A town like Alice: alcohol and the Intervention

Sue Gilbey
Green Left Weekly, 12 December 2008

Alice Springs, the heart and pulse of Australia. While that is true in terms of location, few Australians know very much about their heart.

Alice is a harshly but strikingly beautiful place, full of spectacular rocky outcrops, gaps and red, red dust, and not far from a mammoth rock. It is a city unlike any other in Australia.

I have family there so visit about twice a year and each time the unique beauty of the view takes my breath away. Each time now, though, I leave with a heavy heart.

Pine Gap, the United States’ tracking facility, operates from just out of Alice and there is something bizarre about the prevalence of left-hand drive, petrol-guzzling SUVs in the rich part of town. You can often see US personnel washing their cars with a power hose, blissfully unaware that they are living in a drought-ruined country.

The very existence of Pine Gap is bizarre: US-owned and operated, but on Aboriginal land. Few Australians have any idea of the appalling Third World conditions endured by Central Australia’s Aboriginal population.

Last year, under what now seems like stage-managed action for maximum impact theatre, the Coalition government’s John Howard-Malcolm Brough leadership team sent the Australian army into Northern Territory Aboriginal communities and suspended the Racial Discrimination Act under new “NT intervention” legislation. They stridently announced that this was not race-based legislation, despite the fact that it only applies to one race.

Since then, much has been written about the pros and cons of the NT intervention. For me, it is breathtakingly racist and designed to blame the victim.

However, the immense relief we felt when the new Kevin Rudd Labor government made the wonderful apology to Aboriginal Australians soon after taking office was misplaced. Rudd and the new minister for Indigenous affairs, Jenny Macklin, are extending the Intervention. They are not in a hurry to restore the Racial Discrimination Act.

One major so-called justification for the NT intervention is alcohol abuse. Do Aboriginal people have a problem with alcohol?

Comparative studies of alcohol consumption by Indigenous and non-Indigenous people conducted in rural and remote areas have shown that:

* up to 35% of Indigenous men do not drink alcohol, compared with 12% of non-Indigenous men;

* up to 80% of Indigenous women do not drink alcohol, compared with 19% to 25% of non-Indigenous women; and

* in the NT, 75% of Aboriginal people do not drink alcohol at all.

However, among those Indigenous people who do drink alcohol, the level of consumption is very high. A survey of Indigenous drinkers in Australia showed that 22% of Indigenous people drink at harmful levels, compared to 10% of non-Indigenous people. In the NT, more than two-thirds of Aboriginal male drinkers are classified as “binge drinkers”.¹

In order to curb the bad effects of excessive drinking, some Aboriginal communities have chosen to limit the availability of alcohol to their members, or have elected to be dry. They were policing this themselves.

There is no doubt that for those who have real alcohol dependency problems, the choices are very limited. There are no rehabilitation units or help to lure people away from alcohol; just prohibition.

Under the NT intervention, half of all welfare payments are now quarantined. Once rent and other essentials are taken into account there often is no money left, just vouchers, which can only be used in government-designated stores (such as K-Mart, Woolworths and Coles) via plastic store cards. Nothing left for treats for kids, shoes, clothes or birthday presents — nothing left of individual choice.

The store cards have no PIN numbers and can be easily stolen or lost, and often require extensive travel, sometimes several hundred miles, to be able to be used. The travel expenses often use up the other half of the welfare money.

The Rudd government is moving to quarantine all welfare payments. I shudder to think of the implications.

In Alice, if you go shopping on food voucher day you will see an apartheid-like system of separate aisles for proscribed store card holders. When I tried to join a card-holders queue out of a sense of solidarity, I was told to get in the other aisle.

“The white aisle”, I thought to myself. However, Aboriginal people who do not come under the intervention laws can join that lane, so I guess it is for whites and honourary whites. Nothing like a bit of divide-and-conquer to keep people quiet.

When I was in Woolworths once, my heart went out to one old woman who must have been shopping for the family. She had the wrong card and she clearly did not understand why the food she had put in her trolley and queued for ages to buy was being put back on to the shelves. She ended up wailing and was escorted out by security. When I got through the checkout she was still outside crying.

The quality of the food in the big chains has deteriorated too. One woman with a loud US accent told me that since the intervention she shopped there only for toilet paper and cleaning products. The reason, she said, is that the “Abos” had to shop there and since they don’t really care if food was fresh or not the quality of the fresh food had gone downhill.

So the broccoli is yellow and the lettuce brown on the edges, but it costs the same! On the other side of the same coin, many local retailers are facing closure. Small grocery outlets, and second-hand clothing and furniture stores, previously patronised mainly by Indigenous people, have been hit hard.

Alcohol ‘abuse’

It is hot in Alice and I don’t mind a cooling drink, so I’ve made a few treks to the bottlo. The first thing I noticed was that you have to show picture ID to buy grog now, even just one stubby. Every purchase of alcohol is also recorded.

At last, I thought, they are keeping track of the amount of grog that Territorians drink. But no, they couldn’t give a fig how much people drink; it’s all about controlling what some of them drink.

When I went to a retail outlet at 4pm one day to buy a two-litre cask of wine for a sup over dinner and a bottle of green ginger wine to make my favourite dessert, I was told that neither could be bought until after 6pm. I tried to argue, asking whether I could buy brandy for my dessert instead and the answer was yes. In fact, I could buy enough brandy to make dessert for an army, and scotch and vodka too, indeed any spirits.

And I could buy wine by the bottle too, as much as I wanted — all so long as I showed ID and signed a statement saying I wouldn’t on-sell it to Aboriginal people.

Surely, I asked the store worker, a carton of whiskey is worse for you than a two-litre cask of wine? Then it dawned: green ginger wine, like port, is fairly cheap and is fortified. Blackfellas drink it. They drink cheap cask wine too.

Another facet of the intervention that is unfathomable to me is the practice of erecting signs outside people’s homes marking them out as part of a prescribed area. They are like giant bar codes, telling everyone passing by and the inhabitants that the people living behind the signs are different, implied boozers and users of pornography. It doesn’t matter if it is a house full of women and children, there is no getting away from the implications of the sign.

This practice also implies that it is OK to be a substance abuser and a pornographer anywhere else, just don’t do it in a prescribed zone.

So given all that taxpayers’ money, all that inconvenience, not to mention the total inhumanity of it all, is the intervention working? If it is, it is not evident. But prohibition has never worked, anywhere.

One side effect, though, has been the large number of Aboriginal families who have left Alice.

For prescribed people, the intervention follows them, even interstate. However, many Aboriginal people who live in private accommodation, do not receive Centrelink payments and therefore do not come under the prohibitive rules of the intervention, have family members who do.

Providing alcohol to a prescribed person is illegal, even if that person is your brother, cousin, daughter or whoever, and even if you used to regularly have a few beers with them around the barbeque on a weekend. Now, when your relatives turn up for the regular barbie, you can be fined for giving them a drink, and jailed if you repeat this “offense”.

Rather than accept the indignity and shame of it all, families have quit their jobs, pulled their kids out of school and left for friendlier environments.

Nothing good can ever come from racism and the NT intervention is racist in the extreme.

1. References:

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Alcohol Report, AGPS, Canberra, 1995.

Northern Territory Liquor Commission, Australian Bureau of Statistics, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Survey 1994, AGPS, Canberra, 1995.

Commonwealth Department of Health and Family Services, National Household Survey on Drugs, AGPS, Canberra, 1996.

Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, Aboriginal Alcohol Use and Related Problems, Expert Working Group Report, 1991.

d’Abbs P., Hunter E., Reser J. and Marlin D., Alcohol Related Violence in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities: A Literature Review, Commonwealth Department of Health, Housing, Local Government and Community Services, 1993.

Message from Gumatj clan nation - MataMata Homeland, NE Arnhem Land.

"There is a new wave of attacks on remote Indigenous communities. The government is set to close down most remote schools. Because cdep and welfare are linked to school attendance this is a retraction of any government support from these communities.

Schools will no longer teach in the local Indigenous languages either. English only.

They are also proposing to stop all funding to small remote communities, called Homelands or Outstations. These communities - like that we live in here at MataMata - is the cultural source of identity, pride and indigenous religion and law. These are sacred Homelands that the people WILL NOT leave.

There are also ominous signs the government wants to change the land tenure in these communally held estates (free hold title under the Land Rights Act).

These, among many other measures suggest the government seeks to move remote community people into larger centres. This is exactly as Vanstone suggested, but with more subtle rhetoric.

It may seem crude, but what would the response be if the government proposed to shut down all schools in white communities? If they proposed to shut down all service provision to white communities? If they started unilaterally CHANGING LEGAL LAND TENURE LEGISLATION in white communities?

People out here on the Homelands are both saddened and angry. However, they are defiant, that no matter what the government does, they will not leave their sacred lands and their law. The government will be condemning them to a life of EXTREME poverty. Is this 'closing the gap'? Is this 'reconciliation'?

They call this a representative democracy. What a joke - what representation do my family have out here? What say do they have in deciding on legislation that directly effects them and their children and their property?

For more info, check out these government discussion papers on the proposed legislation and here

The two policies have to be read as working together - that is where the more sinister policy proposals lie.

Also, it is worth looking at the proposed changes to education in remote Indigenous communities, and the government's latest response to the review of the NT Intervention.

For a great response to the government policy on CDEP and 'increasing employment', check out Frances Morphy's paper:


This gives a clear indication of some of the possible cultural effects of the new wave of Government attacks.

The more people that are informed and active on this issue the better.

Please talk to people about this down south! It is really so urgent I
can't stress it enough!

In solidarity,

Gumatj clan nation, MataMata Homeland, NE Arnhem Land.

Rally against the NT Intervention - Sat 27 Sept

Aboriginal control of Aboriginal affairs

STOP THE RACIST INTERVENTIONS INTO ABORIGINAL COMMUNITIES

Rally 11am Sat 27 Sept

at the Block (opposite Redfern station)

As Rudd prepares to receive his whitewash "review" of the NT intervention into Aboriginal communities, show your solidarity with Aboriginal people in the NT and here against this racist land grab, welfare quarantining, and increased police powers. Demand the restoration of the Racial Discrimination Act, and the funding of community-controlled services.

Defend the Redfern Block.

Speakers include Roslyn Frith, NT community spokesperson and granddaughter of 1966 strike and land rights leader, Vincent Lingiari, plus speakers from the Redfern community and unions.

Organised by the Sydney Aboriginal Rights Coalition

http://aboriginalrightscoalition.wordpress.com

Draft Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Rights Charter

At its May 22, 2008 meeting the National Executive of the Socialist Alliance voted to make available this first draft of its Charter of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Rights to all interested activists in the movement for Indigenous rights.

The Charter not only updates the Socialist Alliance’s policy on Indigenous people’s rights, but is also intended to help build the movement itself. We welcome criticism and suggestions for improvement. They can be sent to the Socialist Alliance National Office.

The final version of the Charter will be produced in time for the June 21 National Day of Action against the federal intervention in the Northern Territory and other communities.

Dick Nichols

National Coordinator Socialist Alliance

---

Download original draft for printing Introduction In 1788 Australia was invaded and colonised, but the sovereignty of the original inhabitants of this country was never ceded. Treaties were never negotiated over the use or settlement of the land, and the colonisers invented a legal fiction – terra nullius – to justify their illegal and violent annexation. By pretending that the land wasn’t inhabited by a “civilised” people, the likes of James Cook and Joseph Banks laid the basis for two centuries of racism and oppression. For the past 220 years, mothers, fathers and children have suffered the trauma of invasion, enslavement, assimilation, genocide, racist exclusion, land theft, the destruction of life, language and culture, and the denial of basic human rights. Under successive governments, whole populations were forced into missions, denied their language and culture, and given diseased blankets, and tea, flour, and tobacco to live on. In many areas, hunting parties were paid a bounty to chase down and kill those who refused to accept the new order. Throughout the last century, Aboriginal children were removed from their families and communities, in order to “assimilate” what was deemed a “failed race” into the broader Australian population. These children were lied to about their heritage, and were used as slave labour – as housemaids, or on cattle stations – and were frequently abused. These children – collectively known as the Stolen Generations – still suffer from the effects of their separation, and are still waiting for meaningful reparation for their pain. The Apology The apology given by Kevin Rudd to the Stolen Generation was an important and necessary symbolic step forward—if long overdue. However, it does not mean that official racism is dead. Without compensation for the Stolen Generations and immediate action to overcome the inequality suffered by indigenous Australians, the apology will become just more hollow words from white Australia. In 1992, the High Court finally laid to rest the white colonial fairytale that there was no such thing as Indigenous land ownership, that the country invaded in 1788 was terra nullius. But despite a world of promises, in the 16 years since Mabo Indigenous Australia remains without adequate recognition and often living in Third World conditions. Deaths in custody and endemic racism continue, reinforced by negative media coverage and racist government legislation, such as the Howard Government’s Northern Territory intervention in 2007. The Northern Territory intervention—the new paternalism The Howard government used the 2007 Little Children are Sacred report on the sexual abuse of children in Aboriginal communities to justify its intervention with police and army into Northern Territory Aboriginal settlements. There was no consultation with Indigenous communities, the Northern Territory's land rights law and the permit system were suspended, welfare payments “quarantined” and employment projects cut. The pretext for the intervention was not even mentioned in the legislation that enabled the intervention, and only a handful of actual charges of abuse laid. Northern Territory Aboriginal leaders maintain that the incidence of child molestation in their communities is less than in the broader community. If the concern about inadequate protection of Aboriginal children had been real, it would never have produced that intervention. The intervention and the quarantining of welfare payments has forced people out of their communities, leading to increased homelessness (“long-grassing”), suicide and petty crime. This new paternalism, which continues under Rudd and state Labor governments, will only reproduce the same results as the old paternalism—poverty, alienation, powerlessness and hopelessness. The only way to solve the problems facing Aboriginal communities across Australia is to work in coalition with the communities themselves, to provide the resources, training, and support to enable the communities to take control of their own affairs, instead of relying upon hand-outs or being pushed around at the point of a gun or pen. 1. Our basic approach Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples continue to be the victims, not the creators, of the policies which affect them. That is why the Socialist Alliance’s basic “policy approach” is to provide solidarity and support to all struggles for justice by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. We stand for: Reconciliation and compensation Recognition of rights and the building of awareness Full economic and social equality – close the gap within ten years A treaty and real land rights Aboriginal control of Aboriginal affairs Justice for Indigenous Australia must begin with a frank and full acknowledgement of the fact that “White Australia has a Black history” and a determination to make amends wherever possible. Prime Minister Rudd’s apology to the Stolen Generations on February 13, 2008, was a good start, but more concrete steps have to be taken. That requires: Constitutional recognition of the sovereignty of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the original and ongoing inhabitants of the land, and the negotiation of a treaty or binding agreement enshrining Indigenous rights in law; Full reparation for the Stolen Generations; Full implementation of the recommendations of the 1997 National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families (the “Bringing Them Home” Report). Full and immediate compensation for the stolen wages; Full implementation of the recommendations of the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody; 2. Recognition of Rights and Building Awareness Socialist Alliance supports the creation of a treaty or compact in order to enshrine and protect the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This is more than just a formality – in countries where treaties have been negotiated, and have provided a means to exercise genuine self-determination in Indigenous communities, health and other social problems have improved. The Socialist Alliance says: Ensure all legislation is in line with the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the rulings of the UN Commission on Human Rights; Guarantee protection of sacred sites and artefacts, and the return of all stolen heritage items – both here and overseas – to their rightful custodians; Protect the cultural and intellectual property rights of Aboriginal Australia; Change planning laws and regulations so that the decision as to what is a heritage site in need of protection belongs to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people concerned; Make the study of the history, culture, language and customs of Indigenous peoples part of the core education curriculum; make Indigenous studies mandatory in teacher training; and develop curricula in Aboriginal languages; Start a program for the reviving and popularising of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander place names to stand alongside (or replace) the place names arising from colonial settlement; Extend Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander programming on the ABC, SBS and community broadcasting; end the racist and destructive portrayal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, organisations and communities in some sections of the media. 3. Social and economic equality In health, housing, employment and education Indigenous Australia still lags, often shockingly, behind the rest of the population. Indigenous babies and children have twice the rate of low birth weight, seven times the rate of sudden infant death and seven times the death rate from childhood infectious diseases and accidents as non-Indigenous children. The life expectancy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is 17 years below that of non-Indigenous Australians, and at present rates of change it will never reach that of the non-Indigenous population! This contrasts shamefully with the progress in life expectancy of the Maori people in New Zealand and the First Nations peoples of Canada. To make things worse, for years, Indigenous health has been under-funded by at least $500 million annually. This must be turned around immediately. We need to end the genocide taking place by neglect, by extending and improving Indigenous health and other community needs through fully funded and targeted services controlled by Indigenous Australians and their communities. The Socialist Alliance calls for an emergency campaign to “close the gap” in life expectancy within a generation, and to eliminate Indigenous social disadvantage and inequality across the board within a decade. Socialist Alliance calls for a target date of 2012 for Aboriginal students to match or better the educational development of Australian students as a whole, and aim for similar targets in health, housing and employment. A properly funded program of positive discrimination for Indigenous people in education and training and a real Indigenous job creation campaign could have started to solve the problems of Aboriginal communities’ hopelessness years ago. Funding for programs that have been shown to reduce social and economic disadvantage must be kept up and increased. Any real plan to achieve social and economic equality for Indigenous people must include the following measures, developed and overseen by the appropriate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and organisations. Aboriginal control over the administration of Aboriginal affairs must be the practice, not just on paper. Health An emergency campaign around child health. Boost funding to community-based child-care services and boosted training of more Aboriginal pediatric health professionals Boost health resources in both community-run and mainstream services Strengthen community initiatives to address violence and abuse, establish safe houses and properly resource Indigenous women’s centres and legal services Implement the recommendation of the Little Children are Sacred report, the Combined Aboriginal Organisations of the Northern Territory Emergency Response and Development Plan, as well as the recommendations in the 1997 HREOC Social Justice Report. Housing As part of expanding social housing, develop and adequately fund an Indigenous housing plan to address unmet need (17% of people using homelessness services are Indigenous as against less than 2% for the population as a whole). Implement an emergency repair and upgrading plan for Indigenous households. Help Indigenous communities maintain and improve their housing stock by providing the necessary training and resources. Education Ensure that the Department of Education and Training has the resources, staffing and teacher-training programs adequate to provide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students with the necessary attention. Implement programs to support Aboriginal parents and caregivers with children in the formative 0 to 5 year period. Increase the numbers of Aboriginal teachers and education administrators Increase the level of community involvement in schools and TAFEs, through such programs as “in-class tuition” that brings Aboriginal parents into schools to work with and raise the awareness of non-Aboriginal teachers and children. Employment Ensure that all programs and services in Indigenous communities employ qualified people, and provide training and development for community members. Establish affirmative action quotas in apprenticeships, TAFE and university entrance and all levels of government. Require government agency programs to increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation. Help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to retain and or reclaim use of traditional fisheries Abolish work for the dole. Reinstate Community Development Employment Programs (CDEPs) as a transition to real employment, especially in remote in Aboriginal communities, employing all workers on locally negotiated award wages based on community consultation. Indigenous Australians in jail Indigenous Australians make up less than 2% of the population, but make up 26% of the jail population. There can be no social justice and equality for Aboriginal Australians until problems that cause this situation are tackled. Implementation of all the 339 recommendations of the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, and full investigation into the scores of avoidable deaths since. Full implementation of the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody Boosted funding to Aboriginal Legal Aid Thorough training of court officials, police and prison officers in Indigenous culture and values Proper representation of Indigenous communities on law reform bodies Greater Indigenous representation on juries Indigenous community policing Greater use of suspended sentences 4. Sovereignty, Treaty and Land Rights After three decades of Land Rights, and 15 years of Native Title, it is clear that consecutive governments and legislation have failed to meet the aim of increasing the rights of Indigenous people to live on traditional lands. The National Native Title Tribunal has failed to secure Indigenous rights in the face of corporate, especially mining, interests. The Howard government’s abolition of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) and attack on Land Rights in the Northern Territory shows the vulnerability of Indigenous rights in the face of hostile Governments intent on a racist land-grab. Socialist Alliance stands for full Land Rights and compensation for land taken, and recognises the existence of Indigenous self-governance and the right of Indigenous peoples to self-determination. Socialist Alliance also calls for increased funding and support for Indigenous community-run services to overcome the lack of necessary expertise among local communities. The Socialist Alliance approach is to strengthen the economic and skills base of the land councils system and local communities, and in this way support Indigenous people in the creation of sustainable, self-managed communities. Socialist Alliance says: Restore the permit system in full, under community control, not white manager control No to 5-year and 99-year leases. The use of Aboriginal land for community development is possible without breaking it up and forcibly introducing individual property relations onto a communitarian culture Repeal the Native Title Act, abolish all racist land laws and renegotiate Indigenous Land Rights as part of a constitutionally entrenched Treaty, binding on Federal and State governments Provide support, funding and the necessary specialist training for the development of community cooperative enterprises Develop leadership and skills among local communities—with special incentives for the younger generation to participate. Guarantee popular election of office holders at all level Block the disposal of land of spiritual or cultural value without support by land councils and traditional custodians. Encourage and resource the development of democratic Indigenous representative bodies at regional and national levels. No forced amalgamations or closure of land councils No to the “mainstreaming” of Indigenous services

BLACK AND WHITE UNITE FOR RIGHTS CONFERENCE

BLACK AND WHITE UNITE FOR RIGHTS - CONFERENCE, MAY 23-25
**SORTING FACT FROM FICTION IN THE NT INTERVENTION**
http://aboriginalrightscoalition.wordpress.com/

‘DAY OF MOURNING’ ANNIVERSARY FORUM 70th Year Anniversary
FRIDAY 23 MAY
6-8:30 pm, Australia Hall, 150 Elizabeth St Sydney
* Welcome to Country - Chika Madden
* MC Intro & Cultural Performance - Greg Eatock
* How far have we come? - Professor Larissa Behrendt
* Parliamentary Response - Senator Rachel Siewert (Greens, WA)
* Update on impact of NT Intervention - Barbara Shaw
Break & Acoustic Performance
* Human Rights Implications - Darren Dick HREOC
* Community Developed Approaches - Muriel Bamblett SNAICC (tbc)

SATURDAY 24 MAY
Redfern Community Centre, 29 Hugo St, Redfern
OVERVIEW OF ABORIGINAL HISTORY OF STRUGGLE
Welcome to Country - Chicka Madden
Conference Welcome - Millie Ingram

9:00-9.10am
Fifty Years of Struggle: Contextualising the Campaign - Greg Eatock

The Intervention Unpacked
9.10 – 10.45 am
The Intervention: grass roots impacts - Juni Mills, Chris Poulson, Lyle Cooper
Plus Speakers from the Floor, Individual’s experiences & Communities Input

MORNING TEA 10:45-11:00

PANEL - PATERNALISM REVISITED - The Intervention Unpacked (cont’d)
11:00am-12:00pm
Welfare Management, Land Legislation, CDEP, Mission Managers, grog & pornography controls, health & education, & the impact on Child Protection - Monitoring the Intervention (Aboriginal organisations & Communities Input)

The Expanding Intervention
12-12:30 pm
Qld’s Experience - Victor Hart
WA’s Experience - Natasha Moore
NSW Experience -
SA Update - Brian Butler

12:30-1:00pm Questions

LUNCH 1:00-2:00pm

Afternoon Sessions
WHY THE CHANGE IN APPROACH & WHERE’S IT HEADING?
Ideology Underlying Intervention, 2:00-2:15pm
What’s the thinking behind the NT Intervention? - Cathy Eatock

Which Way Forward 2:15-2:30pm
International Precedents & Evidence Based Aboriginal Developments - Muriel Bamblett (tbc)

Review of NT Intervention 2:45- 3:00pm
What’s planned next? - Larissa Behrendt

3:00-3:30pm Questions

AFTERNOON TEA 3:30-4:00 pm

STATE REPORT BACKS
4:00-5:00pm
State Report Backs
5:00-5:30pm
Alice, Darwin, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melb, Tas & Sydney - ARC & Affiliated Organisations

Questions

6-9PM COMMUNITY BBQ & PERFORMANCE


SUNDAY 25 MAY
ABORIGINAL CAUCUS & CONCURRENT WORKSHOPS
9:30-12:30
Aboriginal Caucus
National Coordination, ARC Structure, Community Issues, Future Directions

Campaign Workshops?
Engaging Unions, Broadening Support, Managing the Media and Working with Students, and the International Campaign

LUNCH 12:30-1:30pm

BLACK & WHITE UNITE SESSION
Koori Caucus Outcomes
1:30-2:00pm
Future Directions Report Back: Where are we going & how do we get there?

Workshops’ Report Back
2:00-2:40pm
Workshop Recommendations: How the other 97.5% of the population can help!

Resolutions
2:40-4:30pm

Conference Close 4:30 pm

Australian-Style Intervention of Indigenous Communities Moves to Brazil

Written by John Schertow
Wednesday, 23 January 2008

There's a new law being debated in Brazil that threatens to undermine the rights and livelihoods of all Indigenous people in this South American nation.

Through twisting the letter and intent of International Labour Organisation convention 169, among other International agreements and National legislation, this law proposes that Brazil perform a state-wide intervention campaign to "save" indigenous children from bad treatment, neglect, abuse, exploitation, and infanticide.

While not as comprehensive as the 700 pages of legislation that embodies the "Australian Intervention" this Brazilian equivalent poses an even greater danger. If legislated, it would allow state forces to enter all indigenous communities on a regular basis; and it would force Indigenous people to police themselves by making them legally obligated to denounce any community member who is or who may be harming children.

If they do not denounce such a person, or if someone is suspected to know something but declined to report it, they would then be punished similarly to those who harmed or may have harmed a child. Punishment would range from fines and incarceration to the state taking away the children or just adopting them out—most likely, to non-indigenous people.

Under the Cloak of Benevolence

As is the case with the Australian Intervention—this law, and the intent of those behind it must be called into question. At first glance, there are five main reasons for this:

1 It quite clearly subverts indigenous rights;
2 It blatantly mischaracterizes the facts to justify the alleged need for an 'intervention;'
3 It's entirely discriminatory;
4 It grossly criminalizes all indigenous people;
5 It would have an immeasurable impact on their everyday lives.

It's also important to note how this law would give the state of Brazil a prime, legal opportunity to incarcerate an entire indigenous community—leaving the land completely open for the state to do with it as they please. If this law becomes legislation, all it would take is for one indigenous person to say "everyone knew." There wouldn't even have to be any actual abuse - just the accusation would suffice.

As far as the intent goes, some months ago, Rita Laura Segato, from the Dept. of Anthropology, University of Brasilia, gave a presentation arguing against this the law - where she made it abundantly clear:

[A major concern is] with the gradual growth of punitive and criminalizing dimensions of State action in detriment of other kinds of action. Analysts criticize the fact that, while State agencies seem to concentrate more and more of their responsibilities upon punitive measures, they relegate sine-die other and more vital obligations. This law we came here to argue fits in precisely within this trend, endorsing the much lamented and condemned profile of the punitive State, a State that reduces its performance to the acts of force on and against the peoples whom it should protect and promote.

In his last book, The Enemy in Criminal Law2, the influential Argentine jurist Eugenio Raúl Zaffaroni, today Minister of the Supreme Court, examines the contradiction between the principles of Democracy and the punitive State. Zaffaroni unveils the hidden transcript of the punishing State throughout history and, especially, in the contemporary context. What emerges is that penal juridical discourse unavoidably introduces the idea of an enemy, which unfolds from the category of the hostis in ancient Roman law. While Democracy is supposedly for all, criminal legislation speaks always, in either more hidden or more explicit ways, of the figure of an inimical other, for then to enshrine itself in opposition to it. Though the State belongs to all, it projects (and, as a matter of fact, e-jects), by means of Criminal law discourse, the figure of an other people, to then, as part of the same maneuver, claim it as enemy.

In the case of the law we debate, the enemy in Criminal law is each indigenous people, the radical difference they represent and their right to make their own history. This law criminalizes the village and attempts at punishing the other just for being other. The authors do not stand the possibility of existence of a collectivity that is not a part of them.

As for mischaracterizing the facts, this is expressly done in the author’s primary focus, which is on the abolition of the traditional practice of infanticide. While it's true that some indigenous cultures still practice this, it's nowhere near as prevalent as the authors suggest. The simple fact is it's a dying tradition that only a handful of Indigenous Cultures continue to exercise.

However, even if the practice of infanticide was as wide-spread as they claim, this type of legislation would simply not deter it from happening.

From a Judicial standpoint, Rita explains:

In the article "Truths and lies on the Criminal Justice System"3, sociologist Julita Lemgruber not only discloses the scarce effectiveness of the law among us, but also in the most policed countries of the world. Using quantitative research on Public Security in countries where such research is carried on with regularity, Julita states that in England and in the country of Wales, in the year of 1997

[…] of each one hundred crimes committed in that year, 45,2 were communicated to the police, 24 were registered, 5,5 were solved, 2,2 resulted in conviction and 0,3 ended in punishment by confinement. That is, in England, with a police force well more efficient than ours and a Judiciary much more agile, only 2.2% of offenses resulted in conviction of the criminals and only a trifle parcel of 0,3% of them received punishment by confinement.

Analogous study was carried in the United States in 1994, but considering only violent crimes (homicide, aggression, rape, robbery etc.), therefore crimes more important to investigate, solve and punish. However

[…] in a country with such rigorous criminal legislation as the U.S., the System of Criminal Justice acts as a true funnel, capturing parcels progressively smaller of crimes perpetrated in the society: for 3.900.000 cases of violence occurred in that year, only 143.000 (3.7%) resulted in conviction of authors, being 117.000 (3%) punished with confinement.

In the light of these data, the author characterizes as a "First Lie" the statement that the system of criminal justice can be considered an efficient inhibitor of crime.

Finally, this law would also have an immeasurable effect on the lives and cultures of all Indigenous People: the Ache, Amanyé, Awá, Enawene Nawe, Guaraní, Kayapo, Matsés, Quilombolo, Tupi, and Waorani to name a few.

In the least, it would instill a constant state of fear, mistrust and even paranoia; remove all forms of privacy, and fracture and impede regular life. In the extreme, it could become a catalyst for physical and cultural genocide.

Conclusion

Throughout history, some of the greatest atrocities were committed under the cloak of benevolence. I need only turn to America and say "Pox Blankets", to Canada and say "Residential Schools", to Australia and say "Protection Board."

Sadly, such a list could go on forever because it's a testament to the abhorrent nature of colonialism. The intervention proposed in this law fits in such a horrible accounting.

Overall, the dangers this intervention poses far exceed any of its real and imagined benefits. In the name of the children, it would act like a chainsaw - the sole purpose of which is it to rip apart Brazil's social, cultural and genetic rainforest.

It therefore must not become legislation.

Further Reading

• Read the proposed law in Spanish (pdf) or English (pdf)
• Read the Presentation by Rita Laura Segato in Spanish (pdf) or English (pdf) note: the English version is roughly translated from Spanish, so can be a bit difficult to read.

You can find more articles by John Schertow at his blog, Intercontinental Cry

Photo by Antônio Cruz/Agência Brasil, republished here under a Creative Commons License

Converge on Canberra: Stand up for Aboriginal rights on Feb 12

Calling all Aboriginal people and supporters to converge on Canberra: Stand up for Aboriginal rights on the first day of the new parliament.

Tuesday, February 12 2008
Meet Aboriginal Tent Embassy 11:30am
March to Parliament for 1pm rally

Turn back Howard and Brough's racist legacy!

- Reinstate the Racial Discrimination Act
- Demand immediate review of the NT intervention
- End welfare quarantines, compulsory land acquisition and 'mission manager' powers
- Implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Aboriginal People
- Aboriginal control of Aboriginal affairs

In the final months of government, John Howard introduced a package of discriminatory, unfair and punative measures against Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory. Aimed at controlling Aboriginal lives and land, the legislation was a stark violation of basic human rights and dignities.

Federal Labor is promising a new era in Aboriginal affairs. They are pledging to say sorry to the stolen generation and to sign the UN declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. They have promised to restore both the CDEP (Community Development and Employment Program) and the permit system, which will ameliorate some of the worst effects of the NT intervention.

Unfortunately there are aspects of ALP policy that is still disturbingly similar to the Liberals. Plainly discriminatory measures such as mandatory welfare quarantines, compulsory land acquisition and the presence of non-Aboriginal "business managers" with extraordinary powers are being suffered under right now. There has been no move to allow the operation of the Racial Discrimination Act. The cry for immediate review of the legislation coming from across the NT has been ignored.

The Labor Government must comply with accepted international human rights laws and standards of non discrimination, equality , natural justice and procedural fairness. Legislation being implemented in the NT breaches commitments Australia has made as a signatory to major human rights treaties and conventions; such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Human Rights Commission must immediately review the legislation to ensure compliance with these obligations.

The federal election revealed overwhelming opposition to the intervention among Aboriginal communities. When Labor MP's in affected areas emphasised political differences to the Coalition they consistently received over 80% of the vote; with 95% in the town of Wadeye.

Despite government claims that the intervention is a response to the Anderson & Wild "Little Children are Sacred" report, no new community-based services to ensure the safety and protection of children have been established, and there has been a notable duplication of services - particularly in the area of child health checks. There is an urgent need for delivery of essential services, infrastructure and programs genuinely targeted at improving the safety and well being of children and developed in consultation with communities. Huge amounts of public money have been wasted, with $88 million alone going towards bureaucrats to control Aboriginal welfare.

Moving Forward
A vibrant, mass convergence Canberra on the first day of parliament will be an important step in challenging the lingering legacy of Howard's racism. We can strongly push for an immediate end to what Aboriginal communities have themselves described as an invasion. We can send a strong signal to Kevin Rudd and his new government to put Aboriginal rights at the centre of their agenda; to massively increase the resources available to communities across Australia and to respect Aboriginal control of Aboriginal affairs.

Initiated by the Aboriginal Rights Coalition, Sydney

Contact:
Shane Phillips 0414077631
Greg Eatock 0432050240

Endorsements from Aboriginal activists include:
Olga Havnen (Combined Aboriginal Organisations of the NT)
Barbara Shaw (Tangentyere council, Alice Springs)
Lez Malezer (Chairman, Global Indigenous People's Caucus UN,
Foundation Aboriginal Islander Rights Association)
Jackie Katona (CEO of Lumbu Indigenous Community Foundation, Djok clan)
Michael Mansell (Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre)
Sam Watson (Brisbane)
Mitch (Eastern Arrernte/Luritja activist from Alice Springs)
Robbie Thorpe (Melbourne)
Phil Falk (Senior Lecturer School of Law, Griffith Uni, Wiradjuri nation)
Linda Murphy (Lecturer, School of Arts, Griffith Uni)
Sandra Phillips (QUT)
Nicole Watson (Jumbunna, Sydney)
Heidi Norman (UTS)
Victor Hardt (Oodgeroo, QUT)
Shane Phillips (Redfern)
Peta Ridgeway (Newcastle)
Arthur Ridgeway (Newcastle)
Greg Eatock (Coordinator Deaths in Custody Campaign, Sydney)
Pat Eatock (Secretary, First Aboriginal Tent Embassy)

Supportive Organisations include:
Women for Wik
Indigenous Social Justice Association
Australians for Native Title and Reconcilliation (ANTaR SA)
Aboriginal Rights Coalition (Sydney)
Intervention Reform Coalition (Darwin)
Intervention Rollback Working Group (Alice Springs)
Alliance for Indigenous Self Determination (Melbourne)
Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Canberra)
Australian Peace Committee (SA)

Invasion Day statement, January 26, 2008, by Sam Watson

Invasion Day statement, January 26, 2008, by Sam Watson

Brisbane Indigenous community leader and Socialist Alliance member.

This Invasion Day, 2008, is the opportunity to commence a major change in the position of Indigenous rights in Australia. The time has come to show proper respect and sensitivity to the Aboriginal Stolen Generations, and allow a lengthy period so that there can be consultation across the indigenous communities and all our people are given the opportunity to be involved. The Reconciliation process was allowed 10 years and substantial resources to be undertaken, so the Stolen Generation should be given time for proper consideration.

The Rudd Labor government is showing disrespect for our people and our customs by rushing the process of an apology to the Stolen Generation, in order to serve the larger ALP political agenda. The government wants to make an apology on February 11 and 12, in order for the matter to be resolved and moved off the front pages of the newspapers, so they can concentrate on their bigger game of being re-elected in 2010.

I propose that there should be a national monument erected in front of Parliament House to honor the victims. This moment, when the Australian government offers up an apology will become a significant and defining moment in the short history of this nation.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin still haven’t made any attempt to meet with the genuine leaders of the Aboriginal community. We endorse Macklin’s decision to close down the National Indigenous Advisory Council, which is only a handful of Howard’s puppets.

However, the new government now needs to put into practice genuine consultation with the Aboriginal people, in order to make a real apology and to begin to right the wrongs of the past – including offering real compensation to the Stolen Generations.

We must reject the invasion of the Northern Territory by the previous government, and any attempt to extend this intervention to Queensland or other state. We need to seriously challenge Black deaths in custody, and continued discrimination against Indigenous people in all areas of society.

We call on the Australian people to mobilize to defend human rights in all sectors of our country, as well as internationally. Australia needs to recognize that the wealth of this society was gained from the stolen land and resources of the Indigenous people.

Now is the time to remember this history by negotiating a Treaty to truly recognize the rights of the original people of this country, and to provide fair compensation for the theft of their land and resources.

We call on all supporters of Indigenous rights to rally in Canberra, at the opening of federal parliament on February 12, to defend the interests of the Stolen Generations and all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

For more information, contact Sam on 0401 227 443; or Paul on 07 3831 2644.

www.socialist-alliance.org/brisbane

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New nation-wide indigenous leadership body formed!

A new coalition of Aboriginal leaders from around the country formed a couple of weeks ago, and has released its first public statement, according to the National Indigenous Times article (reproduced below) A decade under Howard has been a living nightmare, says new black leadership group.

The new (but as-yet unnamed) group includes

• Pat Turner - former senior public servant, Combined Aboriginal Organisations of the NT
• Olga Havnen - ACOSS and ANTaR, Northern Lands Council, Combined Aboriginal Organisations of the NT
• Naomi Mayers - CEO Redfern Aboriginal Medical Service
• Dennis Eggington - WA Aboriginal Legal Service
• Sam Watson - Murri academic, activist and Socialist Alliance Queensland senate candidate
  
• Bob Weatherall - FAIRA
• Michael Mansell - Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre, long-time activist and member of Aboriginal Provisional Government
  
• Michael Williams - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit, University of Queensland
  
• Gracelyn Smallwood - Aboriginal health expert, political and human rights activist from North Queensland
• Nicole Watson - Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning, University of Technology Sydney
• Larissa Behrendt - Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning, University of Technology Sydney, Chairperson of National Indigenous Television
  
• Bradley Foster - community leader from North Queensland

PHOTO: TOP L-R: Pat Turner, Olga Havnen, Naomi Mayers, Dennis Eggington; MIDDLE, L-R: Sam Watson, Bob Weatherall, Michael Mansell, Michael Williams; BOTTOM, L-R: Gracelyn Smallwood, Nicole Watson, Larissa Behrendt and Bradley Foster.

This comes at a crucial time for indigenous Australia after a decade of fierce attacks from the Howard Government: the abolition of ATSIC, the undermining of Native Title, the invasion of indigenous lands held under Land Rights, the continuing deaths in custody and police racism, the return of assimilation and paternalism, the cuts in funding to essential aboriginal services, the ongoing denial of justice to the stolen generation, the stolen wages of generations and the refusal to say sorry.

All this 40 years after the referendum which overwhelmingly showed the support of non-indigenous Australians for a change in the treatment of Australia's first people. Yet what has changed? Not a lot - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are still massively over-represented in prison, still die 17 years earlier than the rest of the population, still suffer systematised diiscrimination, and are still denied the substance of a sovereignty never ceded.

Both Labor and Liberal have promised the world, and failed. Or worse, lied and manouevered, and tried to condemn indigenous Australia to the dust-bin of history. At the UNSW Indigenous Legal Centre's National Forum on July 20, two sentiments was repeatedly expressed - that both the major parties have failed; and that the re-invasion of the Northern Territory needs to be to the Indigenous rights movement what WorkChoices has been for the union movement - a catalyst to action.

On Friday August 31, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy set up in Victoria Park in Sydney again, and the same night politics in the Pub packed the Gaelic Club to the rafters (the Wombats counted over 130 people) in a discussion on the fight for indigenous rights. ANTaR, Oxfam, the Greens, the Socialist Alliance, ReconciliACTION, the newly re-formed "Women Against Wik", and many more groups are getting ready to take the fight to the next level.

But the leadership has got to come from the indigenous community. It's time.

It's time to get more than angry - it's time to get active!

A decade under Howard has been a living nightmare, says new black leadership group
National Indigenous Times
Thursday, 23 August 2007

By Chris Graham

NATIONAL, August 31, 2007: A new coalition of Aboriginal leaders from around the nation has released its first public statement since forming a fortnight ago.

And the group, which has yet to adopt a formal name, has come out swinging, issuing a release that is written in the vein that the group intends to continue fighting… with plenty of aggression.

Describing the past decade under the Howard government as “a nightmare” for Aboriginal people, the group attacks both the Liberal and Labor parties for creating policies which “blame the victims”.

The group includes former senior public servant Pat Turner, Olga Havnen (ACOSS and ANTaR), Naomi Mayers (CEO, Redfern Aboriginal Medical Service), Dennis Eggington (WA Aboriginal Legal Service), Sam Watson (Murri academic and activist), Bob Weatherall (FAIRA), Michael Mansell (Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre), Michael Williams , Gracelyn Smallwood (North Queensland), Nicole Watson and Larissa Behrendt (both Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning, University Technology Sydney) and Bradley Foster (community leader from North Queensland).

It formed a fortnight ago in response to the federal government's 'emergency intervention' into Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory.

“A decade under John Howard has seen native title made harder to get with his 'bucket loads of extinguishment' legislation,” the statement reads.

“The elected body ATSIC was sacked; the Reconciliation Council dumped; paternalistic funding conditions imposed, such as being asked to wash hands and attend school to get Commonwealth monies.

“The Northern Territory Land Rights Act has been amended to increase access for mining and now vulnerable Aboriginal communities in the NT are invaded by troops.

“It has been a nightmare decade for Aboriginal people.

“We have been reduced to beggars in our own country.”

The group accused the Howard government of selective listening when it came to hearing Indigenous people.

“Any dissenting voice is ignored by a Government that selects "yes" people to promote its own agenda, and the select few are tragically held out as the voice of Aborigines,” the statement read.

The group accused both the Coalition and the ALP of 'blaming the victims' and launched a scathing attack on the NT intervention plans, which are endorsed by both major parties.

“The Howard and Rudd response to policies that have kept families and whole communities destitute is to blame the victim.

“Those victims, long denied a real chance to make a go of it, will now have their income stolen and must go to the local store with food vouchers: those vouchers will have a list of purchasable items on a take-it-or-leave-it basis.

“The balance of family incomes will never be seen by the "beneficiaries" because the bureaucracy keeps it to pay "other" costs.

“This demeaning approach will create greater dependency and strip the last form of human dignity from those subjected to a destructive policy.

“The increased police presence in community areas with "dob-in desks" is designed to humiliate, not rehabilitate.

“Portraying all Aborigines as paedophiles and drunks, and taking land away, undermines the remaining virtue we have: our dignity.

“We cannot watch developments in silence any longer. Our people deserve better.”

The group says the new coalition will seek to “represent the unrepresented Aboriginal communities” from around the nation and it promises to never align with any political party.

“We believe we bring experience and sincerity to the national political landscape.

“In our quest, we will not favour any political party as we see Aboriginal issues as being above party politics. Our single aim is to improve the lot of our people.

“We see our culture and people as an asset, not a liability.

“If we cannot persuade governments, then we will take our case to the court of public opinion - to the Australian people, to give us a chance to create a better future.”

Also, readers who haven't done so already should check this out, and sign it.