These crackdowns include a system that ensures children are adequately fed, clothed and have recieved medical checks from welfare money that is designated for their care, a ban on alcohol and hardcore pornography, compulsory regular health checks for children, regular attendance at school and severe punishments for those who molest, abuse or physically and emotionally harm a child in anyway. Makes sense right....?
Well, apparently not. Australia is now facing a state of emergency with an added dilemma... Our Aboriginal Communities are in dire straits. Women and children are being routinely abused and assaulted, welfare money designated for the care of children is being used to buy alcohol, cigarettes and other substances, children are poorly fed, not clothed against the weather, poorly supervised and uneducated and this is the least of their problems. Their biggest problem is those who insist on calling this the next 'Stolen Generation'.
The use of the term 'Stolen Generation' is undoubtedly the reason this has continued for so long. While there are some who see fit to criticise the timing of PM Howards radical new crackdown, the simple fact is that the issues surrounding the original 'Stolen Generation' still abound and still haunt our government. While PM Howard withstood public pressure to 'Say Sorry' to the 'Stolen Generation', many others bowed. This set up a culture, whereby this criminal behaviour was allowed to continue because politicians were aware of the likely outcomes. That is that those 'stolen' would int he future, seek financial restitution from the government from the 'pain and suffering' caused by being removed.
My opinions on this matter stem largely from my own experiences with the people and children from these communities. Yes, I have worked in Aboriginal Communities all over South Australia through different agencies and in differing capacities. I also personally know members of the 'Stolen Generation'. Men and women who went on to become Lawyers, Teachers and Health Proffessionals. Those who do not believe our Prime Minister owes them an apology but more so, that they owe those who came before him a debt of gratitude.
The 'Stolen Generation' debate is one that will likely continue for years to come. My greatest issue with this is that it impedes the implementation of bans and laws that can literally save childrens lives. That is wrong. Every day we procrastinate another child is raped, another young girl impregnated, another child beaten or forced to witness their mother being beaten.
From the Australian Newspaper....
Federal police to begin abuse crackdown tomorrow
AUSTRALIAN Federal Police officers will arrive in the Northern Territory tomorrow as the first step in a radical plan to stop child abuse in indigenous communities. And more police, backed up by Australian Defence Force (ADF) troops, will be in the NT within a week as part of the federal government's sweeping attempts to restore law and order. Prime Minister John Howard and Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough, who developed the strategy to take control of the troubled NT communities, said making the communities safe and law-abiding places to live was the first priority. Medical examinations of all children under 16 would follow once violence was under control and alcohol and X-rated pornography were removed from the communities. "The biggest single problem in these communities is that the women and the children are scared to death of complaining about the violence and the molestation," Mr Howard told the Ten Network. "And unless you get police on the ground, unless you establish the atmosphere of physical security, or a greater atmosphere of physical security, nothing is going to change and that is the first and most important requirement." |
 Nurse Anne Shepherd talks to Geoffrey Barnes in Geyulkan yesterday while Rosaleen, left, and Jake look on. Picture: Peter Eve Town at the coalface in fear of overflow
AS a nurse working in the Northern Territory, Anne Shepherd found herself driven to distraction at the failure of authorities to crack down on sexual abuse of Aboriginal children."I had indigenous women come to me and tell me their stories," Ms Shepherd told The Weekend Australian. "I passed that information on, but nothing was done about it despite many attempts. "They made me feel like I was being interrogated. I hit a blank every time." Now, Ms Shepherd is Mayor of Katherine. She loves her town of about 10,000, which she says is a great place where most people, black or white, are law-abiding. But she says there is still too much child sexual abuse in her town, particularly black-on-black molestation fuelled by alcohol. The Territory Government has, despite her repeated entreaties, been almost useless in providing more resources to help her cope with grog and drug problems and ensuing violence, particularly among Aborigines who flock in from remote communities. "I sincerely believe that the Chief Minister wants action," Ms Shepherd said. "Unfortunately, all we get from most Northern Territory government departments are excuses and endless reasons why things can't happen." Ms Shepherd is not a member of a political party. In principle, she applauds the Howard Government's proposal to shut off the "rivers of alcohol". But she fears Mr Howard's alcohol ban will, given the reality on the ground, not work on its own, and is more likely to exacerbate problems, including child sexual abuse. Ms Shepherd points out that part of the problems of her town ironically stem from existing alcohol bans in the dry Aboriginal communities around Katherine, ranging from 50km to 600km away. With Katherine their regional hub, Aborigines come in for shopping and medical services, and many buy grog they can't get in dry communities. Some don't make it back. "At any time we can have 300 or more visitors from Aboriginal communities sleeping in doorways and drains, many severely affected by alcohol," Ms Shepherd said. There is a town camp owned by the Territory Government and leased to an Aboriginal-run community organisation, but it's a dangerous hell-hole with tension between those who live there permanently and visitors from other clans. "It has not been properly managed in the past, and although the current manager is doing his best, it needs to be safe for temporary residents," Ms Shepherd said, adding that she worried for the children there. When Ms Shepherd visited a camp called Geyulkan yesterday, there was no one sober enough to string together more than a sentence. But the message still came through as she talked to Geoffrey Barnes, who pounded his breast, saying "I'm hurting in here". "They are expressing their grief, their loss and the fact that they don't like living like this," Ms Shepherd said. The federal Government's policy of imposing further prohibitions on drinking in the communities would only displace more of the problem to Katherine, Ms Shepherd said. In some respects, the dangers of alcohol abuse and violence are then even worse, because the discipline and lawfulness imposed by traditional leaders in some well-run remote communities have no effect when their people come to Katherine. Katherine remains hopelessly under-resourced to deal with the alcohol problem as it is and needs federal government help, Ms Shepherd said. Alcohol has to be attacked, but as part of a broader indigenous strategy, she said. "It's homelessness, dispossession, and the hopelessness of their lives." Ms Shepherd observed that whites in the Territory were also notorious drinkers, and even though she feared she might be "run out of town" for proposing it, the answer might lie in restricting alcohol consumption across the board through reduction of licences, opening hours and so on. "We may all have to feel a bit of pain," she said. |
| This is the full report (yes, all 320 pages of it) |
As leaders spar, Red Centre ready to save children
ASK Stuart Gaykamangu about his life and his hopes for the future in Australia's Red Centre, and he'll tell you what the politicians don't want to hear.He doesn't particularly care if John Howard is right and the premiers are wrong as they pursue their escalating turf war over indigenous affairs. He's a proud Amata man, who's standing tall with his year-old daughter, Talish, perched on his shoulders as that "Rann fella" talks the talk about all the money his state Government has put into the school and a new pool for the kids. Mr Gaykamangu will tell you, in his shy and hesitant way, that these are good for Amata and the surrounding APY (Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara) lands of northwestern South Australia, and that it matters not a jot whether it's the Prime Minister or Premier Mike Rann who does the honours at their opening. He'll say people are grateful the petrol sniffers are off the streets, and that a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre is finally being built on the township's dusty outskirts. "Yeah, it's a bit better here," he says, before handing the littlegirl to his partner, Samara Burton, 23. She kisses the squirming child and says: "We want better for her, eh." On that much the PM and the Labor premiers would agree. Yet the states have been cool - arctic, actually - in their response to the federal takeover of Northern Territory responsibilities for indigenous child protection, and Mr Howard's call for them to follow his lead with a raftof new measures to curb alcohol abuse and its disastrous flow-on to remote communities such as Amata. Mr Rann says the only way forward is through co-operation between his Government, Mr Howard's and the communities. The PM insists it's action that matters - from Canberra, if need be - when indigenous children are at risk of unspeakable harm from sexual predators. The 300-odd residents of Amata are among the most disadvantaged Australians, ravaged by the hydra-headed scourge of the grog, drugs and petrol sniffing, as well as family violence and sexual abuse that wouldn't be tolerated in the wider community. Although the APY lands are notionally dry, the grog pours in from Alice Springs and the pub at Mintabie, five hours' drive to the south of Amata, where the young blokes load up on beer, bourbon and marijuana. Which is one thing that hasn't changed, says Mr Gaykamangu, 25. "It's hard to keep away from all that stuff." Amata community chairman Leonard Burton says there's little tolerance for petrol sniffing these days - though it still happens, even after the state Government introduced unsniffable Opal fuel and increased penalties for trafficking in petrol five-fold. Now that the issue of child sex abuse is out in the open, and investigators from SA's Mullighan inquiry are on the APY lands, Mr Burton says the community will confront that evil, too. "We have to," he says. "It's for our kids." Asked what he thinks of the PM's proposal to quarantine for food and rent up to half the government benefits paid to indigenous community residents in the Territory, Mr Burton nods: "That's a really good idea." He supports the move to enforce school attendance by linking it to income support and family assistance payments. "We want our kids to come to school every day," he tells the crowd of mainly women and children, which has gathered for the school opening by Mr Rann. The Premier has flown from Adelaide with a media contingent, rarely allowed on the desert lands on both sides of the Northern Territory-South Australia border. He says the new pool, built with $2million of federal funds and a commitment from the state Government to pay the running costs, is a good example of how things should work with Canberra. The state also paid $17million to wire into the electricity grid a new, federally funded power station outside the administrative centre of Umuwa. "My message to the Prime Minister is: work with us in a constructive way," Mr Rann told The Australian. "Work with us in a bipartisan way ... but also work with the local communities as well, because that's the only way to get real progress. "Do something that does good, rather than sounds good." |
By not intervening, we as a country are allowing this cycle of abuse, substance misuse and poor health to perpetuate itself. Having seen much of the abuse perpetuated on children in these communities, I am shocked and apalled, yet sadly not suprised, by the level of negative outcry to the Prime Ministers plan. This plan is the childrens greatest hope. Those who support the women and children of these communities, will support this plan. Undoubtedly, there will be initial mistrust and fear at the Military and Police prescence, however, this should indicate the level of seriousness in this situation. Basically, this plan will not succeed without them.
Please take the time to read some of the reports from the Australian Newspaper. Parts of Australia are in crisis and it is time to act.
For the childrens sake...
A_C
No comments:
Post a Comment