Peace, Love and Justice

Peace and Harmony
Today is ‘Palm Sunday’, a day to remember that peaceful revolutionary who entered Jerusalem 2000-odd years ago on a humble donkey to spread a message of peace and social transformation. We celebrated it here in Alice Springs in the form of a ‘Peacenik’, raising awareness of the big social issues for us today – racism, discrimination, nuclear dumps, land dispossession – and asking “what world do we want to leave for our kids?”.

This comes one week after Alice Springs celebrated “Harmony Day”, a day to celebrate the diversity of Alice Springs and its people. As part of this I attended an Interfaith luncheon at the local Afghan Mosque along with an array of Muslim, Christian, Bahai and ‘unlabelled’ God-seekers. Not only was the food divine, but the atmosphere as we sat around and chatted felt absolutely saturated with the ‘Sacred’. Later in the day we joined a couple of hundred locals for a big celebration at the Town Hall – with more glorious food, musical acts and even a cultural fashion show.

Social Justice in Alice Springs
Given the sentiments of peace and harmony I have just described you may think Alice Springs is a particularly socially conscious town. It is true that there is a group of ‘enlightened’ Alice Springians for whom social justice is very important. However, I have also seen more individual and institutional prejudice and discrimination in three months of living here than I ever thought possible. One gentleman informed my brother of the solution to all of Alice Springs problems:

“It’s easy. Either we gotta take the Aboriginal kids off their parents and raise them in white houses – or we just shoot them all.”

He went on to explain that the ‘blacks’ are the root of every problem in the world, and Australian Aboriginal people are the worst of the lot. Just hearing my brother tell me this made me sick to the stomach. But the scary thing is that this man is not alone. And unfortunately such racist ideas are polished, made politically correct and find willing public mouthpieces (particularly through the Country Liberal Party).

Town Camps – Ghettos?
The most discriminated people in Alice Springs are residents of the Town Camps. Scattered on the outskirts of town, these Town Camps have been the sites of residence for various Aboriginal communities for years, and grew into crowded shanty villages under the 6-mile rule (preventing Aboriginal people to live within 6 miles of town). They gradually gained formal recognition in the 1970s. The Alice Springs Council did not want responsibility for them so the Tangentyere Council was established, theoretically giving communities a voice over their management. In reality they have never been adequately resourced to provide basic infrastructure, and essentials of water, sewerage, electricity and road access are still very limited. Unsurprisingly, the combination of material deprivation, economic dependence, low levels of education and overcrowding results in a state of severe poverty.

The Alice Springs mayor describes them as ‘ghettos’, and bemoans their encroachment on ‘residential areas’. Many people are quick to point to the high rates of violence, crime and neglect (with good reason). However, few people stop to realise that they are also survival communities who have battled against great odds just to be around today.

This week I sat down with four generations of the Williams family (see pics) who are long-term residents of a camp nick-named “Hidden Valley”. Grandmother Williams was removed from her parents as a child to work as a domestic servant in a white household. After starting her own family they were shunted around various locations by government order until finally settling back in Hidden Valley. Her children, grand-children and now great-grandchildren have all been brought up in this vibrant, but far-from-perfect community. Listening to these feisty and intelligent women talk it became very clear that they were acutely aware of the massive social problems facing them and would passionately debate potential solutions. [Many grassroots initiatives have been started, most failing because of poor institutional support or blatant sabotage – but that’s another story!] What was also clear was that they did not aspire to a suburban lifestyle, which they saw as fragmenting community in favour of individualism. They treasured their community, and above all wanted it to stay intact. Unfortunately, Town Camp residents are not permitted to vote in Alice Springs Council elections so the voices of people like the Williams’ are rarely heard!

$50 Million Dollar Solution
Alice Springs Town Camps have hit the national news recently thanks to a $50 million Federal government redevelopment plan “unanimously supported by all parties”. Sounds good? Yeah, probably too good to be true! The details have not been thrashed out, just vague promises of better houses, access to services and raising them to the standards of any other suburb. One thing is very clear though – to have access to the money Town Camp residents must relinquish their property to the NT government (and then rent or buy it back after redevelopment). None of the Town Campers I have spoken to have been consulted about this plan – in fact, the Williams family approached me with the newspaper headlines asking me to explain what it was all about.

I am sceptical, and have expressed my concerns to all the local and Federal parliamentarians involved. It smells to me like the Town Campers are being represented as the problem thus creating a solution that demands they shape up (i.e. conform) or ship out (i.e. go back to bush, shanty towns or river beds). Sounds a little like Governor Hindmarsh during the 1950s:

“Black men, we wish to make you happy. But you cannot be happy unless you imitate white men. Build huts, wear clothes and be useful. Love white men and… learn English.”

How much has changed?

Take Action
Hopefully I’ve stirred your conscience enough to think about how you can become more socially active. There are many other injustices in the world whose victims are crying out for support. Don’t be overwhelmed by it all. Just pick one, and start doing your little bit to make it right. Here are a few places to start, even if you can't commit much at least lend your voice to their petitions (GetUp and Avaaz make this very easy!).

- AJustAustralia (www.ajustaustralia.com) - this is the peak body for refugee advocacy in Australia and has lots of tips on letter writing, as well us up-to-date information and FAQs.
- Rights Australia (www.rightsaustralia.org.au) - this is a great resource for Human Rights issues as they pertain to Australia, with tons of information on all sorts of current issues.
- Avaaz (www.avaaz.org) - this is a new world-wide campaign movement based on the web! Jump online and add your voice to issues ranging from Zimbabwe, Iraq, Guantanamo, to Climate change and Middle-East peace talks.
- GetUp (www.getup.org.au) - this is a fun site based around collecting signatures on various topics. You can vote on issues related to the environment, refugees, Iraq, australian heritage - you can even vote David Hicks out (aka Big Brother style).
- MakePoverty History (www.makepovertyhistory.org.au) - no doubt you are all aware of this, well the campaign is still going and there is plenty more to be done.
- Medical Association for Prevention of War (www.mapw.org.au) - here's something for all you peace-loving medicos. The current focus is on the nuclear threat, with some really innovative ways of addressing it.

Is Charity Racist?

A Town Like Alice
What do you think of when you hear reference to Alice Springs? Perhaps it is the touristy vision of red desert plains, Uluru, rock art and Aboriginal cultural destinations. Perhaps you remember the news reports of youth sniffing petrol to get ‘high’ - or any of the other social problems such as domestic violence, alcohol abuse, suicide and gang violence. Perhaps you think of Alice as one of Australia’s backward towns out bush, where life is slow and residents are still struggling to enter the 21st century. Or perhaps you see Alice as one of the last frontiers, still basking in its natural glory while embracing ecologically friendly ‘new’ ways of living. On the other hand, maybe you have watched “The Alice” TV series and see the action packed lives of attractive young professionals out here in the rugged centre (we’re all like that, honest!)

Whatever your view, you are sure to find some evidence to support it. However, none of these descriptions really give an accurate picture of the diverse life here in the Centre. I’ve also realised, that all these views give a pretty distorted vision of the people who live here – especially the Aboriginal mob whose ancestors have been here for millennia. Unconsciously they become ‘tourist attractions’, ‘a lost generation’, ‘hopeless welfare cases’, ‘romanticised natives’, ‘primitive cultures’. And without living here and getting to know them, perhaps this is the default option. I don’t have that excuse any more, and over the past couple of months I have had to deal with my own hidden racism and bigotry.

I don’t have the answers. But I invite you to come along as I meet the diverse people who call the Centre home. And I’ll share the questions, and occasional insights I find along the way.

How charitable is Charity?
“TACK” – The Alice Community Kitchen is an initiative set up by a few young enthusiastic and socially minded individuals. The idea is simple – each week they cook up a hearty meal, load it onto a colourfully decorated trailer, cart it down to the Town Council lawn, and serve it out for free to anyone who cares to rock up.

I joined them on Friday night to lend a hand. After a week seeing patients at the clinic, it was nice to be outside getting my hands into some cooking, cleaning, and meeting interesting folk. Of the 120+ people who joined us for dinner, 99% were Aboriginal folk from in town or visiting from the more remote communities. The average age was perhaps 40ish, but there was a significant minority of youth, children and young families. Many were regulars who came along every Friday night. The environment was nice and relaxed, and there were enough volunteers to mean we had time to sit and eat with all those being served. As a bonus, the volunteers were a super-interesting bunch themselves who were doing all sorts of work in the Centre, all united in a common interest in social issues and inequality.

I sat for a while chatting to Eddie, a 21 year old guy who lived in one of the Town Camps. We talked about all the usually topics – going bush, football, cars, girls – then he turned to me and asked, “so, you like serving food and stuff?”. An innocent question, but it got my excitable little mind churning with questions.

Is that all we were doing – just serving food for the sake of charity? Was this charity actually doing good? Could it have actually been doing harm? Perhaps it was simply perpetuating dependency and entrenching the ‘them’ and ‘us’ mentality with all its unfair expectations. Does TACK actually serve any purpose bigger than a free feed on Friday? Does it make any difference in the long-term? Then again, surely the community spirit, the opportunity to share with others is in itself a worthy endeavour?

I don’t know. Maybe next week I’ll find some of the answers.

My Corolla is so Tough
Last weekend I jumped in the car with my brother Tristan and we headed off to find some more adventure. We headed north along the Stuart Highway (keeping pace with The Ghan train). Another 30kms west and then we veered onto a dirt road. Without another car in sight the ol’ Corolla revealed its rally-car heart. We paused briefly at a sign saying “4WD’s only” before launching the ol’ girl onward over rutted tracks, dry creekbeds, and bouncing down rocky ledges. An hour and a few dents later we got to a river campsite, unpacked our gear and starting trudging along the dry Fish Creek.

Rumour had it that there was an ace water-hole, and according to the campsite signpost it was only 800m away. We walked 800m, then 1600m, then 3km – no waterhole. Not holding too much trust in Territorian’s estimates of distance (or time) we decided to shuffle on another few hundred metres ‘just in case’. Lucky, cos the water hole round the next corner was an absolute score. Deep red cliffs shading a cool dark pool. Heavenly!

After watching the sun set from our idyllic vantage point we dried off and headed back to the car. The drive out was even better – and I fully recommend night-time 4WDing and rallying in an ’82 Corolla. Though had anything at all gone wrong we would have faced a bloody long walk home! But isn’t that what ‘adventure’ is about?