Grog
is the black killer
Yanyuwa man and member of
the National Indigenous Council John Moriarty argues in
Melbourne’s Herald-Sun newspaper that most Aborigines welcome
the Howard/Brough intervention…
It is my view that most Aborigines
welcome the initiative by Prime Minister John Howard to stop the
violence and abuse of children in Northern Territory Aboriginal
communities.
Only intervention by the Australian Government at the highest
level and with strategically pitched resources, can begin to
alleviate the endemic dysfunction that has plagued our Aboriginal
families for at least two generations.
It is an emergency response to a humanitarian crisis.
More than half Australia's Aboriginal population is under 16 and
our birthrate is the highest in the country.
The numbers of our children being sexually abused in Northern
Territory communities and elsewhere is a catastrophe, now and for
the future.
The depravity of the case histories beggars belief.
They come, tragically, from communities who have never recovered
from colonial dispossession of their land and who are shut out of
participation in mainstream Australia.
From the late '60s, many concerned Aboriginal activists and
their white supporters, fought long and hard to bring about the
necessary changes by government for equal rights, better conditions
and an end to discrimination.
The 1967 referendum was a hope that the Federal Government would
override poorly performing states to help Aborigines find a better
future.
Forty years and billions of dollars later Aboriginal people
still post the most extreme and miserable statistics in the nation
on any measure: health, education, employment, mortality and
incarceration.
That the decisive action is late in coming and surprising in its
swiftness, does not preclude its potential for success.
A few commentators believe Government should leave Aboriginal
people to fix their problems themselves.
However, the Aboriginal communities worst affected by alcohol
and drug-fuelled violence and abuse are patently unable to do
so.
There is systemic breakdown of policing and community
administration and people are sick and tired of living their lives
in fear.
I am visiting family for a few days in the community where I was
born, Borroloola, in the NT's Gulf of Carpentaria.
My auntie, Yanyuwa elder Thelma Douglas, described to me her
helplessness in changing the violence and child neglect in her
family and in the town camp where she lives.
This is what she said to me:
"We non-drinker that don't like grog drinker, want money for the
children, this what we looking to.
"They take all the money belong to the children and spend the
lot in grog.
"That should be for food, so we like to see the parents belong
to the children, looking after the money and buy food for the
children.
"They too much in grog, so we can't stop them. Because they say
this is my problem, you not right to talk to me.
"We can't stop them, tell them what is right and what is wrong.
That's bad. This is terrible things happening, all the time, grog
and fight.
"Sometime you tell the person, and he say this is my life, it's
not your life.
"The government money, they should use it for their food. Some
people have a lot of children, they can buy a lot of tucker
for.
"But drinking is bad, and then, after that they gonna bash their
wives, send them to hospital. This what happening all the
time."
The intervention intends to restore law and order to
communities. It seeks to identify and protect children at risk.
It will tag welfare payments to a requirement for parents to
send children to school, and feed them properly.
It is imposing extensive restrictions on alcohol.
The permit system to visit Aboriginal land is being reviewed to
normalise Aboriginal communications and interaction with the
outside world.
It is the start of a healthy expectation for Aboriginal people
to take responsibility and be accountable.
For whatever reason, the facts about the intervention are not
reaching communities.
Even before the scheduled arrival of government people in
Borroloola this week, there is a deal of political mischief and
misinformation being spread on the ground here.
Thelma said she has been told by non-Aboriginal people, that
Aboriginal families like hers will be moved out of their houses, so
white people can live on their land and that their money for the
children is going to be cut off.
Thelma and others in the community are talking about taking
their grandchildren out bush because there won't be money to buy
food for them, nor send them to school.
Other NT communities have been told the Government is using the
intervention to take their land.
And the army is coming to take their children in a repeat of the
Stolen Generation.
Does wider society have even the slightest idea of the task that
faces people on the ground out here in remote Aboriginal
communities?
If there is one point of agreement between supporters and
detractors, it is that the issues are extremely complex and little
understood.
Ideologically, self-management is desired.
However, the reality is we need a great deal of help in order to
achieve it.
Some of the help has come in the unlikely form of partnerships
with national and multi-national corporations.
However, the necessary negotiations with Aboriginal people often
hit roadblocks from land councils, the environmental lobby,
cultural purists and entrenched white operators.
Aboriginal people remain by far the most impoverished group in
the community.
Yet they sit on inestimable asset wealth from their land into
the future that is their right to access, just like any other
Australian.
It would stand our nation in good stead to embrace productive
dialogue, not block it.
To all the detractors, whatever your political or social
motivation, don't hinder the intent of the intervention.
Give it a chance to spearhead the changes people want to see on
the ground: well-policed, well-managed communities with the
opportunity to pursue education, jobs and to negotiate commercial
deals for building wealth.
There is a silent majority in the worst-affected communities
that is afraid to speak above the noisy minority. Those quieter
voices need to be heard.
My people cannot afford to lose further generations to the
hopelessness many of our communities face.
We need partnerships that go beyond politics, beyond borders,
beyond vested interest.
The intervention is not a perfect solution, but it is a strong
attempt to bring hope and relief to Aboriginal people who are
desperate for it.
(loaded 20.07.07)
Top of page
