Latest news with #UNDeclaration
BBC News
08-07-2025
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- BBC News
BBC Audio The Aboriginal professor who was expelled from school at 13
Jack Beetson is a Ngemba Aboriginal man from western New South Wales in Australia. In the late 1960s when he was choosing subjects for high school, Jack was interested in studying commerce and history. Then a teacher told him; "Aboriginal kids don't study those subjects," diverting him to woodwork and metalwork instead. One year later aged 13, Jack was expelled with the other Aboriginal boys in his class and earned money picking cotton in the cottonfields. It wasn't until Jack was 28 years old and living in Sydney that he decided to go back to school and complete his education. He enrolled at Tranby College, Australia's oldest Indigenous college. After graduating he went on to become a teacher at Tranby and then the college Principal. He quickly became a well-known name in education in Australia, playing a role in drafting the UN's Declaration on the Rights of Indigneous Peoples and was awarded a UN Unsung Hero Award. Today he's director of the Literacy for Life Foundation, championing Indigenous adult literacy programmes across Australia. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: May Cameron Get in touch: outlook@ or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707 (Photo: Jack Beetson. Credit: Joy Lai/State Library NSW)
CTV News
04-06-2025
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- CTV News
Fraser apologizes, says comments on Indigenous consultation eroded trust
Minister of Justice Sean Fraser arrives for a cabinet meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick OTTAWA — Justice Minister Sean Fraser is apologizing today for comments he made about the government's duty to consult with Indigenous leaders on major projects. Fraser said Tuesday that the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples requires consultation but does not amount to 'a blanket veto power' over projects. He says Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak called him to express her frustration with his comments last night and he has apologized. Fraser says his comments caused hurt and eroded 'a very precarious trust' with Indigenous people. He says the UN declaration requires a process based on respect and partnership between Indigenous Peoples and the Crown. Fraser says talking about the declaration in terms of veto power makes an assumption that the government and Indigenous people are working against one another. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2025.
