Latest news with #MeganDavis
The Guardian
26-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Morning Mail: Call for disaster ‘volunteer army', car hits Liverpool parade, rock art fears over gas plan
Morning everyone. Our exclusive top story hears from veterans on the frontline of disaster relief calling for federal funding to set up a 10,000 volunteer army to help the recovery from extreme weather events such as last week's NSW floods. Overseas, a car has ploughed into crowds celebrating Liverpool's Premier League win. Plus, the incident between a president and his wife that has all France talking – but Emmanuel Macron says everyone needs to just calm down. High politics | Adelaide's first skyscraper – planned to be 38 storeys and 160m high – will be a 'phallic' construction overshadowing the birthplace of women's suffrage, critics say. Exclusive | A veteran-led organisation on the frontline of disaster recovery wants federal government support to help establish a 10,000-strong volunteer army. Exclusive | Most Australian women are not aware that intrauterine devices are the most effective form of contraception, with experts saying this nationwide 'failure in public education' has contributed to low uptake. Bali accused | An Australian man accused of trying to smuggle drugs into Bali faces 'the death penalty or life in jail' if found guilty, police on the Indonesian tourist island said yesterday after parading him in a prison jumpsuit. Exclusive | One of the architects of the Indigenous voice to parliament, Megan Davis, says Aboriginal Australians increasingly feel the government is not listening to their views on laws and policy design in the wake of the referendum defeat. Liverpool arrest | A man has been detained after a car collided with pedestrians in Liverpool city centre after Liverpool FC's Premier League victory parade. The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, has called the incident 'shocking and horrendous' Follow developments live. Gloves off | Germany will remove range restrictions on weapons delivered to Ukraine – to enable it to defend itself against Russia. It came after Moscow launched its third consecutive night of drone strikes against Ukraine, killing at least six people, and Donald Trump complained that Vladimir Putin has 'gone crazy'. 'Speak out' | A former president of Harvard University has urged people to 'speak out' to defend 'foundational threats' to American values from the Trump administration. In his speech to mark Memorial Day, Trump took credit for the US hosting the 2026 football World Cup (alongside Canada and Mexico) and the 2028 Summer Olympics – and said 'I have everything'. Follow developments live. Gaza strike | An Israeli strike on a school housing displaced people in Gaza killed at least 33 people on Monday, coming after the head of a US-backed private humanitarian organisation distributing aid resigned, saying the operation could not fulfil its mission in a way that adhered to 'humanitarian principles'. Macron moment | Emmanuel Macron has denied he and his wife, Brigitte, had an altercation after a video appeared to show her pushing him in the face as they prepared to get off a plane in Vietnam. Will Labor take its chance to act on climate? Nour Haydar speaks to Adam Morton about why there will never be a better chance for Labor to deliver on climate. Sorry your browser does not support audio - but you can download here and listen $ One of the first big decisions that the new environment minister needs to make is whether Woodside can extend the life of the North West Shelf LNG plant in Western Australia. There are concerns about damage to rock art – a report on the issue downplays the risk but our environment editor Adam Morton says evidence buried deep in the document shows that local pollution is now about four times worse than in the 1960s and 1970s. A new exhibition co-presented by the Art Gallery of South Australia and the Art Gallery of NSW celebrates the work and lives of 50 pioneering Australian women who from the late 19th century 'traded the antipodes for Bohemian melting pots in Bloomsbury and Chelsea, or Paris's left bank' to develop their art. Walter Marsh finds out more. Sign up to Morning Mail Our Australian morning briefing breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Rugby league | New South Wales appear to be favourites going into Game One of this year's State of Origin series in Brisbane tomorrow night. Tennis | There were major upsets for two of the top American seeds at the French Open overnight, as Taylor Fritz and Emma Navarro crashed out in the first round. Women's football | Arsenal's three Matildas were among the players celebrating with fans as they paraded the Women's Champions League in north London. The Sydney Morning Herald claims the Minns government is under pressure to step in and buy back the Northern Beaches hospital after Healthscope went bust, while the Mercury says there are also concerns in Tasmania about the future of Hobart Private. The Telegraph enjoys what it calls the 'Origin spy drama' and says the Blues are using drones to find out who filmed their training session. A huge dust storm blanketed parts of Victoria and NSW as it travelled east from South Australia, the Age reports. Gold Coast | Forum on overcoming Indigenous family violence. Health | ABS releases data on serum levels of Pfas for under-12s. Sydney | First case management conference for Bob Brown Foundation legal action against federal environment law changes. If you would like to receive this Morning Mail update to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here, or finish your day with our Afternoon Update newsletter. You can follow the latest in US politics by signing up for This Week in Trumpland. And finally, here are the Guardian's crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. Quick crossword Cryptic crossword
The Guardian
26-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Aboriginal people feel Labor isn't listening to them after voice defeat, Uluru statement co-author says
One of the architects of the Indigenous voice to parliament says Aboriginal Australians increasingly feel the government isn't listening to their views on laws and policy design, warning against closed-shop public consultations in the wake of the referendum defeat. Megan Davis, a constitutional scholar and signatory to the Uluru statement from the heart, said the re-elected Albanese government was facing growing displays of discontent and needed a new approach to improve the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Davis said Indigenous policy frameworks were failing and engagement with government was subject to growing 'exclusivity'. 'They consult only those who have contracts with them, or are enlisted in the Closing the Gap 'partnership', so to speak,' she told Guardian Australia. 'Good public policy cannot be served by limiting your consultation to a hermetically sealed segment of a community. 'As a consequence, many Aboriginal people are now saying that the no vote has been interpreted as bureaucrats and government no longer needing to listen to community voices on laws and policies.' Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email The comments come at the start of National Reconciliation Week, and on the eighth anniversary of the release of Uluru statement, the 2017 request from Indigenous leaders built around the concepts of voice, treaty and truth. Running until 3 June, Reconciliation Week follows heated debate about Indigenous welcome to country ceremonies during the election campaign. After Labor's 2022 victory, Anthony Albanese committed to implementing the Uluru statement in full but promised a different approach after the October 2023 referendum was soundly defeated by voters. Last year the prime minister said Labor would deliver the first comprehensive economic policy for Indigenous Australians, part of efforts to close the disadvantage gap. He used a speech at the Garma festival to pledge improved avenues for private-sector investment and to lift home ownership in Indigenous communities, as well as helping companies and job creators to directly reach Indigenous people. Speaking from Harvard University, where she is a visiting professor, Davis said Albanese's vision of 'progressive patriotism' and Australian design models was at odds with the agenda of Indigenous reconciliation, which was first conceived overseas. She said Australia's brand of reconciliation was too limited to private actors and private action. 'That of course has its place and like many mob I have served my time on reconciliation action plans, but it doesn't ask anything of the state that is structural,' she said. 'It's the structural [change] – the public structures of the state – that incontrovertibly lead to change.' Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion The federal government declined to respond to the comments on Sunday. Despite the voice defeat, Davis said Uluru advocates wanted to meet non-Indigenous Australians, 'and yarn about the things we have in common and the things that we don't and the things we can agree on and the things we disagree on'. 'After all, the word parliament comes from 'parle', the French word for speak,' she said. 'That's what the voice is about and that's what we are doing now is speaking, speaking to yes and no about the referendum and yarning about our shared future.' Albanese's post-election reshuffle included the Northern Territory senator Malarndirri McCarthy as minister for Indigenous Australians and Marion Scrymgour, the MP for Lingiari, as the government's special envoy for remote communities. This month Scrymgour said she would speak to Albanese about progressing the remaining elements of the Uluru statement, to help the country heal and move forward. The Cape York leader Noel Pearson told the Australian newspaper after the election that Albanese had run away from Indigenous policy, likening his moves to a Houdini-like disappearance. Davis said Indigenous people deserved to be consulted on the decisions which affected their lives, 'because we know our communities better than you and the laws and policies will be of a better quality'.
