PM's announcement for NT Indigeous Communities
From the Sydney Morning Herald:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/northern-territory-grog-ban/2007/06/21/1182019254302.html
From the Melbourne Age:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/pm-declares-nt-emergency/2007/06/21/1182019253560.html
Response from ANTar [Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation]:
I am writing to let you know ANTaR's response to the Prime Minister's announcement yesterday, regarding the child abuse crisis in Northern Territory Aboriginal communities: these measures are Draconian and will only add to the suffering of children.
ANTaR believes the Prime Minister was right to describe the widespread abuse of Aboriginal children as a national emergency but wrong in the way his government is seeking to overcome it.
Particularly horrifying is the plan to introduce compulsory health checks for all Aboriginal children to examine for signs of abuse – regardless of whether this is suspected.
Little children are sacred. Compulsory and potentially invasive checks of this kind will add to their trauma.
There is no other group in society that would be subject to these kinds of measures. Can you imagine what would happen if the Government ordered compulsory health checks for Anglo, Chinese, Jewish or Muslim children? There'd be an uproar. Yet the Prime Minister thinks it is appropriate to enforce this on Aboriginal children.
Efforts to stamp out child abuse should target the perpetrators rather than demonise whole communities.
The Government response also seemed to ignore the findings of the 'Little Children are Sacred' report that non-Aboriginal men were also responsible for the abuse of Aboriginal children.
We should tackle the extent of pornography and there may even be a case for banning it, but if this is going to happen it should occur across the board – in mining camps and lounge rooms as well as Aboriginal communities.
While stopping alcohol abuse is essential to overcoming child abuse, prohibition would be unlikely to achieve this. Prohibition hasn't worked anywhere else in the world. Why does the Prime Minister think it will work in the Northern Territory?
There is no doubting the sincerity and commitment of the Prime Minister and Minister Brough in relation to ending child abuse, but their misguided approach would be unlikely to achieve it. The heavy handed control of Aboriginal people helped create the problems of child abuse and violence. More of the same is not going to solve them.
ANTaR has worked extensively to support Aboriginal people who are overcoming violence and child abuse. In 2006 we organized a forum in Parliament House, Canberra bringing Aboriginal leaders who have successfully tackled abuse and violence together with politicians and public servants to discuss strategies to overcome these problems.
ANTaR is currently campaigning to urge the NSW Government to properly fund its response to the abuse of Aboriginal children in that state. Our 'Success Stories in Indigenous Health' booklet
(http://www.antar.org.au/success) released this week also profiles a number of successful programs that are tackling child abuse and its effects.
Regards,
Gary H
Gary Highland
National Director
Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR)
Email: gary@antar.org.au
Website: http://www.antar.org.au
ANTaR believes the Prime Minister was right to describe the widespread abuse of Aboriginal children as a national emergency but wrong in the way his government is seeking to overcome it.
Particularly horrifying is the plan to introduce compulsory health checks for all Aboriginal children to examine for signs of abuse – regardless of whether this is suspected.
Little children are sacred. Compulsory and potentially invasive checks of this kind will add to their trauma.
There is no other group in society that would be subject to these kinds of measures. Can you imagine what would happen if the Government ordered compulsory health checks for Anglo, Chinese, Jewish or Muslim children? There'd be an uproar. Yet the Prime Minister thinks it is appropriate to enforce this on Aboriginal children.
Efforts to stamp out child abuse should target the perpetrators rather than demonise whole communities.
The Government response also seemed to ignore the findings of the 'Little Children are Sacred' report that non-Aboriginal men were also responsible for the abuse of Aboriginal children.
We should tackle the extent of pornography and there may even be a case for banning it, but if this is going to happen it should occur across the board – in mining camps and lounge rooms as well as Aboriginal communities.
While stopping alcohol abuse is essential to overcoming child abuse, prohibition would be unlikely to achieve this. Prohibition hasn't worked anywhere else in the world. Why does the Prime Minister think it will work in the Northern Territory?
There is no doubting the sincerity and commitment of the Prime Minister and Minister Brough in relation to ending child abuse, but their misguided approach would be unlikely to achieve it. The heavy handed control of Aboriginal people helped create the problems of child abuse and violence. More of the same is not going to solve them.
ANTaR has worked extensively to support Aboriginal people who are overcoming violence and child abuse. In 2006 we organized a forum in Parliament House, Canberra bringing Aboriginal leaders who have successfully tackled abuse and violence together with politicians and public servants to discuss strategies to overcome these problems.
ANTaR is currently campaigning to urge the NSW Government to properly fund its response to the abuse of Aboriginal children in that state. Our 'Success Stories in Indigenous Health' booklet
(http://www.antar.org.au/success) released this week also profiles a number of successful programs that are tackling child abuse and its effects.
Regards,
Gary H
Gary Highland
National Director
Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR)
Email: gary@antar.org.au
Website: http://www.antar.org.au
posted by us @ 12:06 pm
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