National

• NAIDOC week is a big celebration for Indigenous people and a highlight on the Blak calendar - it is our Blak Christmas.
• While reconciliation week focuses on relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, NAIDOC week is purely to celebrate our culture and achievements.

A brief history of NAIDOC

• Held in the first week of July, NAIDOC has a long history of activism and celebration.
• Over the years the event shifted to become one of celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, culture, and history, our survival and our resistance.

This year’s theme: ‘For our Elders’

This year’s NAIDOC theme is “For our Elders”. Our Elders are the trailblazers who fought tirelessly for all we currently have, and they continue to fight for the rights and freedoms of our people. Sadly, we lose too many Elders at relatively young ages. Recently we have lost Uncle Jack Charles, Uncle Archie Roach and Yunupingu, among many others. In our communities, loss of our Elders too early is heartbreakingly commonplace.

NAIDOC awards

• An event that is very popular is the National NAIDOC awards which acknowledge the contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to our communities.
• The “male” and “female” categories unfortunately miss a valuable opportunity to celebrate our leaders who are beyond the gender binary.

The NAIDOC ball

• The annual NAIDOC balls held across most states and territories are also a highlight of the week.
• It’s also important to consider the accessibility of the key NAIDOC events, such as the awards and balls.
• Given NAIDOC is a national celebration, more funding is needed from government and local councils to fund mob to host celebrations.

What does NAIDOC week mean for non-Indigenous people?

• Unfortunately NAIDOC week often leads to unpaid labour for many Indigenous people in workplaces, as they are expected to organise NAIDOC events and celebrations.
• During NAIDOC week, non-Indigenous people can show their support by not putting extra pressure on Indigenous staff and being involved in the organising of NAIDOC events.
• Employers could also include a day off for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff so they can participate in cultural celebrations.

• The 109 senators and 360 representatives were elected on 25 February 2023.
• Godswill Akpabio was elected Senate president and Tajudeen Abass House of Representatives speaker.
• In Nigeria, the power of the National Assembly’s two houses to legislate is enshrined in section 4 of the 1999 constitution.

Issues deserving attention

• I think the National Assembly should focus on the following issues for the next four years: the economy; power supply; infrastructure; and security.
• The recent removal of the fuel subsidy will make it harder for people to make a living and survive.
• Thus, a legislative agenda to redeem the national economy is imperative..

  Read more:
  Nigeria's economy: four priorities president-elect Bola Tinubu must deliver on

  .

• Power supply Second, meaningful economic policies and programmes require a regular power supply.
• Since 1999, an estimated N11 trillion (about US$14 billion) has reportedly been committed by successive governments to electricity supply.
• On top of this, a 40% electricity tariff hike is due to take off on 1 July.

The way forward

• Since the Fourth Republic began on 29 May 1999, Nigerians have been waiting in vain for the assembly to fulfil this role.
• Under President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government from 1999 to 2007, the National Assembly was unable to assert its relevance.
• When other institutions of the government fail in their responsibilities, the legislature cannot afford to fail its principal, the people.

Australia’s new National Anti-Corruption Commission is due to begin its operations today. Already there is much talk about who and what it should investigate. So what kinds of cases can – and will – the NACC pursue? And how will its performance be judged? The answers will be crucial not only to its own reputation, but overall public confidence in our newly strengthened public integrity system.

Leadership is one key to success

• But as an agency which still clearly has strong powers and substantial resources, its credibility now rests primarily on the good judgement of its leadership and how it performs.
• The first signs are good, with widely respected appointments by the government.
• tide in the affairs of the nation, which might significantly change for the better the governance of our Commonwealth.

A clear first case for NACC to handle?

• A clear example of the type of case the NACC should take on is the alleged abuse of public office by retiring Coalition frontbencher Stuart Robert.
• Vitally, there is now an independent federal agency able to investigate and say clearly if there has been wrongdoing, or not.

Who can bring a case to the agency?

• In fact, any member of the public can ask the NACC to investigate based on their concerns about what has been reported.
• In the Robert case, Services Australia is already investigating alleged internal conflicts of interest affecting contracts won by the same consulting firm at the centre of the allegations against Robert.
• Crucially, there’s another way the NACC can decide which case to take on.
• If its own risk assessments, intelligence or the public debate identify cases of concern, it need not wait for anyone’s “referral”.

Could PwC be investigated?

• There have been prominent calls for the NACC to investigate the PwC scandal.
• Here, confidential government information about planned tax avoidance laws was used by the consulting firm to help its clients avoid the crackdown.
• Or the Australian National Audit Office’s most recent scathing report on the government’s even larger health and hospital funding program.

Why other reforms still matter

• For example, it is hard to imagine a more serious lapse of public integrity than the Robodebt scandal.
• However, this is not the type of case the NACC is ever likely to investigate, because no personal corruption was involved.
• To prevent such massive failures of fairness, transparency and legality, we need other reforms, such as a far more robust Commonwealth ombudsman.

Expectations are very high

Of course, there’s even more which will influence the NACC’s effectiveness, including:
The NACC will need to be politically visible, yet totally independent. It must be scrupulously meticulous, but also clear-minded, values-driven and brave. All this is possible. But after years of growing expectations, the NACC certainly has no small task.

• Morrison wanted Berejiklian as candidate because she was a vote magnet; he dismissed ICAC as a kangaroo court.
• For many female voters, Berejiklian was the poster face for how high women could fly in politics.
• The phone taps of their conversations, in which Berejiklian turned a deliberately deaf ear to Maguire’s dodgy dealings, were devastating.
• It was, however, not until a year later that Berejiklian resigned, after ICAC turned its blowtorch directly on to her.
• Under the NACC’s act, a public official engages in corrupt conduct if they breach public trust, abuse their office, or misuse official information.
• While the NACC has strong public support, the experience of ICAC indicates any anti-corruption body will inevitably, over the years, find itself at the centre of intense controversies.
• With the power to break public figures, the stakes in some investigations will be very high.