Aboriginal advocates question Macklin’s latest strategies for the Northern Territory

Stop the Intervention Coalition Sydney (SICS) confronted Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin last Tuesday following the minister’s keynote address on a new government discussion paper, Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory.

The government states Aboriginal people have made significant contributions to the paper, which addresses poverty and disadvantage in the Northern Territory. However, SICS questions the government’s updated indigenous affairs policy, which includes proposals to roll out models of income management across five unnamed new locations in Australia from July 2012.

The paper also encourages economic development and employment, citing that more than one third of Indigenous people of working age are not in the labour force, compared to two in 10 non-Indigenous Territorians.

But Paddy Gibson of SICS believes the government’s approach restricts the creation of ongoing opportunity and investment to Growth Towns,
a Territory Government initiative which aims to transform remote communities into profitable economic hubs.

“This creates pressure on those living in remote areas and out stations to move into Alice Springs,” said Mr Gibson. “And it is pure fantasy for the government to believe that there will be opportunities or even accommodation for these people to move into.”

Another major concern for SICS is the decision to continue a ban on teaching in Aboriginal language for the first four hours of the school day. This regulation was put in place in 2008 to “close the gap” on indigenous education, but according to the Stop the Intervention website, 94 per cent of Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory still have no preschools and 56 per cent have no secondary schools.

“What would an Australian child do if they turned up on their first day and they spoke Japanese?” asked Mr Gibson. “It reinforces a racist mentality that these languages are not legitimate.”

“Closing the Gap” on indigenous welfare also involved the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act. Mr Gibson believes this action resonates with those taken by the government in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to control the movements of indigenous peoples.

“The force indigenous people to assimilate into the mainstream has been destructive economically and in terms of self esteem,” said Mr Gibson. “This is proven by an increase in poverty, incarceration and child removal, indicating things are getting worse as a result of the intervention.”

Mr Gibson said community control is the key to improving disadvantaged communities across Australia.

“The government understands the needs of indigenous people but they don’t have resources,” he said. “There is also been an extraordinary waste of money because of swelling bureaucracies.”

Jenny Macklin could not be reached for comment on the matter.