Intevening in the NT
During the mid-semester break a group of 28 Sydney University students traveled over 6000km through the Australian outback to show their support for Northern Territory Aboriginal communities affected by the government’s controversial intervention policies.
With the endorsement of the SRC, the Indigenous Studies Department and the National Association of Community Legal Centers students joined a convergence of over 200 people on Alice Springs (Mparntwe).
During the convergence, Aboriginal communities held a historic meeting of the “Prescribed Area People’s Alliance.” It was, thus far, the largest demonstration against the intervention held in Alice Springs. Students stayed in Mt Nancy, one of the indigenous town camps around Alice Springs, and visited on invitation a number of remote communities affected by the intervention, witnessing the impact of the most recent government attempt at assimilating the Aboriginal population.
The Intervention was originally initiated to address alleged child abuse problems asserted by the ‘Little Children are Sacred’ report. However, not only has it failed to address this issue, it has imposed fundamentally racist policies. These policies have done nothing to improve the standard of living for Indigenous NT communities.
NT Aborigines are no longer able to have any say in their own affairs. Blanket policies have been implemented, as oppose to consulting individual communities and tailoring intervention to suit their individual issues and needs.
The Intervention has led to the implementation of a range of policies which are racially discriminatory and required the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act. One such example is welfare quarantining, where half of every Aboriginal person’s pension or unemployment benefits are given in the form of food voucher, which can be redeemed at a restricted number of licensed stores. This results in some Aborigines having to travel for several hours to purchase food, as their local store has not yet received the government accreditation necessary to participate in the voucher scheme.
Many of these policies are also based on the idea that Aboriginal people are to blame for the problems in their communities. The idea the Aboriginal communities might deserve some compensation for the history of dispossession and abuse by government, or the fact that even basic government services like sewerage and any real job opportunities have been denied to Aboriginal communities have been ignored. Instead the government has chosen to punish some of the most oppressed and vulnerable people in this country.
On Monday the 29th of September prior to the demonstration, Indigenous Elders from across the Northern Territory gathered in a Prescribed Areas Peoples Alliance meeting to discuss direct opposition to the racist intervention. Some had travelled from remote communities as far as 900 kilometers outside Alice Springs, in order to recount their experiences and discuss the issues confronting their communities.
The stories were delivered in a varying mix of english and walpiri and whilst not every word was distinguishable, their anger and determination, was clear. The language barrier itself, I thought, sitting under a blanket of stars in the middle of the desert, highlights the vast and complex cultural differences between the policy makers and aboriginal people that renders self determination all the more necessary. Many spoke of how little impact the policies where having on the social problems they were meant to address.
In the morning, we had a good chance to discover Yuendemu. We were given a tour to each of the sites developed under the intervention, starting with the barbed wire enclosed general business manager’s (GBM) house. Each community has been allocated as GBM as part of the intervention. They are reportedly paid $170, 000 a year to oversee the community’s businesses. Yet, most Aboriginals present at the discussion said their community’s GBM had made little to no attempt to meet business owners and understand the problems facing them.
We also drove 5km out to see the intervention’s ingenious response to the communities cries for a rubbish disposal facility. What we found was a $200 000 fence, large enough to contain a football field but almost completely empty.
The men’s refugee centre is another example of the governments poor response to community requests. The local community desired an refugee centre, in order to have an alternate place for drunk or depressed mento stay. It was hoped that such a centre would reduce the incidence of domestic violence.
The government’s solution - two shipping containers, surrounded by a barbed wire fence and padlocked shut. Instead of creating a welcoming refuge they constructed a cell. These expensive and as yet useless measures were swiftly implemented, while the communities’ ideas for development remained unheard.
It was much more heartening to visit the community developed projects. These included an art centre, filled with thousands of pieces of amazing locally produced art whose proceeds go directly to the artists, and a local media centre which produces documentaries and broadcasts a radio station to surrounding walpiri communities.
Driving home from Yuendemu, we stopped at the servo for some lunch. Waiting at the counter to pay, the white store manager came out, looked around at the bus load of aboriginal customers that had just entered, and stated, “I’ve been invaded.” This is just one example of the racism that is rife within the Northern Territory and has been normalized and institutionalized by the government’s suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act.
This racism is incredibly visible, symbolised perfectly in the large, domineering signs that segregate prescribed areas as places where alcohol and pornography is banned for Aboriginal persons. This discrimination against Aboriginal people is both paternalistic and degrading, creating stereotypes that disempower Aboriginal people and silence their voices, all the while leaving the social problems that give rise to these stereotypes unaddressed.
This allows the government to instate racist laws and has created an environment where racism is the norm. Ringing a caravan park we are asked if we are travelling with any “Abo's. A young woman buying cigarettes is questioned by the clerk as to whether they are for her or the Aboriginal men she is walking with. We are told by a local man in Coober Pedy that 'their Aboriginals are alright, it’s the blow ins that cause all the trouble, bringing in alcohol and being violent'. Walking down the mall in Alice Springs white people and tourists walk out of Indigenous art galleries and past groups of Aboriginal people as if they were invisible.
I can feel the frustration of a young Aboriginal man who walks past wearing a shirt that reads “Tell your child its rude to point and stare at me”. This everyday racism is a reflection of a broader acceptance of racism in the NT, spurned in part by the Intervention policies.
How can we not feel compelled to take action when basic human rights are being violated and racism is becoming a norm in our country? Get involved and demand the reinstatement of the RDA, proper funding and access to resources, Aboriginal control of Aboriginal affairs and an end to the Intervention!
The Sydney Uni Anti-racism collective meets 12pm every Thursday at the Sunken Lawns near Manning. We will be holding a report-back meeting to discuss students’ experience on the convergence at 1pm on Thursday October 23. For more info email dfar3697@usyd.edu.au
Disclaimer: The editors of queer honi, QuAC, and the Executive and council of the SRC do not endorse the views and opinions expressed in this article.