Forwarded from Christine Howes: ATSIC Media Release 9 March 2000 Minister joins ATSIC Deputy Chairman to launch new Indigenous Radio Station Federal Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Minister, Senator John Herron, will join ATSIC Deputy Chairman Ray Robinson to officially open new indigenous radio station 4RR-FM in Charleville tomorrow. The entire local community has been invited to attend the celebration and tour the facilities for the station, which will broadcast on the FM band at 105.7 Mhz. Funded by ATSIC through the Goolburri Regional Council and operated by the Bidjara Media Broadcasting and Company, the station's new studios in the Bidjara Building in Wills Street will be opened at 1.00pm Friday. Commissioner Robinson, whose home town is Charleville, said he is " very proud to see the dream of a local indigenous owned and controlled radio station finally go to air. "This is economic independence, self determination, self -empowerment and self -employment, all rolled into one. The establishment of the radio station in Charleville is another link in the chain of creating economic, business and employment opportunities for local indigenous people. "This is the latest in a series of business and economic initiatives in Charleville that have seen more than 200 indigenous people employed. Government are just starting to talk about doing this. ATSIC and the community and organisations we fund here in Charleville are already doing it and we're years ahead of them." Commissioner Robinson said he would also be taking the Minister to see other examples of ATSIC-funded local initiatives around Charleville, designed to break out of welfare dependency. These include the Bidjara CDEP with more than 160 participants, Bidjara Housing , which owns or built 22 houses and employs a local building team operating under a qualified builder, as well as locally-owned and run sheep and cattle properties. "So I am very happy that we have the Federal Minister, Senator John Herron, here to help us celebrate that with us, and see for himself what this means for local indigenous people. "This is a great day for Charleville. For the first time, Indigenous people and the non-indigenous audience in the area will now get the 'authentic' voice of indigenous people speaking for themselves, about themselves and the issues the way we see them. "They will be getting that on the hour every hour through the news service on events and issues from around Queensland as well as from the local area." With a mostly country/Murri music format the station's news and programming would also appeal to the wider community, while the voice and views of people from the region would be carried across Australia. 4RR FM will do this by linking into the National Indigenous Radio Service, which provides programs to more than 250 BRACS and community radio stations across the country via satellite. "I am particularly pleased that the need for a radio station, identified by a community survey back in 1997, was now a reality just three years later. Now we not only have our own voice on the airwaves, but we have local people employed here as well," Commissioner Robinson said. The station will employ six full time staff, five of them locals. -- ********************************* Make the Hunger Site your homepage! http://www.thehungersite.com/index.html ********************************* ------------------------------------------------------- RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/ To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." RecOzNet2 is archived for members @ http://www.mail-archive.com/recoznet2%40paradigm4.com.au/
