Identidades in English No 1, February 2014 | Page 35

be patronized and discriminated against by government agencies and either ignored or despised by many other Australians. Shortly after taking office in September 2013, Tony Abbott, the Australian Prime Minister, launched an Indigenous Advisory Council with a remit to reverse the chronic disadvantages suffered by Australia's first peoples.16 Mr. Abbott stated that he would be the first "prime minister for Aboriginal affairs" and promised a “new engagement” with Australia’s Aboriginal people. He stated that he wants more Aborigines to go to school and find jobs and to reduce crime in Aboriginal communities.19 The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda has asked the new government to engage with the National Congress of Australia's First Peoples, a body representing indigenous people. Mr. Gooda is also calling for the removal of racist sections in the Constitution and a clause against racial discrimination as well as the protection of the language of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders.20 The government protection of Aboriginal sacred sites reflects a degree of respect for their culture. In August 2013, a landmark compensation payment was awarded in a case brought by the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority (AAPA) against OM Manganese, a mining company. The court was told that the mining company had been cleared to work at Bootu Creek but was advised that there were sacred sites in the area. Despite the warning, some blasting took place just 80 feet from the sacred site. The changes to the site had damaged its spiritual connections by cutting it off from its dreamtime "songlin R"