosfordAug 9, 2017
For mine it is but a few short steps from the Buzzfeed treatment of this year's Garma Festival to a neo-romantic and naive view of contemporary Aboriginal society as "noble savages". But Buzzfeed can easily do better than 16 Photos, as we can see in this piece by Simon Crera, 16 Powerful Photos Of The Oldest Living Culture On Earth, which looked at the 2014 Garma Festival.
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Linda Joy, Stone Country. Paul Johnstone Gallery, Darwin. Review by Koulla Roussos
Bob GosfordAug 8, 2017
Landscape is perhaps the most value laden of genres within which to peel back the layers of influence in post-contact Australian history. Landscape in Australian art history and in particular “pastoraphilia” as the leitmotif of Australian nationhood and identity, mitigated the harsh historical realities and made palpable the strange and un-picturesque landscape for European eyes. Landscape is infused with the legacy of (and in this part of the world the ongoing) dispossession of land and wholesale destruction of people and culture.
Open Cut - people of the south-western Gulf of Carpentaria speak out in words and pictures
Bob GosfordAug 6, 20171 Comment
After 150 years of white development it’s time for environmental justice in the southwest Gulf, for fair treatment and meaningful involvement of Aboriginal people with respect to development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies in their ancestral lands. The goal must be a fair distribution of the environmental benefits and costs.
Jacky Green: I can hear the miners riding their trucks screaming “Yee-haw, I’m rich, Fuck you!”
Bob GosfordAug 6, 2017
I want the government and mining companies to know that we are still here. We aren’t going anywhere. We aren’t dead yet. We are still here, feeling the country. Jacky Green, Darwin, August 2017
'Racist' black-cladding business policy canned by NT government, referred to NT Police for investigation
Bob GosfordAug 6, 2017
CLP candidate Steve Brown described the indigenous employment and procurement polices as 'ill-considered' and 'blatantly racist.' Brown didn't elaborate on what aspects of his party's policies he considered 'racist' but it may be that he considered the policies unfairly favoured Aboriginal workers. Or discriminated against non-Aboriginal businesses or workers. Or both.
Bill Shorten - Address to Garma Festival 2017
Bob GosfordAug 5, 2017
I cannot be any more clear than this: Labor supports a voice for Aboriginal people in our Constitution, we support a declaration by all parliaments, we support a truth-telling commission. We are not confronted by the notion of treaties with our first Australians. For us the question is not whether we do these things, the question is not if we should do these things but when and how. The Parliament needs to be engaged. The Parliament needs to be engaged now. The Parliament needs to start the process of engaging with the people of Australia now.
We Never Ceded Our Countries. Garawa, Gudanji, Marra and Yanyuwa people speak truth to power
Bob GosfordJul 27, 2017
The contamination of land, water, air and wildlife can be seen across the region. The Redbank Copper Mine was abandoned in the mid-1990s, with an estimated 54,000 tonnes of partially treated acid-forming material left exposed to the monsoonal rains for 17 years. Poor management has resulted in highly toxic waste bleeding into nearby waterways.
Statement on the passing of Dr G Yunupingu: Skinnyfish Music
Bob GosfordJul 26, 2017
The highest selling Indigenous artist in history, Dr G. Yunupingu released two subsequent top five studio albums Rrakala and The Gospel Album, achieved a swag of ARIA Awards, performed across the globe for audiences including Queen Elizabeth II and Barack Obama and released the first Indigenous language single to reach the top five, all the while continuing to call Elcho Island home.
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