Bird of the Week – Collared Sparrowhawk Accipiter cirrhocephalus
Collared Sparrowhawk Accipiter cirrhocephalus This glorious—though somewhat glum-looking—Collared Sparrowhawk, Accipiter cirrhocephalus, has been hanging around my back yard over the past few weeks – most likely lured in by the Zebra Finches, small Honeyeaters and [...]
Worst road in the world?…Australia? The Tanami Road
WARNING – this road eats cars…and trucks…and road trains…and caravans…and just about everything else that travels across it!! The Tanami Road/Track/Highway (take your pick) runs for just over 1,000 kilometres from just north [...]
Yuendumu: the pool, the press, protocols and permits…and the Code of Conduct for Ministerial Staff
As Crikey and The Northern Myth have reported and discussed on Tuesday and Wednesday this week there are real concerns at Yuendumu and across central Australia about the way that some journalists went about their [...]
Peggy Napaljarri Brown’s fury
As I walked up the road yesterday morning to get some milk, I spotted Peggy Napaljarri Brown, Jenny Macklin’s best new friend and Valerie Napaljarri Martin sitting in the shade of a tree outside the [...]
‘Ngurrju School, Ngurrju Pool’ (Yes School – Yes Pool) – Jenny Macklin finds a few friends at Yuendumu
Peggy Nampijinpa Brown & Jenny Macklin “I’ve found a friend!” Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin tells Crikey as she walks arm-in-arm across the dusty main street of Yuendumu with Peggy Nampijinpa Brown. [...]
Dog(s) of the week – Dion Beasley and his Cheeky Dogs
We were in Alice Springs for a few days last week and went along to a great exhibition by the young Aboriginal artist, Dion Beasley at the Olive Pink Botanical Gardens. Dogs Life [...]
Court day in Yuendumu Part 2 – The Community Court caravan rolls into town
When Stipendiary Magistrate John Birch’s Court caravan rolled into Yuendumu late last week he bought a new model of the law into town with him. Community Courts, as distinct from the regular Magistrates Court being [...]
Court day in Yuendumu – Part 1
The NT Magistrates Court rolled into Yuendumu for its bi-monthly visit late last week. Leading the 4 wheel-driven caravan was Stipendiary Magistrate John Birch, with an assortment of defence lawyers, police prosecutors and staff from [...]
NT medical clinic wins over the ACC’s coercive powers
There is a scene near the end if the Coen Brothers’ latest film, Burn After Reading where J. K. Simmons & David Rasche, playing hapless CIA supervisors, wring hands and tear hair at the mounting [...]
How did Paul Toohey’s “Last Drinks” get it so wrong?
I really wanted to like Paul Toohey’s Quarterly Essay 30, Last Drinks – The Impact of the Northern Territory Intervention, and I did like it – on the first read, and at a sitting. It [...]