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"