“I thank you Prime Minister Rudd for your apology but it’s an invasion all over again. We are being told where to shop, what to eat, how to act and how to live.”Lyle Cooper, vice president of the Bagot Community in Darwin.
“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!” Pat Anderson and Rex Wild QC, Little Children are Sacred report, 2007.
OVERVIEW:
The Northern Territory Intervention is the enacting of federal laws relating to the land, culture and self-determination of Indigenous people living in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Introduced by the Howard Govt as The National Emergency Response Act 2007, the laws gave power to the commonwealth to take over 72 Aboriginal communities and town camps in August 2007. The NT intervention was backed by military, police and doctors and cost $1.5 billion to enact.
It is the newest and most controversial piece of legislation affecting Indigenous people, not least because it applies only to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and required the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA) to become law.
The NT intervention contravenes Australia’s Racial Discrimination Act. It also breaches international human rights charters which Australia is signatory to, including the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Charter, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
RESPONSES BY INDIGENOUS LEADERS & COMMUNITY MEMBERS
“The most significant problem with the new arrangements identified by the Report is the lack of capacity for engagement and participation of Indigenous peoples. This manifests as a lack of connection between the local and regional level, up to the state and national level; and as a disconnect between the making of policy and its implementation.
Indigenous peoples are treated as problems to be solved, not as partners and active participants in creating a positive life vision for the generations of Indigenous peoples still to come.
The greatest irony of this is that it fosters a passive system of policy development and service delivery while at the same time criticising Indigenous peoples for being passive recipients of government services!” Tom Calma, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, 2007 Social Justice Report.
“I live 25km outside Alice Springs on my traditional land. After having worked for about 48 years, reared 10 kids and worked in between that time, I retired to the good life and I’m hit with this intervention. I’m being ‘income managed’ and they couldn’t give me a reason why.” Kathleen Martin, Inkerreke station, NT.
“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.” Dr Mark Wenitong, President of the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association.
“The govt’s plan failed to address long-term problems such as education, overcrowded housing, unemployment and poor health….in their present form the proposals miss the mark and are unlikely to be effective. There is an over-reliance on top-down punitive measures and insufficient indication that additional resources will be mobilised where they are urgently needed.” Letter excerpt – from a coalition of 30 groups including indigenous, welfare, health, housing, church, and cultural organizations to the Howard Govt, June 2007.
“This is affecting people’s self esteem, they are feeling shame and humiliation, they feel like it’s back to the mission days. People are saying: this doesn’t apply to other people so why should it apply to us?’” Olivia Nigro, Darwin Aboriginal Rights Coalition.
POSITIVE ACTION:
In this political era of the new federal Labor government, and after the PM Rudd’s apology to the stolen generations in February 2008, the grass roots movement to support Indigenous self-determination and human rights is now focused around the federal intervention. Many community groups are calling for a change in the current policy due to its negative social and economic impacts on Indigenous communities and the erosion of the human rights of Indigenous Australians. A focal point of the campaign is the reinstatement of the Racial Discrimination Act, which was suspended by PM Howard to pass the federal intervention laws. If you want to get active, listen to Indigenous people’s experiences, check out the resources on this site, and find community groups in the links below.
AUSTRALIA
Sydney: May 24-25 2008: National Conference in Redfern organised by Aboriginal Rights Coalition.
National: June 21, 2008: Mass rallies planned across Australia for the first anniversary of intervention.
INTERNATIONAL – UNITED NATIONS (UN)
A delegation of 40 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians attended United Nations permanent forum on Indigenous issues in New York, April 21-May 2, 2008. This year’s forum focused on the issues of climate change, bio-cultural diversity and livelihoods. It is the first summit since the UN’s non-binding declaration on Indigenous rights in 2007. Indigenous delegates have taken the opportunity of the forum to voice their concerns about the impacts of the federal intervention on their communities.
LINKS: LISTEN TO INDIGENOUS VOICES!
Check out Indigenous speakers from all over Australia express their views on NT intervention during a protest at Parliament House, Canberra. February 12, 2008.
INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIA: GOVT POLICY & GRASS ROOTS ACTION NT INTERVENTION
“I thank you Prime Minister Rudd for your apology but it’s an invasion all over again. We are being told where to shop, what to eat, how to act and how to live.”Lyle Cooper, vice president of the Bagot Community in Darwin.
“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!” Pat Anderson and Rex Wild QC, Little Children are Sacred report, 2007.
OVERVIEW:
The Northern Territory Intervention is the enacting of federal laws relating to the land, culture and self-determination of Indigenous people living in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Introduced by the Howard Govt as The National Emergency Response Act 2007, the laws gave power to the commonwealth to take over 72 Aboriginal communities and town camps in August 2007. The NT intervention was backed by military, police and doctors and cost $1.5 billion to enact.
It is the newest and most controversial piece of legislation affecting Indigenous people, not least because it applies only to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and required the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA) to become law.
The NT intervention contravenes Australia’s Racial Discrimination Act. It also breaches international human rights charters which Australia is signatory to, including the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Charter, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
For more info check out the Central Land Council’s
SHORT AND EASY GUIDE TO THE COMMONWEALTH INTERVENTION
www.clc.org.au
RESPONSES BY INDIGENOUS LEADERS & COMMUNITY MEMBERS
“The most significant problem with the new arrangements identified by the Report is the lack of capacity for engagement and participation of Indigenous peoples. This manifests as a lack of connection between the local and regional level, up to the state and national level; and as a disconnect between the making of policy and its implementation.
Indigenous peoples are treated as problems to be solved, not as partners and active participants in creating a positive life vision for the generations of Indigenous peoples still to come.
The greatest irony of this is that it fosters a passive system of policy development and service delivery while at the same time criticising Indigenous peoples for being passive recipients of government services!” Tom Calma, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, 2007 Social Justice Report.
“I live 25km outside Alice Springs on my traditional land. After having worked for about 48 years, reared 10 kids and worked in between that time, I retired to the good life and I’m hit with this intervention. I’m being ‘income managed’ and they couldn’t give me a reason why.” Kathleen Martin, Inkerreke station, NT.
“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.” Dr Mark Wenitong, President of the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association.
“The govt’s plan failed to address long-term problems such as education, overcrowded housing, unemployment and poor health….in their present form the proposals miss the mark and are unlikely to be effective. There is an over-reliance on top-down punitive measures and insufficient indication that additional resources will be mobilised where they are urgently needed.” Letter excerpt – from a coalition of 30 groups including indigenous, welfare, health, housing, church, and cultural organizations to the Howard Govt, June 2007.
“This is affecting people’s self esteem, they are feeling shame and humiliation, they feel like it’s back to the mission days. People are saying: this doesn’t apply to other people so why should it apply to us?’” Olivia Nigro, Darwin Aboriginal Rights Coalition.
For more info on the impacts of intervention, check out this PPT.
POSITIVE ACTION:
In this political era of the new federal Labor government, and after the PM Rudd’s apology to the stolen generations in February 2008, the grass roots movement to support Indigenous self-determination and human rights is now focused around the federal intervention. Many community groups are calling for a change in the current policy due to its negative social and economic impacts on Indigenous communities and the erosion of the human rights of Indigenous Australians. A focal point of the campaign is the reinstatement of the Racial Discrimination Act, which was suspended by PM Howard to pass the federal intervention laws. If you want to get active, listen to Indigenous people’s experiences, check out the resources on this site, and find community groups in the links below.
AUSTRALIA
Sydney: May 24-25 2008: National Conference in Redfern organised by Aboriginal Rights Coalition.
National: June 21, 2008: Mass rallies planned across Australia for the first anniversary of intervention.
INTERNATIONAL – UNITED NATIONS (UN)
A delegation of 40 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians attended United Nations permanent forum on Indigenous issues in New York, April 21-May 2, 2008. This year’s forum focused on the issues of climate change, bio-cultural diversity and livelihoods. It is the first summit since the UN’s non-binding declaration on Indigenous rights in 2007. Indigenous delegates have taken the opportunity of the forum to voice their concerns about the impacts of the federal intervention on their communities.
LINKS: LISTEN TO INDIGENOUS VOICES!
Check out Indigenous speakers from all over Australia express their views on NT intervention during a protest at Parliament House, Canberra. February 12, 2008.