February 2015

Gargoyles depicting Indigenous man and woman are no statues of liberty

Submitted by Paul Daley on

After 74 years, the cultural debate over the stone faces of an Indigenous man and woman at the Australian War Memorial will be a public one

The Australian War Memorial is about to start a long overdue public conversation about the cultural sensitivity of two of its original architectural features: the stone faces of an Indigenous man and woman that are set amid gargoyles of native Australian birds, reptiles, mammals and marsupials.

For the Yolngu, cyclone Lam is part of the ancient rhythm of Arnhem Land

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Few buildings in the largely Indigenous town of Yirrkala are built to withstand heavy cyclones, but residents await its approach with caution rather than fear

Towns in the path of gathering cyclones are routinely reported to “brace” for their arrival.

In north-east Arnhem Land, on the estimated route of tropical cyclone Lam, some people are certainly readying themselves in anticipation. Not least, those communities in Lam’s immediate path at Cape Wessel and Elcho Island are preparing for the worst damage that could be wrought by a category four storm.

Indigenous leaders fight for return of relics featuring in major new exhibition

Submitted by Paul Daley on

Three precious examples of bark art taken from the Dja Dja Wurrung people in central Victoria in the 1850s were sold to the British Museum. Now these and other treasures could return to Australia – on loan only – as part of an exhibition

When Gary Murray contemplates the thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander objects held in the vaults of the British Museum in London, he strikes a simple analogy.

“All of these things that belong to our people in Australia – they don’t tell a story about the Queen of England, do they?” he asks.

Under Turnbull, a republic could be back on the table. First step, change the flag | Paul Daley

Submitted by Paul Daley on

A change to Australia’s awful colonial flag could be justified as an act of Menzies-style pragmatism by a new leader of the Liberal party, couldn’t it?

When it comes to questions of Australian national identity few topics raise such heat and fury as our national flag. The current Australian flag, with its dominant British union jack, is an anachronistic colonial throwback that ought to be ditched along with Prince Philip’s knighthood.