Dear all,<br><br>Further to the appeal to support Batchelor Institute (Northern Territory, Australia), a couple of people who are resisting Facebook have asked for more details, so here is the text of the letter drafted by the FB website group, and contact details for Hon Julia Gillard. Please note that they ask for the letters to be written by tomorrow, 2 June. Please also forward this to relevant networks. I'm sure international support would be greatly appreciated.<br>
<br>kind regards,<br>Margaret<br><br><font size="2"><br></font>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">Hon Julia Gillard</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">Deputy Prime Minister; Minister for Employment and Workplace
Relations; Minister for Education; Minister for Social Inclusion</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">Fax: (02) 6273 4115</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">Email: <a href="http://Julia.Gillard.MP">Julia.Gillard.MP</a>@<a href="http://aph.gov.au">aph.gov.au</a></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"> </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">I am writing to you as I am concerned about recent
developments in regards to Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education
(BIITE), Australia’s only independent Indigenous tertiary education provider
that operates predominantly in rural and remote parts of Northern Australia,
but also draws its students nationally.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"> </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">We are concerned by a number of recent developments in the
negotiations to redefine the future direction of the Institute. These include:</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"> </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">· the lack of consultation by BIITE executive, the appointed
administrators (Korda Mentha) and other funding agencies with the Institute’s
constituents (BIITE Council, BIITE staff, BIITE students) over the future of
the Institute.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"> </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">· the new draft structure of BIITE which will effectively
mean that a large proportion of degree courses will be delivered by Charles
Darwin University (CDU).</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"> </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">· that none of the BIITE constituents (staff, students,
unions, indigenous communities) have been party to the content or been involved
in the consultation process or been able to put forward alternate options, or
comment on the viability of the higher education courses on offer.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"> </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">We call on you as the Minister for Education to ensure that
proper consultation takes place with staff students and the Indigenous
communities that rely on the Batchelor Institute to ensure that their
communities have access to safe and culturally appropriate tertiary education,
on facilities that provide the best possible opportunities to for indigenous
students to commit to higher education and have a positive outcome that meets
their aspirations and the expectations of their community.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"> </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">We call on you as the Minister for Education to take the
following steps to ensure that the Batchelor Institute is restructured in a way
that provides the best possible educational outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander students:</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"> </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">Recommendations:</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">· Engage in a comprehensive consultation process in
accordance with the TOR as given to Korda Mentha in 2009.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">· Engage in a comprehensive consultation process that
includes dialogue with the Indigenous members of Council and the remote
communities representing our students.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">· Engage in comprehensive consultation in accordance with
Part 14: Managing Change (clause 111: Management of Change) in the Institute’s current
Enterprise Bargaining Agreement.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">§ The Australian government has endorsed the universal
Declaration of Indigenous Human Rights in Parliament. We seek you to pay
careful consideration to Article 18:</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">Indigenous peoples have the right to participate in
decision-making in matters which would affect their rights, through
representatives chosen by themselves in accordance with their own procedures,
as well as to maintain and develop their own indigenous decision-making
institutions; and Article 19: States shall consult and cooperate in good faith
with the indigenous peoples concerned through their own representative
institutions in order to obtain their free, prior and informed consent before
adopting and implementing legislative or administrative measures that may
affect them.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"> </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">Yours sincerely</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><br></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">(name)</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">(address)</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">(organisation if applicable)</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">(date)</font></p>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Margaret Florey<br>Consultant linguist<br>Director, Resource Network for Linguistic Diversity <<a href="http://www.rnld.org">www.rnld.org</a>><br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:Margaret.Florey@gmail.com">Margaret.Florey@gmail.com</a><br>
Ph: +61 (0)4 3186-3727 (mob.)<br>skype: margaret_florey<br>