Redfern rally marks one year since intervention

BY ANNE VON FEHRN

Hundreds of people gathered at Redfern’s Block last Saturday to mark one year since the Howard Government introduced the highly controversial federal intervention into Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory.
Organised by the Aboriginal Rights Coalition (ARC), the rally began with several guest speakers before heading towards Town Hall in a bid to protest against the intervention.
Part of the National Day of Action, other rallies were held simultaneously across the country demanding the repeal of all NT Emergency Response legislation, the restoration of the Racial Discrimination Act, funding for infrastructure and community controlled services, and ratification of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Guest speakers included Vince Forrester, an elder from the Mutitjulu community in the Northern Territory, who gave first-hand evidence about the damaging effect the intervention is having on his community.
‘Within the last year, we have gone from 500 to 150 residents,’ Mr Forrester said.
‘People are flocking to Alice Springs or other cities because their gift vouchers for food can only be exchanged in major stores such as Woolworths or Coles.’
Mr Forrester and his counterparts said this is dispersing communities and creating more problems for those left in urban areas on the street.
‘The disastrous welfare quarantine is causing extreme hardship and has forced thousands of people into urban areas,’ according to Paddy Gibson from the Aboriginal Rights Coalition.
Mr Gibson said that the review committee announced by the Rudd Government earlier this month was unlikely to result in any changes.
Furthermore, Greg Eatock from the ARC labelled John Howard’s policy as cultural genocide. ‘The intervention has always been about destroying Aboriginal culture and assimilating us into white society,” Mr Eatock said.
He added that this was a land-grab legislation trying to control resources and minerals found in the targeted communities. ‘This has never been about protecting children, it’s been about opening up our lands.’
Simon Flinn, secretary of the Fire Brigade Union, also took the stage in full support of the crowd. ‘We’ve had 30 years of booming economy yet we’ve also had 30 years of constant roll back of Aboriginal rights,” he said. “It’s a public and international embarrassment for Australia.”
Robert Alcock and wife Fiona attended the rally to hear directly from people affected by the intervention in the NT and to show their support.
‘The media coverage about the consequences of the ongoing intervention is not very comprehensive,’ Fiona Alcock said. ‘We want to show that there are many Australians who are concerned about the rights of Aboriginal people.’
In 2007, the Howard Government announced measurements to intervene into Aboriginal communities in the NT following a report outlining serious problems of abuse and neglect of children in remote Aboriginal communities. The ALP supported the introduction of the legislation and since coming into office has not committed to any changes other than the ongoing review.
‘It is time for Kevin Rudd to prove that he is not another John Howard when it comes to the relationship with the owners of this land,’ Simon Flinn concluded.