Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Australian Aborigines publish long list of complaints

Northern Territory Prescribed Area Peoples’ Alliance | 19.06.2009 22:24

Stop the Intervention: self-determination not assimilation

We members of the Northern Territory Prescribed Area Peoples’ Alliance have made the following statement from our June 18-19 meeting in Darwin. Everybody else has their rights. Aboriginal people aren’t recognised. They don’t want to listen to us because they want our land. We are our own leaders, passed down through our families. We don’t need leaders in parliament to speak. We can use our own voice. The government says they support the declaration of the rights of indigenous peoples but they haven’t made it legal. The government has to make it legal. All Aboriginal people are being treated as second class citizens.


Moving Forward

We mob gathered here from all over. Black people and their supporters need to stand and fight together. We Aboriginal people are getting big problems from the mainstream system. We’re disempowered. The intervention is taking our rights away. We need to be recognised, even though we are a minority in Australia. Support us to fight both the Federal and NT government, their system and what they’re doing to us.

Assimilation and rights to culture

We are who we are. They want to make Aboriginal people into white people. They are pushing us into a corner. That will mean they will take away everything that we belong to. Our culture and lore would be lost. If we go the white man way and they don’t recognise our culture they control you by the laws they make.

The Intervention is an attack on Aboriginal people’s identity.

White law is not working otherwise we wouldn’t be sitting here talking about the intervention.

Racism

We shouldn’t have separate Aboriginal policies. Racism cuts us away. It feels like we’re not citizens of Australia. People discriminate against us in every way. We don’t have our rights.

We went through racism and hardship at school in the old days, and today our children are still going through that. There is still a lot of prejudice. The government is running us down altogether under the intervention. It’s demeaning to us.

We want the government to reinstate the Racial Discrimination Act (1975). Human rights for all. Empower the law, bring it out in the open. Bringing back the Racial Discrimination Act will empower us again.

Homelands and communities

Homelands are our traditional country. It’s where we teach our kids about our culture. It’s been handed down from generation to generation. We need to keep the traditional ties to our land.

People are healthier and stronger living on homelands. Eating traditional foods. It’s the right environment to raise kids.

Everybody pays rent but there are no basic services like running water for our homelands. The government says no more funding for services.

If people are forced to leave off homelands they will lose everything, their identity. When the communities are empty the bulldozers will come in. Why would we give it up now, after what our old people went through to get it?

We sat on the land and protested to get the land to begin with, and that’s how we will keep it. We are not moving! These are our homelands. We fought long and hard to get native title and now they come with this policy of denying of services and resources. It’s wrong.

We are going to stay there forever - We are not moving!

Government demands regarding homelands

We need more housing on our homelands and provide basic services like phones, water and electricity. We want help to set up our own enterprises on homelands. We need public transport to help people get home and out of town. We should have rights for public housing on homelands.

Both governments must respect and recognise people living on homelands.

Government business managers

The GBMs think they’re the controller. As Traditional Owners we don’t have a say anymore. They’ve got the policy and procedures manual behind them and think they wield the power. They made all these rules down in Canberra, never consulted with us and the GBM just tells us all the new rules. They are working against our people.

In communities GBM’s houses get put up in a matter of days, but we’re still waiting for houses and schools.

The government is not accountable to communities. We have to prove where every dollar is spent, why don’t they?

Government demands regarding GBMs and public servants

We’ve got people with skills that can do the work of the government business managers, people from our communities should be managing our communities.

Income Management

The basics card is discriminatory to us all. We have had no consultation. It’s taking away our rights and degrading us. It’s disempowered us. It’s very racist. We are going backwards to the welfare days.

Little children are sacred, but under the Intervention they are going hungry.

The basics card makes it hard to travel for cultural obligations. Basics card cannot be used to help family out with food when you’re stayng with them. Basics card takes away our ability to contribute and our independence. It makes it hard to travel for funerals and cultural business.

Nothing has changed since the basic card has been introduced. It’s gotten worse and worse. It’s not doing anything for the kids. They’re saying its working but where is their accountability? Show us the figures - where it is helping?

We need more support for those that need help with income management, not blanket quarantines for everyone. It’s making it harder for us to live day to day. The kids are suffering too. Income management should be voluntary. We need to fight for our rights – they’ve been taken away from us.

We want basic rights – not Basic cards!

Demand regarding income management:

The Income Management system should be voluntary

Housing/Leases

The government will only give you a house if you sign a lease. Our houses are broken down. We don’t believe the government’s promises anymore. We’ve come to a dead end. The only way we can get services and housing is to sign a lease.

They’re pushing us into a situation where land is the name of the game. They want the minerals that are in the sacred lands right across the territory. They want to take the town camps now but there are always strings attached. The government will control the country then. We want to stay in control. We need to work together. We don’t want the government to take over our communities and camps.

The government is only promising housing to a few communities who sign leases. All the rest miss out. It’s causing argument and division between communities. We are all in this together. We want housing without signing a lease.

Demands for government re housing

We want houses without having to sign leases and give up our land.

We want houses on remote communities and homelands. We want proper infrastructure. We need electricity and water, we don’t want to have keep using generators and water trucks. We need proper roads to our communities.

Consultation

We feel shame. This policy is continuing to put us down. There is no consultation.

People need to have ownership over decisions that affect their community.

Jenny Macklin says she is talking to people in the communities, but everytime we invite her to come meet with us she refuses.

Demand regarding consultation:

Proper consultation is government coming to our homelands or communities, sitting down with us without a time limit and listen and talk to us face to face. Listen to our ideas. Talk to us properly. What we want. Come out to our homeland.

Bilingual Education

We didn’t come on the boat with the Government, they need to understand we had our own language before they came with English. We want to keep passing it on.

Demand regarding bilingual education:

We want the government to support bilingual schools. We want Aboriginal languages taught in schools. All schools should have cross-cultural training for teachers. Bilingual language is keeping our culture alive and strong.

Health

This intervention was supposed to be about helping Aboriginal people. Health and education should be the first priority. It’s a disgrace.

People needing medical help have to travel into town. Pregnant women have to travel long distances on buses to give birth. We used to have a mobile clinic that visited outstations.

The government has made a lot of cut backs to health and mothers’ services on communities.

The government says they’re closing the gap, but it’s getting wider. Under the intervention policy the government said they’re going to make it better for indigenous people - better in housing, education and health. They say they’re closing the gap in a few years but it’s not getting smaller, it’s getting bigger and bigger. It’s dividing the nation and getting worse for everyone.

Demand regarding health:

We want Aboriginal controlled medical services to be fully-funded. Remote communities need clinics with full-time staff.

Police

Under the intervention police have Star Chamber powers where they can hold Aboriginal people for longer periods.

Police should not be able to enter our ceremony. The police think that we are low down people.

Deaths in custody are increasing. We should have independent people investigating any deaths in custody. We don’t trust the police. Police should have permits to search our houses and people.

Demand regarding police:

Implement the recommendations from the report into Aboriginal deaths in custody.

Statement made by members of the Prescribed Area Peoples’ Alliance from:

Angkelengklwe, Blank Tank, Harry Creek, Sixteen Mile, Angulur, West Waterhouse, Iteyepinpye, Laynhapuy homelands

Yuendumu, Finke, Papunya, Tara, Ntaria, Mutitjulu, Galawinku, Ramingining Milingimbi communities

Hidden Valley, Palmers, Mt Nancy, Trucking Yards town camps

Stop the Intervention: Self Determination not Assimilation

No takeover of Aboriginal town camps

Full funding, housing and services for all communities

No blanket welfare quarantines

Reinstate the Racial Discrimination Act

Aboriginal control of Aboriginal affairs

--
For further information see our website: www.wgar.info

You can subscribe to our second list:  wgar.news@gmail.com

Subscription to 'WGAR News' is free.

'WGAR News' monitors the media, focusing on the Northern
Territory intervention along with other Aboriginal issues.
The newsletters include media releases, opinion pieces and
news items.

To subscribe, email  wgar.news@gmail.com and include the
words "subscribe WGAR News" in the message header.

To unsubscribe, email  wgar.news@gmail.com and include the
words "unsubscribe WGAR News" in the message header.

WGAR: Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)

Northern Territory Prescribed Area Peoples’ Alliance

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech