Below are a few relevant articles on the Australian Government’s intervention against Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. The policy was presented as a drastic measure to prevent sexual abuse of children in Aboriginal communities. Then Prime Minister John Howard announced it a year ago; his successor Kevin Rudd has continued the policy with little amendment. It is a crucial responsibility of society to protect children from abuse, but this intervention – at the cost of a gross attack on civil liberties – does not seem to be succeeding.
It is the responsibility of Australia as a nation to lift the basic living standards of indigenous people to that of enjoyed by the rest of the country. Aboriginal communities suffer immense social disadvantage. It is the most entrenched problem in Australian society. It should be the source of our greatest shame. Too little has been done to tackle this problem. Decades roll on and the problems endure.
Rudd’s support for the intervention both before and after the election is despairing to those who hoped for genuine progress after his apology to the stolen generation.
On June 14 Peter Robson at Green Left Weekly canvased the Northern Territory intervention: myths and facts.
At ABC News on June 20 a report that the Northern Territory’s Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Tony Fitzgerald has called on Govt to abandon NT intervention
“Fitzgerald says the intervention has caused confusion, unfairness and inconvenience in remote Territory communities.
“He is critical of the one-off, short-term health checks and income quarantining measures, and says the suspension of the Northern Territory and Federal race discrimination legislation can never be justified.
“Meanwhile, the head of the Northern Territory branch of the Australian Medical Association (AMA) says he does not know of any cases of child sexual abuse that have been uncovered by the medical checks introduced as part of the federal intervention.”
Also at the Sydney Morning Herald today: Good and the Bad One Year On and The Intervention We Had To Have.
Anti-intervention rallies are planned across Australia today (June 21). Information HERE
