Deputy Chairman, ‘Sugar’ Ray Robinson resigns from ATSIC. Robinson has been Deputy Chairman of ATSIC, the peak Indigenous body for seven and a half years. ATSIC continues to come under increasing pressure from the Government in regard to personal finances
Australia leads an intervention force in the Solomon Islands with the assistance of New Zealand and other Pacific nations.
The United Nations formally places the US and its allies (including Australia) in control of Iraq. The Security Council lifts sanctions imposed after Gulf War One, providing the coalition with broad powers to run Iraq and sell its oil to
The Australian Government resists pressure to accept the return of two Australian prisoners detained by the US Government at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Hicks and Habib are held without charge and remain without legal representation.
The Australian Government grants permanent visas to nearly 400 East Timorese and considers several hundred more following a 12 year battle for the East Timorese to stay in Australia.
As part of the Australian Government’s Pacific Solution, 450 asylum seekers, including more than 100 children are held on the island of Nauru. Varying stories relate the health and well being of these detainees. Nauru is a tiny Pacific island
Dr Bill Jonas, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, launches his annual Social Justice Report, describing the incarceration rates for Indigenous women a national shame.
Australia and Indonesia co-host a second regional conference on people smuggling in Bali. Both countries aim to exchange information on lost travel documents and the sharing of intelligence on illegal people movements.
Ninety percent of the world’s 6000 languages face extinction within the century including many Australian Aboriginal languages. UNESCO gathers experts from around the world at a Safeguarding of Endangered Languages conference in Paris.
Across Australia a number of fires are lit in detention centres. The Immigration Department removes 22 people it accuses of involvement in the fires to police custody and another undisclosed location.