Intervention spinning out of control

There is still distinct unease in some communities around Alice Springs about how the massive changes announced by the Prime Minister will impact on the lives of ordinary people. Many of these concerns may be without foundation, but the paucity of clear information on offer - as distinct from PR fluff - has seen the rumour mill working overtime.

In my innocence, I had assumed that before too long the government would produce a froth-free 20-page document explaining in a level of detail exactly what was to happen.

To answer questions like: How will community councils operate alongside government business managers? What is the process for deciding that a town camp is in breach of its lease and who will make this decision? Who will decide whether a given absence from school constitutes one of the “three strikes” which will see a parent's welfare payments further quarantined? And a thousand others besides.

But rather than being given advice, communities are being offered spin. A four-page blurb headlined “Northern Territory Emergency Response” has started doing the rounds.

A message over the reassuring signature of Minister Brough meanders through the land of the bleedin' obvious - alcohol is destroying communities, school attendance rates are low etc - before winding up at the arms of the government's favourite girl ... Ms Laura Norder.

The document rightly observes that “protecting children must be the first priority” - but the scene is surveyed through the unforgiving prism of law and order, and the knee-jerk call is for “more police”.

However, the Combined Aboriginal Organisations of the Northern Territory released a thoughtful document recently pointing out that “the quality and effectiveness of policing is much more important than increased numbers of police on the ground”.

The Brough bluster also suggests that the government is going to “open up communities by easing the permit system”.

The incomprehensible decision to dismantle this simple and effective system will have exactly this effect: unfortunately communities will be “opened up” to sexual predators, grog-runners, drug and petrol traffickers, pornography peddlers and those who would disrespect sacred sites.

The government bulletin goes on to quote the first sentence of the first recommendation from the Little Children are Sacred report recommending that “Aboriginal child sexual abuse in the Northern Territory be designated as an issue of urgent national significance”.

I cannot verify that the government's thorough examination of the Little Children report extended all the way to the third sentence of the same recommendation, which states that “it is critical that both governments (federal and territory) commit to genuine consultation with Aboriginal people in designing initiatives for Aboriginal communities”.

This tendentious tract then quotes co-author of Little Children, Pat Anderson, as saying that “Alcohol is absolutely destroying our communities and our families”. No-one disputes this. But these “rivers of grog” have their sources in the larger towns like Alice Springs, Tennant Creek and Katherine.

The minister would be well-advised to resist the temptation to demonise remote communities, and to look instead at the rules that govern the operation of take-away grog-shops in these regional centres.

More tellingly, Anderson identified unemployment, poverty and overcrowding, as key indicators for the presence of child-abuse.

If the minister is genuine in his intention to improve matters, he must turn his attention to addressing the appalling lack of housing stock in these communities, rather than chanting ideological incantations about “market-based rents”.

Lest this sound like a tale of gloom and doom, the intervention also brings with it some positives.

Once genuinely assured that they have nothing to fear, it is likely that many families in these communities will welcome the opportunity to have their children receive optional, non-intrusive medical checks. Aboriginal people are not stupid. They never have been.

They have, however, long been the victims of the ignorance and paternalism displayed by governments of all political persuasions. For this reason, they have every reason to view the latest “miracle cure” with deep suspicion.

Indigenous NT Labor politicians like Alison Anderson and Karl Hampton have declined to take political advantage of the turmoil and have opted instead to provide real leadership.

They have gone to considerable effort to reassure their countrymen that their children are safe. Their advice has been to examine the government's proposals closely, to see what opportunities they may offer.

However, rumours will continue to flourish until clear advice is provided to community residents. The continued absence of any detailed information from the government as we head into the second month of “the intervention” invites the conclusion that they are making it up as they go along.

Meanwhile, the spin continues.