Deusdedit Ruhangariyo
Special to ICT
Around the world: Changes in Australia’s cabinet are a “lost opportunity” for youth justice reform, Canadian lawmakers wants industries held accountable for violence against Indigenous women, and Māori Battalion families finally receive war medals.
AUSTRALIA: Calls for change to reform youth justice system
Indigenous leaders called the Western Australian government’s reshuffling of cabinet positions as a “lost opportunity” for addressing the state’s youth justice crisis, National Indigenous Television reported on Dec. 15.
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Daniel Morrison and Glenda Kickett, the Indigenous leaders of the Social Reinvestment WA reform group, issued a joint statement on the decision, which could have shifted more focus to the oversight of the correctional system.
Instead, Minister Bill Johnson retained his responsibilities overseeing four departments – corrective services, mines and petroleum, energy and industrial relations. He has among the heaviest workloads in the cabinet, officials said.
“Minister Johnston has big responsibilities through his four portfolios, and we will do our best to continue providing support and advice where we can in the difficult area of corrective services,” the Indigenous leaders said in the statement, according to National Indigenous Television.
The statement said the government had prioritized “politics, power, and public perceptions” over “what is best for the children, families, and our community.”
Indigenous leaders have called for change at the top to reform a system that has come under the spotlight for lawsuits, including a challenge from Aboriginal Legal Services Western Australia, highlighting abuses and mishandling at child facilities.
CANADA: Committee wants industries accountable for MMIW
A House of Commons committee called on the Canadian government to start holding resource development firms accountable for violence against Indigenous women that occurs in their industries, CBC News reported on Dec. 15.
The Standing Committee on the Status of Women offered 15 recommendations after hearing from dozens of witnesses following a request from New Democratic Party Member of Parliament Leah Gazan of Manitoba.
“This can be done by requiring companies to establish workplace safety plans and policies, track and report incidents of gender-based violence, educate workers about gender-based and sexual violence, cultural safety, and the effects of colonization on Indigenous peoples,” the report said, according to CBC News.
Gazan told reporters at an Ottawa news conference the committee wanted to send a clear message that the violence must end.
“This study wasn’t about whether we agree with resource extraction or not. We have different opinions on that,” she said, according to CBC News. “But one thing we agree unanimously on is that we must have zero tolerance and must stand united against violence against Indigenous women.”
The committee structured its study in response to a 2019 report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, which urged industry, government, and service providers to address the increased strain large-scale development puts on host communities.
“Work camps, or ‘man camps,’ associated with the resource extraction industry are implicated in higher rates of violence against Indigenous women at the camps and in the neighboring communities,” the inquiry’s report said, according to CBC News.
“This increased rate of violence is largely the result of the migration into the camps of mostly non-Indigenous young men with high salaries and little to no stake in the host Indigenous community.”
NEW ZEALAND: Māori Battalion families receive war medals
The families of 24 Māori Battalion soldiers who fought in World War II received their medals at a ceremony at Whirinaki Whare Taonga in Upper Hutt, Te Ao Maori News reported on Dec. 18.
The medals were presented to the families by four senior New Zealand Army Officers and Minister of Defense Peeni Henare to recognize the service and sacrifice of soldiers and officers of the 28th Māori Battalion.
“This is a significant day to honor the service and sacrifice of those soldiers from 28 Battalion all those years ago,” Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, said in an New Zealand Defense Force statement, according to Te Ao Maori News.
“It’s also an opportunity to recognise the mana they brought to themselves, to their families, the New Zealand Army and New Zealand.”
Similar ceremonies have been held in Hawke’s Bay, Gisborne, Burnham and Rotorua. Another event will be held at Waitangi in 2023.
The families of the men who never claimed their medals are entitled to apply for them through the New Zealand Defense Force Personnel Archives and Medals Office.
My final thoughts
My final thoughts are with all Indigenous women who have faced violence and those who have passed on because of the violence. I challenge our political leaders to enact laws that put the lives of all their constituents first. I also challenge them to provide more resources to the security agencies so they can do more to protect Indigenous women. No more lives should be lost.
Global Indigenous is a weekly news roundup published every Wednesday by ICT (formerly Indian Country Today) with some of the key stories about Indigenous peoples around the world.
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