Jim McIllroy argues the right鈥檚 culture wars are taking a hammering as Black Lives Matter-Stop Deaths in Custody movements rise.
Stolen wages
About 300 Aboriginal people have joined a class action filed in the Federal Court on September 12 to recover wages they say were stolen by the Queensland government more than half a century ago.
The claim is for unpaid wages held in government trust accounts under Queensland鈥檚 Aboriginal Protection and Preservation Act 1939, which allowed the government to control the earnings of Aboriginal people until 1972. Much of the money was lost or stolen.
Mining magnate Andrew 鈥淭wiggy鈥 Forrest had an opportunity on ABC鈥檚 November 1 screening of Q&A to defend his record on Aboriginal employment. He didn鈥檛 do very well.
鈥淵ou can see that through Generation One, a real challenge to fill those jobs, because we've proven for all time that corporate Australia 鈥 in fact every Australian 鈥 isn't racist鈥, Forrest said.
鈥淲e do love our first Australians. We do want to help them as much as we can but we can do it without just throwing money, and I believe I could do more.鈥
鈥淥ne of the great scandals of Australia's history: Aboriginal labour in the 20th century鈥, was a the title of a lecture by Dr Ros Kidd in the Queensland Trades and Labour building on May 20.
The Alex Macdonald Memorial Lecture attracted about 80 people. It was organised by the Brisbane Labour History Association and sponsored by the Queensland Council of Unions (QCU).
Kidd's latest book, Trustees on Trial, documents the abuse and misappropriation of Aboriginal wages during the last century. "The fight for justice is still going on鈥, Kidd said.