The 'Crisis' in NT Aboriginal Communities

Back to the Future

Apologies for my blogging absence over the past month. I've recently returned to Alice Springs after taking four weeks of annual leave. It is good to be back home in the Alice, settling back into work and enjoying the summer warmth. The biggest issue happening up here is obviously the recent attention towards the social 'crisis' in Aboriginal communities. It is almost one month since the Government first made its shock policy announcements, so I thought I'd give you my perspective as the dust begins to settle...

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What's up with the 'Aboriginal Crisis'?
I returned to Alice Springs to find Aboriginal people here in a state of fear. Families have left their communities in a bid to stay away from the Federal police - out of fear of a rebirth of the stolen generation. Maybe that sounds like an over-reaction? But many Aboriginal elders here in the centre have experienced the removal of children by authorities first-hand (and remember, last time it was "in the child's interests" too). They also experienced the abuse and exploitation by goverment workers, pastoralists and miners - and fear losing control of their land will put them at risk again.

Local Aboriginal organisations, including Central Australian Aboriginal Congress (where I worked earlier in the year) have made formal responses to the government policies. The general gist is:

1. Yes, there is a social and health crisis among Aboriginal communities (and town).

2. We welcome the Federal attention and funding.

3. But we have grave reservations about the policies as they stand now.

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Allow me to step back and recap the recent developments. Four weeks ago the Australian government declared a State of Emergency for remote Aboriginal communities. This was purportedly based on the release of the Little Children are Sacred report. This report outlines disturbingly high rates of child sexual abuse and points out that the causative factors include alcohol abuse, unemployment, educational disadvantage, poverty, family breakdown, the loss of traditional family values in Australian society, and cultural 'clash' leading particularly to hopelessness among young men. As the enquiry points out, none of this was new information. Aboriginal leaders have been pointing to this crisis for years, crying out for Federal attention and support. So what does the report say?

"What is required is a determined, coordinated effort to break the cycle and provide the necessary strength, power and appropriate support and services to local communities, so they can lead themselves out of the malaise: in a word, empowerment!

Are there simple fixes? Of course not! Our conservative estimate is that it will take at least 15 years (equivalent to an Aboriginal generation) to make some inroads into the crisis and then hopefully move on from there.

However, we do make some recommendations that are capable of comparatively easy and prompt implementation. Again, they are obvious. We have been struck time and time again over these last six months, by how often the same obvious problems are exposed and the plain responses articulated. That is that everybody knows the problems and the solutions." (p. 13)

The report contains a detailed list of Recommendations - read the report. Since then, the Federal government has certainly delivered the attention, with Mal Brough (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs) and Prime Minister John Howard launching some big policies. These have included:

1. Mandatory child health checks. (These have now been scaled back to the pre-existing standard child health check, after realising that mandatory health checks are a form of abuse too).

2. Sending in the troops. Hundreds of Federal Police have been sent to remote communities to enforce law and order.

3. Removing land permits and native title power.

But what does all this have to do with the Reports call for empowerment? Indeed, where in the detailed Recommendations did the government pull any of this from? The mind boggles.

Where to from here?

Change is in the air, and despite the deficiencies of the government's approach this is an opportunity. So I'd ask you all to get on board and help make a difference for Australia's First Peoples. Here is a three-step start.

1. Read and sign this letter to Mal Brough. This is an open letter from Mick Dodson and signed by dozens of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal organisations and individuals. This gives a good overview of the change of policy needed to actually address the 'crisis'.

2. Sign on to the Oxfam 'Close the Gap' campaign. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders die 17 years earlier than non-Indigenous Australians. 'Close the Gap' campaign calls on Australian governments to take action to achieve health equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders within 25 years.

3. Write your own letter to your local Federal representative. I've posted up a letter I have sent to the PM and Mal Brough below - feel free to copy from this. [As a NT Government employee I am potentially breaking my contract in writing directly to MPs, hence why I keep my comments very general]

Today I took part in a national day of action specifically standing up against the proposed 'Land Grab'. Aboriginal leaders from Alice Springs and surrounding communities spoke about what land means for them.

"We do not own the land. The land owns us... Taking the land from us takes part of our self."

"Aboriginal people in central Australian have fought long and hard for control over the land from which they were removed. On this issue there is unity - land is non-negotiable."

Going Bush

Speaking of 'land', I got to go bush with my brother Tristan the other weekend. We headed west from Alice Springs for a couple of hours to Orminston Gorge - part of the beautiful West McDonnell Ranges. The days were perfect - clear blue skies and warm sunshine. The nights were freeeeezing!