there's our catastrophe

Jul 1

“In Aboriginal affairs policy, the more things change, the more they stay the same, writes WALTER SHAW. Today, our families shop for basic essentials on a card that is a remnant of a dog tag from a long-forgotten era. The BasicsCard – which quarantines half of an Aboriginal person’s welfare entitlement to ensure it is spent on food and clothing – is the Federal Government’s ‘solution’ for Aboriginal poverty and dysfunction. To disempower us further. To underscore our difference from other Territorians. To rub our nose in it. And to put us in our place. It didn’t work then. It doesn’t work now. But the BasicsCard is just one of the policies from the political bag of tricks used to control Aboriginal people, and bring them to heel. The Northern Territory intervention included a suite of policies – alcohol bans on Aboriginal town camps, the compulsory acquisition of Aboriginal land, the destruction of Aboriginal controlled employment programs – which have disempowered Aboriginal people and reduced us to beggars in our own lands. Now the Territory Government is introducing ‘Public Housing Safety Officers’ – bureaucrats with essentially the powers of police – to target Aboriginal people. It’s not enough that Aboriginal people are harassed on our streets – now they want to reach into our homes as well.” We need an intervention… from fair-minded Australians, Walter Shaw | Tracker (via ardhra)

(via ardhra)

Jun 30

NT intervention extended for a decade, Aboriginal leaders have declared a day of mourning

Jun 27

The NT Government is being urged to address a law that sees mentally impaired people kept in jail indefinitely and without conviction.

Apr 21

New Northern Territory Intervention Changes

moniquemallo:

Retains current alcohol bans, but increases penalties to six months imprisonment for liquor offences under 1350 milliliters, or an 18 month maximum prison sentence for liquor offences greater than 1350 millilitres.

The Indigenous affairs minister will be able to request that Northern Territory licensing assessors assess premises that sell, or allow for the consumption of alcohol, where there is concern that they are contributing to alcohol-related harm to Aboriginal people.

Retains porn bans in prescribed areas.

One of the biggest concerns raised by submissions to the inquiry included the harsh penalties on alcohol possession in prescribed areas. The North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA)’s Johnathon Hunyor told the inquiry there was little evidence to suggest that increased penalties worked.

“I think that one of the issues we need to look at every time an increase in penalty and an increase in imprisonment is imposed is: what is the opportunity cost if realistically that is going to mean sending more people to jail?
Jail costs more than $100 000 per person per year, according to the Productivity Commission. Surely there are better ways to be spending that money on the sorts of things…touched on today that are lacking in our communities - that is rehabilitation, culturally appropriate services and culturally relevant treatment. That is where we should be putting the energy and resources, not on increasing the potential for people to go to jail.”

Source: “Stolen Futures: And You Thought There Was Nothing Left To Flog” Tracker Magazine Vol 2. Issue 12, APRIL 2012 p. 14

(via squaresome-deactivated20120630)

Apr 19

provocatoria:

Advice for white Indigenous activists in Australia (Gary Foley)

Aboriginal historian, activist and leader, Gary Foley, explains the do’s and don’t’s of white activism. 100% Juice from an inspiring orator, and priceless advice for all would-be allies of Indigenous people in the struggle for justice.

Filmed during the public discussion forum: ‘Deactivating Colonialism / Decolonising Acivism’ convened by Clare Land at MAYSAR (Melbourne Aboriginal Youth, Sport and Recreation), Fitzroy: August 31st, 2010.

“the first thing they do is go running off to the Northern Territory looking for some real Aborigines.”

Mar 8

mosshunt:

The Stronger Futures legislation plans to replace the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act 2007 (otherwise known as the “Northern Territory Intervention”), which was due to expire in August 2012. The Northern Territory Intervention has attracted national and international condemnation for its racial discrimination against Aboriginal people and their culture.

However, the new legislation plans to maintain many elements of the Northern Territory Intervention for a further 10 years, and will further increase Government control over Aboriginal people and their lands.

These measures include:

Prohibition of consideration of Aboriginal customary law and cultural practice in criminal sentencing. This makes Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory the only group of people in Australia for whom the court cannot consider the cultural circumstances of an offence.

Blanket bans on alcohol on Aboriginal Land, despite consistent opposition from the Aboriginal Peak Organisations of the NT (APO NT) who have said, “The decision regarding alcohol restrictions should be for relevant residents to make… The principal effect of these widely flouted laws has been to further criminalise and alienate many residents”.

Increases in penalties for possession of alcohol on Aboriginal Land, including 6 months potential jail time for a single can of beer and 18 months for more than 1.35L of alcohol.

“Star Chamber” powers by the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) for investigations in Aboriginal communities, including removal of the right to silence.

Special powers that allow police to enter houses and vehicles in Aboriginal communities without a warrant, on ‘suspicion’ of possession of alcohol.

Makes laws allowing for information to be transferred about an individual, to any Federal, State or Territory government department or agency, without an individual’s knowledge or consent.

Blanket bans on “sexually explicit or very violent material” on Aboriginal Land. These restrictions serve no purpose other than the stigmatisation of Aboriginal men.

Complete Commonwealth control over regulations in Community Living Areas and town camps.

Continued suspension of the permit system in Aboriginal townships, in direct contradiction of APO NT who have said that: “communities on Aboriginal Land feel as though they have lost control… the flow on effects are overwhelmingly seen as negative and counterproductive to community safety”.

An expansion of the School Enrolment and Attendance Measure (SEAM) means parents whose children miss school more than 5 times over 2 terms will have their welfare payments slashed. This comes despite consistent concerns raised by Aboriginal families of inappropriate education in Aboriginal schools that is failing to engage their children.

Excessive licensing requirements on local grocery stores operating in Aboriginal communities, so strict that they could force store closure.

The Stronger Futures “jobs package” includes 50 new ranger positions and 100 “traineeships”. But this will not compensate for the more than 2000 remaining waged Community Development Employment Program (CDEP) positions that the Government will cut by April 2012; the final attack on a vibrant program which was the lifeblood of many communities, employing upwards of 7500 people before the NT Intervention.

Proposed amendments to the Social Security Act will see further attacks on the rights of welfare recipients. These measures will initially be targeted at Aboriginal people in the NT, but have national implications, especially in areas such as Bankstown or Shepparton where Income Management is being rolled out from July 2012.

http://standforfreedom.org.au/about/

(via mosshunt-deactivated20120513)

Mar 6

Hearing loss hits NT indigenous inmates//Farah Farouque//The Age

in 2010, a case cited was that of an Aboriginal man convicted of murder in the NT who was later diagnosed by an audiologist as being clinically deaf. He had been through the court process basically saying two words - ”good” and ”yes”.

Since then, Dr Howard and co-researcher Troy Vanderpoll began testing the hearing of 134 indigenous inmates aged 20 to 60 in jails in Darwin and Alice Springs.

The study - covering 13 per cent of the Top End Aboriginal inmate population when done last year - determined that 94 per cent suffered ”significant hearing loss”. Widespread hearing loss among Aboriginal adults arose from endemic childhood ear disease, Dr Howard, a psychologist, said.

The research, to be published in the Indigenous Law Bulletin, comes as the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services complains of severe underfunding by the federal government for indigenous interpreters. With hundreds of tribal dialects spoken in remote and regional areas and many Aboriginal accused not fluent in English, this added to communication woes when facing police and courts, said the legal service’s chief executive Shane Duffy.

”It becomes a miscarriage of justice when our people fail to understand the language used in the courts,” he said.

there's our catastrophe

work is its own cure. you have to like it better than being loved. ⚑ ♀

NT intervention extended for a decade, Aboriginal leaders have declared a day of mourning

The NT Government is being urged to address a law that sees mentally impaired people kept in jail indefinitely and without conviction.

New Northern Territory Intervention Changes

Advice for white Indigenous activists in Australia (Gary Foley)

Hearing loss hits NT indigenous inmates//Farah Farouque//The Age

work is its own cure. you have to like it better than being loved.

⚑ ♀