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The Independent
22-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Tony Blair government lobbied by Australia not to meet Indigenous ‘troublemakers', archives reveal
The Australian government privately pressured Tony Blair in 1999 not to meet an Indigenous delegation led by Patrick Dodson, labelling them 'troublemakers', according to newly released government files. Mr Dodson, a Yawuru elder and one of Australia 's most influential Indigenous leaders, later elected as an Australian Labour senator, is widely regarded as the 'father of reconciliation'. Australian officials feared the delegation would seek an apology from the Queen and raise 'historical failure of the British government to consult Australia's Indigenous population during colonisation ', according to a report in the Guardian based on the newly released UK National Archives papers. A memo from Mr Blair's foreign affairs adviser, John Sawers, reportedly reveals that the Australian high commissioner, Philip Flood, urged Mr Blair not to meet the visiting Indigenous delegation. The UK government was uneasy about the optics and feared diplomatic fallout, with Mr Sawers suggesting Mr Blair cite 'diary problems' to avoid the meeting, an idea Mr Blair appeared to agree with. 'The Australians are pretty wound up about the idea of you seeing the Aborigines at all,' Mr Sawers reportedly wrote in a note to Blair, the outlet reported. 'Their high commissioner rang me to press you not to see them: they were troublemakers – it would be like [the then Australian prime minister] John Howard seeing people from Northern Ireland who were trying to stir up problems for the UK.' Mr Dodson has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Notre Dame in Broome, and he was recognised as a 'National Living Treasure' in 2008. He also has received the Sydney Peace Prize. In 2022, Mr Dodson was visibly moved to tears as he recalled meeting Queen Elizabeth II two decades ago. Indigenous Australians still grapple with the lasting impact of British colonisation, dispossession, and systemic discrimination. Earlier this month, Australia's first truth-telling inquiry revealed that the British committed genocide of the Aboriginal people in Victoria during their colonisation of the country. Meanwhile, the same memo also noted that meeting the delegation could complicate Blair's position on a forthcoming request to meet Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng. 'It will be harder to avoid seeing Wei if you're seeing Australian dissidents next week.' Newly released National Archives files also revealed that Blair's government quietly changed the rules for laying wreaths at the Cenotaph in 2004 to appease unionist sensitivities during Northern Ireland's peace process. The shift reportedly came after a defection altered party standings, leaving the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) just short of eligibility under existing rules, prompting complaints and a rule change to maintain political balance. The newly-released National Archive papers also revealed that Mr Blair was advised to repay thousands of pounds in discounts which he received on designer clothes. Papers released to the National Archives show that No 10 officials recommended he should pay back more than £7,600 on items bought from designers Nicole Farhi and Paul Smith. The discounts were negotiated by his wife Cherie's controversial friend and style adviser, Carole Caplin, who bought clothes for Mrs Blair. The papers also revealed that Mr Blair bitterly accused French president Jacques Chirac of trying to undermine UK efforts to put pressure on Zimbabwe's dictatorial leader Robert Mugabe. Papers released by the National Archives show Mr Blair erupted with anger when he learned Mr Chirac was insisting the Zimbabwean president should be allowed to attend an EU-Africa summit due to be held in 2003. 'But this is the opposite of what he said to me,' he scrawled in a handwritten note after No 10 officials told him Mr Chirac feared South African president Thabo Mbeki would stay away from the gathering unless Mr Mugabe was invited. 'Ultimately if France wants to take the heat on this they can and probably they are using it to damage the UK's standing in Africa in the belief (mistaken) that Mugabe retains credibility. 'But we should be seen to do all we can to protest.' The row came as Zimbabwe was caught up in a worsening spiral of violence and economic collapse after Mr Mugabe instigated a violent campaign to drive the country's remaining white farmers from their lands.
The Guardian
22-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Australia lobbied UK to avoid Indigenous leaders in 1999; SA premier calls algae ‘natural disaster'; and the case against coffee snobs
Good afternoon. Papers released from Britain's National Archives have revealed Tony Blair's government was privately lobbied by Australia not to meet a group of Indigenous leaders who came to the UK in late 1999, including Prof Marcia Langton and former Labor senator Patrick Dodson, describing the delegation as 'troublemakers'. A memo written by Blair's foreign affairs adviser, John Sawers, refers to an apparent intervention by the then Australian high commissioner, Philip Flood, comparing the situation to John Howard meeting Northern Ireland republicans. The memo suggested: 'Can't we plead diary problems?' Elsewhere among the released papers, correspondence between the Blair and Howard governments reveal problems Australia still grapples with today – doubts about the US's reliability as an ally, wrestling with the issue of Indigenous reconciliation, and attracting criticism for its under-commitment to addressing the climate crisis. Sofronoff knew 'destructive' potential of leaking confidential documents to Australian and ABC journalists, court hears Labor's bill to slash Hecs debt likely to pass with Coalition support despite Greens demand to end indexation Australia condemns Israel for 'indefensible' Gaza deaths as it joins coalition of countries denouncing Israel Fire in overhead locker on Virgin Australia flight believed to be caused by lithium battery in power bank Cold front to dump 'decent dose' of rain on drought-affected parts of south-east Australia Alleged childcare paedophile Joshua Dale Brown likely to face more charges, court told South Australian premier declares algal bloom catastrophe a 'natural disaster' in defiance of federal Labor It is said there are three religions on the Tiwi Islands: culture, Catholicism and footy. The football grand final is held in the midst of the dry season as part of a larger cultural celebration that includes art, dance and fashion. The remote Northern Territory Indigenous community produces more AFL draftees per capita than anywhere else in Australia. 'I feel fine. My balance sucks. It's like being on a boat.' – Billy Joel The 76-year-old singer has opened up about his health after cancelling his scheduled concerts mid-tour in May and announcing that he'd been diagnosed with the neurological condition normal pressure hydrocephalus. Speaking on the Club Random podcast this week, Joel said he felt 'good'. 'They keep referring to what I have as a brain disorder, so it sounds a lot worse than what I'm feeling,' he said. New analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office shows the major cuts to healthcare and welfare programs in Donald Trump's so-called 'big beautiful bill' are estimated to save the country $1.1tn – only a small portion of the $4.5tn in lost revenue that will come from the bill's tax cuts. The CBO estimates the bill will leave 10 million Americans without health insurance over the next 10 years. Sign up to Afternoon Update Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion My petty gripe: I don't begrudge your coffee addiction – but do you have to be such a bore about it? A fondness for hot brown liquid is not a personality trait, writes Janine Israel, who is sick of waiting around for people to find their perfect brew. Today's starter word is: LOP. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply. Enjoying the Afternoon Update? Then you'll love our Morning Mail newsletter. Sign up here to start the day with a curated breakdown of the key stories you need to know, and complete your daily news roundup. And follow the latest in US politics by signing up for This Week in Trumpland.
The Guardian
21-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Australia pressed Tony Blair to avoid meeting ‘troublemaker' 1999 Indigenous delegation, archives reveal
Tony Blair's government was privately lobbied by Australia not to meet representatives of Indigenous communities who were described as 'troublemakers'. Papers released from Britain's National Archives shed light on the behind-scenes-discussions about a delegation that came to the UK in late 1999. It was led by Patrick Dodson, a Yawuru elder who was to become an Australian Labor party senator and has been referred to as the 'father of reconciliation'. During the same trip, he met Queen Elizabeth II as part of a larger effort to foster reconciliation. Dodson has spoken about the significance of that meeting. However, files including a memo written by Blair's foreign affairs adviser, John Sawers, reveal the level of angst within government circles about the trip, and refers to an apparent intervention by the then Australian high commissioner, Philip Flood. 'The Australians are pretty wound up about the idea of you seeing the Aborigines at all,' Sawers wrote in a note to Blair. 'Their high commissioner rang me to press you not to see them: they were troublemakers – it would be like [the then Australian prime minister] John Howard seeing people from Northern Ireland who were trying to stir up problems for the UK.' The memo suggested: 'Can't we plead diary problems?' while the word 'yes' is written in answer to this, in handwriting that resembles that of Blair. The same memo reminded Blair that he would be 'pressed' to see the Chinese human rights activist Wei Jingsheng a week later, adding: 'It will be harder to avoid seeing Wei if you're seeing Australian dissidents next week.' A separate British government memo recorded that the Australian High Commission had made several points, including that Australian media reports suggested the delegation would be seeking an apology from the Queen and would be raising the 'historical failure of the British government to consult Australia's Indigenous population during colonisation'. 'We are not certain of the message it will deliver, but it is unlikely to be welcome,' it added, recommending that Blair not meet them and that there was a risk the UK could be drawn in 'domestic Australian debate on indigenous issues'. Other files reveal angst inside Blair's government about Australian relations, including the potential scenario of Australians voting to become a republic during a referendum in 1999. 'We don't want a rejection of the Queen to equate to rejecting all things British,' Sawers told Blair in a note advising that new legislation would be needed in the UK if Australians voted yes. Files from the following year include a briefing for Blair before a visit to him by Howard in July 2000 during Australia Week. Howard would be 'very aware of domestic Australian media criticism' of it as a 'backward-looking junket' and would try to use the visit to Blair to emphasise serious political aspects, a senior UK civil servant wrote. A pen portrait of Howard described him as having a 'sometimes didactic but nevertheless effective speaking manner'. There was considerable anxiety in the British government about the eagerness of Howard's government to hold an England v Australia cricket match featuring teams selected by him and Blair. It was expected that the Australian team would comprise high-quality professionals and the Australian High Commission had informally approached the England and Wales Cricket Board, but British civil servants feared it would clash with another event and that English county teams would not be prepared to release players for a match between the prime ministers' XIs. After Howard wrote to Blair to propose the match, Blair's private secretary, Philip Barton, noted in a memo to the UK prime minister: 'I suspect the last thing you will want to do is go to a cricket match on the Saturday. But if we just say no, this would no doubt come out and you would look unsporting.' Barton came up with options including getting John Major, a cricket fan, to raise an XI on Blair's behalf, 'but it may not be enough to stop the prime minister having to go to at least the start of the match'. A third option was to 'turn it into a charity match'.
The Guardian
16-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Patrick Dodson condemns decades of inaction on suicide hanging points in Australian prisons
The former Labor senator and Aboriginal deaths in custody royal commissioner Patrick Dodson has condemned inaction on known hanging points as 'totally unacceptable' and joined calls for national leadership on justice reform. Guardian Australia revealed last week that 57 Australians had died using hanging points that prison authorities knew about but failed to remove, often despite their use in repeated suicides and explicit warnings from coroners. Dodson, a Yawuru elder often referred to as the 'father of reconciliation', was one of the royal commissioners who worked on the 1991 Aboriginal deaths in custody royal commission. That royal commission told state governments to remove obvious hanging points from their prisons, a recommendation that was universally accepted. Despite this, Guardian Australia has revealed how obvious hanging points have been allowed to remain in prisons like Brisbane's Arthur Gorrie, where 10 hanging deaths occurred using the same type of exposed bars between 2001 and 2020, despite repeated, early coronial warnings that they be removed. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Even at the relatively new Darwin Correctional Centre, which opened in 2014, more than 20 years after the royal commission, cells were designed with an obvious and well-known hanging point, which was used in two hanging deaths in its first two full years of operation. The hanging point was not fully removed from cells until 2020. 'It's totally unacceptable and this is where people need to be empowered and take action against those agencies based on their duty of care,' Dodson told Guardian Australia. 'They have a duty of care. They've been told 30 years ago to get rid of these things.' Indigenous Australians remain vastly overrepresented in prison populations and hundreds have died in custody – 101 of those by hanging – since the 1991 royal commission. Official data shows the rate of Aboriginal hanging deaths is at a 17-year high, correlating with Australia's surging prisoner population. Guardian Australia revealed last week that in 2020, after the hanging death of young Indigenous man Tane Chatfield, the New South Wales government told a coroner it had audited Tamworth prison for hanging points but could find none. An independent inspection of Tamworth prison less than 12 months later found 'multiple hanging points' including some that had been purportedly removed. Guardian Australia asked every state government what has been done to address the problem. You can read their responses in full here. Dodson said the federal government, through the standing council of attorneys general, should take a national leadership approach on reforms that reduce Indigenous incarceration rates and reduce deaths in custody, including by removing hanging points. His voice adds to that of a group of crossbenchers, including David Pocock, David Shoebridge, Lidia Thorpe and Zali Steggall, calling for federal leadership on the issue of hanging points after the Guardian's investigation. Dodson said the federal government should establish a national Aboriginal justice commission to progress nationally coordinated reforms and ensure state governments are responding the recommendations of the 1991 royal commission, many of which remain unmet. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion He said the attorney general, Michelle Rowland, should ensure the issue is listed on the next agenda of the standing council of attorneys-general. 'The other thing that the attorney general should be doing is convening a group of the Aboriginal leadership in this space to discuss, have a discussion with them about the need for [an Aboriginal justice commission] and its importance,' he said. 'I think we need a structure, otherwise, where does it end, you know?' The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice commissioner, Katie Kiss, said that the removal of hanging points from prison cells to reduce self-harm was a 'key recommendation' from the 1991 royal commission 'The failure to implement this – and all other – recommendations exacerbates the ongoing national shame that is Aboriginal deaths in custody,' she said. 'The treatment of our people, particularly when it comes to the administration of the justice system, is a deep stain on this country. They are being failed by an oppressive system that continues to deny their rights.' Kiss said 'immediate, tangible steps' must be taken to ensure that incarceration is a last resort, including investment in preventive measures to stop people from being detained in the first place and to ensure their safety and wellbeing if they are detained. 'We need to end this cycle of abuse, injustice, and trauma. In many cases, duty of care is not being administered – from the point of arrest, within police custody, in prisons, and detention facilities,' she said. 'People's lives are at stake and their human rights must be upheld.' A spokesperson for Rowland said any death in custody was a tragedy. The spokesperson said the attorney-general was working with her state and territory counterparts to 'accelerate progress on justice targets and achieve government commitments under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap'. 'The Attorney-General strongly encourages state and territory governments to review their practices and continue to work toward effective solutions that ensure the safety and dignity of all Australians in the justice system,' the spokesperson said. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@ or jo@ In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counsellor. Other international helplines can be found at
West Australian
30-05-2025
- Politics
- West Australian
Young people at Banksia Hill invite ‘outside-in' for first-of-its kind Reconciliation Week event
Young people in youth detention at Banksia Hill Detention Centre invited the 'outside-in' for a first-of-its-kind National Reconciliation Week event. The Department of Justice's event, Benang Moorditjabiny — Becoming Stronger for Tomorrow — featured reconciliation messages from Government and non-government representatives, cultural dance performances and a group yarning session. Ninety guests attended, including former Senator Patrick Dodson, Attorney General Tony Buti, Minister for Corrective Services Paul Papalia, Elders and community leaders from across the State. Mr Dodson — the father of reconciliation — said it was 'a great initiative'. 'The fact that the people in here, the young fellas and the young people inside, wanted to see and invited people from outside to come in, that to me is a great initiative and a great compliment to them, but also a compliment to the authorities for enabling that to happen,' he said. Banksia Hill's 'outside in' event showed what can be done when people are serious about reconciliation, and what can happened when people come together for a common purpose. 'This helps both parties, the young kids, the people that work with them and gives everyone a sense that we are able to not only help people when they're here, but to hopefully put the onus back on the communities to make sure that they don't come back here,' Mr Dodson said. 'There's a lot of hope that, working together, we can make life better, not only for the young people, but for the people that work in these places. We sometimes don't see, but there are real possibilities, and real values in doing some of the things they might have to do.' Department of Justice Director General Kylie Maj said it was a 'first of its kind' event. 'We listened when young people told us they would like 'to bring the outside world in' to celebrate National Reconciliation Week,' Ms Maj said. 'Here at Banksia Hill, it's evident we are taking significant steps to improve outcomes for young people, alongside Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations, including the introduction of important programs and supports.' Reconciliation WA's engagement with students at Banksia Hill focused on ways to encourage young people to find and use their voices and take part in ongoing conversations about reconciliation and their futures. Young people at Banksia Hill were involved in event planning and delivery and were supported by the Corrective Services' Aboriginal Services team and the Aboriginal Justice Transformation unit. Despite the 'marvellous achievements' of the Banksia Hill event, Mr Dodson believes a lot of work still needs to be done nationally. 'There's a bit more enlightenment in some of our jurisdictions that need to take place, and they better get on with it and make the changes to make things improve for the young people,' he said. 'For our communities, we've got to keep their young people out of harm and out of the attention of the police, which bring them into these places through the courts.' The event was hosted in partnership with Reconciliation WA.
