Permit system for access to aboriginal land to be abolished

I can't suggest much except the stories from the NT DPP last year - I think most of the major news outlets picked them up so should be trackable on the net pretty easily. The multiple rape of a toddler tends to grab headlines, particularly when it's only one among a large collection of similar stories.

I've lived (briefly) on a community in Qld, and some of the things have to be seen to be believed. I don't think any amount of reading will truly inform.

In my view there is no simple explanation, and no simple solution. I've seen as bad or worse among the white community, but when there is so much in such a small community it becomes truly intractable.

It reached the point where I was that 2/3 of the children were in some form of care, and the good parents were completely saturated with foster children. And there are communities with a lot more problems than that one.

The trouble with the Government response is that it takes power from the local people who must be involved for the long-term success. The trouble with what was happening before is that it gave power to the local people who were perpetuating the abuse.

Agree it isn't easy, the response from the CLC seems someone might be concerned they are out of a job.

Not a big fan of Howard but how long have the various Land Councils and interest groups been "handling" this for?

If his approach is so wrong then what the heck is so right with their approach, I don't think anyone actually believes things are getting better for these indigenous communities (and again their are examples of communities that have prospered and found a balance between their culture and white) I wonder how many of these are actually attributed to these "bodies" and how many could be contributed to one person getting involved (either from the community such as educated aboriginals returning or the elders etc putting together a way forward)

Police drawn from around the States will be used to implement the new Laws and they will be backed up by Norforce for logistics.
Permits will be done away with to allow right of access but the sacred sites will be proteced.
All children under 16, in these affected communities, will be medically
checked for abuse and other things and will be treated.
Some kids as young as 5 and 10 are running around with veneral diseases !
Fifty percent of welfare payments will withheld and spent to make sure that food and clothing for kids and families is ensured and the money not
spent on grog. All children will attend school, by law. It will be enforced. There will be a total alcohol ban in these affected communies for the first six months so that the problems can begin to be sorted. A lot of the abuse has been caused by white miners in some areas, leading to forced prostitution of kids by black parents after grog.
The alcohol ban will include these white areas also and will be enforced and policed.
There will be some opposition from some people in these communities
who will be sacked for not doing the right thing. They will be swept aside,
as they should be. The women and kids have a right to a normal life
without fear and abuse from drunken dickheads, black and white.
Little John has his dander up this time and is going to try and start to sort the problem out and make this place a better one for all Aboriginals.
It will take a while and the efforts of many people both State and Federal.
A lot of these laws exist at the moment but are not enforced thru lack
of interest or funds. This is why the Federal Government is taking over
and will implement the necessary laws and foot the bill entirely.
Some will try and make it a political issue but it is not really. It is a problem that has been with us all for to long and successive Governments
will need to keep the ball rolling untill the Aboriginals are no longer second class citizens in our ( meaning all of us ) country !
Cheers.

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Originally Posted by olbod

Police drawn from around the States will be used to implement the new Laws and they will be backed up by Norforce for logistics.
.

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That will be interesting. NORFORCE would know as much about logistics as the average toymotor driver knows about Landrovers. NORFORCE is a very lightly scaled regional surveillance unit, not a logistics unit. Getting those guys to do log spt would be as sensible as appointing an AFL coach on the basis that he had seen the game played once...

You could be right Mark, but I think he said that they will assist with vehicles and drivers and local knowledge etc. This will mean a big Policing
operation and the ADF come under Federal juristiction so can go where they please. Johny did say that the Army wont be used as Policemen.
Do them good to expand their operational capabilities, anyway !
I can see the logic in mixing ADF and State and Federal Police in an operation like this, as there will be no slacking off ! Less likely to be deaths in custody also. This is going to be a contensious issue in some
quarters but is absolutey necessary. The problem has gone on for too long
and people who have tried to draw attention to it have been attacked and
maligned as is usually the case.
It has been festering in a big way since last year and now that Howard has the report in hand, he's acted. Rudd has thrown his weight behind it,
so lets hope the will and momentum is maintained.
Cheers.

Hi Robert,

I guess that it is a nice vote of confidence in the members of the ADF that you reckon they will have a positive influence on the activity.

However, I remain unconvinced that this is an appropriate use of the ADF. I think work like the AACAP tasks that have been happening over the last decade (infratsructure, training and health support) are ok, law enforcement in indigenous communities is another thing all together.

Cheers

Mark

Working in a regional prison allows me to see the end result and spend a lot of time with the perpetrators. I just hope the do gooders dont bugger this up.

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Originally Posted by LieutenantRover

Working in a regional prison allows me to see the end result and spend a lot of time with the perpetrators. I just hope the do gooders dont bugger this up.

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I hope nobody buggers it up ! It certainly has been in some areas up till now.

Mate, could you expand a little on what you wrote above ?
I mean, what's your observation of the end result from working where you
do ?

The whole problem is going to be difficult to solve.
The alcoholism, the violence, living and social conditions, have to be
addressed.
The Aboriginals have to believe that they have a future and something to strive for. Up to now this hasn't happened.
After 40,000 years of hunter gathering they are in the very early days of
settlement and assimilation. We cant blend a black fella into a white fella's world as an equal without education and being given the oportunity
to do something with his life. Just giving them land rights and establishing
isolated communities where every day is the same with nothing much
to do, would drive any man to drink. Bugger that !
Seems to me that that is what we have been doing all these years. Of course, we have put people in place to administer these communities and to try and make sure that they are good boys and sit in the dust quietly and dont make a fuss !
Some of these administrators, I know personally, and they are dedicated
to their jobs and try to do the best they can but its a shame that they
are also being let down by the system

We can do better than what we have been doing, I think !
Be nice to be able to camp by the Todd without fear of attack, and be
able to sit and talk with the black fella's as an equal in their eyes.
Cheers.

I don't think anyone is suggesting the ADF will be "policing" this, merely providing logistical support.

I have been beaten over this before on exploroz but I personally think we do not utilise our military for Australian needs enough. We have a huge country and a small population supporting it. We spend billions every year on the ADF (and I don't begrudge a cent of it, it is necessary) but the ADF are well equiped, well organised and well trained. I also have several close friends and family in the military.

Lets face it if we need to be "spying" on communities to check who is coming and going and with what who else can provide this service better?

If infrastructure needs building/repairing, especially in remote areas, who better?

And lets be realistic about the costs, we are paying our military personel anyway, there is increased costs from fuel consumption etc but it is minimal expense compared to paying contractors do the same work

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Originally Posted by olbod

A lot of the abuse has been caused by white miners in some areas, leading to forced prostitution of kids by black parents after grog.

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This not something I've heard.

Your comment can be read in several ways.

Are white miners abusing children or are they supplying grog to the parents who are looking for ways to get money to buy the grog?

Has it been suppressed or just not reported?

Ron