From Alice to Cuba

Spring has arrived and the giant birch standing beside the hospital is now covered in fresh green foliage. My humble garden is growing wonderfully providing herbs for the table, flowers for the bees and the miraculous unfolding of every new leaf feeding my awe at life. Meanwhile the temperature is steadily rising reaching the high 30s most of this past week – and summer is still a few months away!

News of ‘The Intervention’
The response to the ‘Aboriginal crisis’ is continuing to roll out. Dr. Jim Thurley, the coordinator of the central child health checks, visited Alice Springs Paediatric department and updated us on what was happening with this. He is a long-term NT resident, having worked as a Paediatrician and GP in Alice Springs and remote communities for the past 30 years. He signed on to the role of coordinator after reading with concern the initial intervention plans with the rationale, “it’s gonna happen, and I want to make sure it at least does some good”. The child health checks that are now being implemented are totally different from the initial idea. They are fully voluntary. They are comprehensive health checks. They do not aim to uncover sexual abuse – any suspicion of this requires referral to the sexual assault unit as per normal. They aim to see every child in the communities selected. They gather masses of information (that is sent to Canberra for compilation).

So far the outcomes have been pretty well as we would expect. There is a huge burden of infectious disease, especially chronic ear infection and skin infection. There are many children with anaemia, growth problems, and a few with heart murmurs previously undetected. This is a virtually identical picture to Dr. Thurley’s study in the early 1990s – showing that the health crisis is chronic and minimal improvement has been achieved. Dr. Thurley is cautiously hopeful.

“This survey will be the most comprehensive child health survey ever conducted in the NT. However, if it stops here it will be simply an enormous waste of time and money. The resources to address these problems is what is really needed… 300 teachers, 70 doctors, 3 ENT (ear, nose, throat) surgeons, billions of dollars worth of housing.”

This is an election year and all the pollies have been lavishly promising they will do what is needed. As citizens I believe we have a responsibility to keep them accountable. This is a unique historical opportunity, and if it is missed Australia will have another atrocity on our conscience.

Palm Valley

Here are a few pictures from my recent trip to Finke River National Park with my brother and a mate from Melbourne. It was an amazing place, and the views from the edge of the Amphitheatre among the best I have seen in the Red Centre. We did have a few close shaves trying to rock climb the sandstone cliffs – and I’m amazed we got away with all our limbs intact. The Ranger had a few words to say, but let’s not go there now…

Foster Parents
A couple of month ago Tristan came home and asked what I thought about becoming a foster carer. I thought it sounded alright and got a bit enthused as I imagined having a cute baby around the house. That night I had nightmares – poohey nappies, crying all night, sleepless nights and tiresome days… So I decided I better nut it out a bit more. Since then we contacted FACS (Family and Community Services – NT), submitted loads of paperwork, attended two long weekends of training, and finally completed our interview. Now we are registered as foster carers and will be on the list for Emergency and Respite care – expecting our first child in October.

Dinner with Fidel Castro
Did you know that Cubans are healthier than their USAmerican neighbours, despite the USA being 10 times wealthier, and spending 100 times the amount on health? Now check this. Cuba is now training doctors from the USA to serve poor communities back in the USA – and giving them full scholarships to do so! Wait a minute, surely this is some political ploy by Fidel in his ongoing wrestle with Washington?!?

Actually, Cuba has a long history of giving scholarships to train doctors from poorer countries around the globe – demanding only that the graduates return to their country of origin to work. The scholarships for USAmericans is apparently an extension of this, instituted after Fidel Castro met with the Mayor of a relatively poor US city and heard that the local predominantly African-American citizens could not afford to study Medicine. Fidel surprised the Mayor with his intimate knowledge of the health statistics of his electorate – then blew his mind by offering full scholarships to study Medicine in Cuba.

So I invited Fidel around for tea (via DVD) and he got chatting about his response to a run of hijackings in 2003. The film, Looking for Fidel, contained a string of interviews with Fidel Castro, exploring the Cuban social situation and particularly the multiple hijackings of 2003. In one scene, Fidel sat down with a dozen hijackers who were about to go to trial and candidly listened to their thoughts. At one stage he asked them what they thought the solution was to stop the hijackings! No doubt their answers were carefully constructed in view of their delicate legal position. But imagine John Howard sitting down with some of those asylum seekers he likes to label ‘illegals’, or perhaps the APEC protestors he likes to ridicule. Which reminds me, Chaser team – I salute you!

Alice Springs - Solar City

Finally, a quick pic from Hermannsberg community - each of these solar dishes produces enough electricity for 10 households. Alice Springs has recently been granted millions of bucks as part of the Federal Solar City project - so we may have a few more of these pop up in the next few years.

Greetings to you all, and a special cheerio to all of you now fasting for Ramadhan – may your month be full of peace and blessings!

The 'Crisis' in NT Aboriginal Communities

Published in the Australian Christian magazine, July 24th 2007.

On Thursday 21 June 2007 Prime Minister John Howard, made an announcement that would explode through Northern Territory Aboriginal communities and reverberate around Australia. Together with Indigenous Affairs Minister, Mal Brough, he revealed that the Federal Government was seizing control of 60 remote Aboriginal communities in a bid to overcome child abuse in the Northern Territory. Reactions to this ranged from labelling it the ‘second invasion’ through to lauding it as a definitive solution to the ‘Aboriginal problem’.

Since then, debate has raged fiercely and the flood of socio-political opinion has managed to muddy the issues sufficiently to confuse most intelligent Australians. Furthermore, it has drowned out the voices of those who are most affected – the individuals and families living in Aboriginal townships and communities. As a doctor based in Alice Springs I am privileged to count many of these people among my friends, colleagues and patients - and it is their voices I wish to share with you now.

“They’re coming to take our children”
Initial reactions were dominated by fear. The presence of the Australian Federal Police brought back memories of brutality, abuse and separation at the hands of authorities, miners and pastoralists within the last half century. Living members of the ‘stolen generation’ felt this most acutely and the perceived threat of further removal of children led many families to run from their homes.

As the fear now subsides it is being replaced by a quiet strength and determination. No-one questions the critical state of Aboriginal people living in remote communities (particularly regarding child abuse). No-one debates the need for urgent Government action. Aboriginal leaders have been pointing to the ‘Third world’ health statistics, appalling living conditions and the resulting social dysfunction for years, crying out for Government attention. However, there are grave concerns that the Government’s current approach will fail and may actually add to the suffering of Indigenous children rather than relieve it. Dr Mark Wenitong, President of the Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association (AIDA) writes:

"As medical professionals, we question the notion that you can treat poverty, dispossession, marginalisation and despair (the root causes of substance misuse and sexual, physical and emotional abuse) with interventions that further contribute to poverty, dispossession, marginalisation and despair."[i]

An alternative approach is needed!

Looking for a Solution
The Governments ‘State of Emergency’ decree was triggered by the release of the Little Children are Sacred report[ii]. 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 and cultural clashes resulting in hopelessness among young men. As the report points out, none of this was new information. The solutions too are not new.

"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!” (p. 13)

The report provides a detailed set of 97 Recommendations about how this could be achieved. Unfortunately, there is disturbingly low correlation between these Recommendations and the Federal Government’s subsequent policy announcements[iii].

An Alternative
Aboriginal controlled organisations are at the front-line in tackling the social issues present in Territory communities. These are a diverse set of organisations involved with healthcare, education, legal assistance and community development. As a collective they have released an Emergency Response and Development Plan that will harness the current political will in way that can result in empowerment and real, sustainable change[iv].

What Can You Do?
This is not an “Aboriginal problem”. It is an Australian human rights problem and it is the responsibility of all Australians to respond[v]. Change is in the air, and the policies implemented over the next few months will have repercussions for generations. What these repercussions will be depends on Australian citizens becoming informed and vocal. This doesn’t necessarily mean protests and pollie-bashing, but it does mean standing in solidarity with the Aboriginal leaders and organisations who are working so hard to make justice and equality a reality for all Australians.

1. Read and sign the open letter to Mal Brough. This has been signed by Mick Dodson, Malcolm Fraser and dozens of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal organisations and individuals. It gives a good overview of the change of policy needed to address the ‘crisis’ and is available on ANTaR’s website: http://www.antar.org.au/content/view/441/1/.

2. Join ANTaR’s ‘Sea of Hands’ campaign: www.antar.org.au/sea_of_hands/. ‘Sea of Hands’ is a movement towards genuine Reconciliation, and the declaration adopts a human rights based approach requiring governments to work in partnership with Aboriginal communities and organisations.

3. Join the Oxfam ‘Close the Gap’ campaign: http://www.oxfam.org.au/. 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.

4. Write your own letter to your local Federal MP. Example letters are available on the ANTaR website (http://www.antar.org.au/content/view/492/1/) and on my blog (http://www.adventureswithhamish.blogspot.com/). Follow up your letter with a phone call or visit to your MP.

More Information
http://www.antar.org.au/ – Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation have an excellent website with up-to-date information, easy to read hand-outs, letter writing tips and their “Sea of Hands” campaign.

[i] The Australian Indigenous Doctors' Association (2007), ‘Indigenous doctors demand real and long term results in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids' health (PDF)’. Media release available online: http://www.aida.org.au/res/File/Press%20releases/NT_Measures.pdf.
[ii] Northern Territory Board of Enquiry into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse (2007), Ampe Akelyernemane Meke Mekarle “Little Children are Sacred”, NT Government: Darwin. Available online: http://www.nt.gov.au/dcm/inquirysaac/pdf/bipacsa_final_report.pdf.
[iii] Anderson, I. (2007), ‘Ian Anderson compares the federal government's response to the Little Children Are Sacred report with the authors' recommendations’, Australian Policy online. Available online: http://www.apo.org.au/webboard/comment_results.chtml?filename_num=161613.
[iv] Combined Aboriginal Organisations of the Northern Territory (2007), A proposed Emergency Response and Development Plan to protect Aboriginal children in the Northern Territory. Available online: http://www.snaicc.asn.au/news/documents/CAOreport8july.pdf.
[v] Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (2007), ‘A human rights based approach is vital to address the challenges in Indigenous communities’. Media release available online: http://www.hreoc.gov.au/media_releases/2007/45_07.html.