Antinuclear

How the Northern Territory Intervention gets Aboriginals off their land, and uranium miners on to it

It is worth noting that the majority of Australia’s extensive supply of uranium (almost half of the world’s supply) is currently found under Aboriginal land in the Northern Territory, making these lands extremely valuable to the Australian government and mining companies…

Some communities have found themselves forced to travel extreme distances to access a store where the Basic Card is accepted…..This last factor is taking a lot of people off their lands, as they are driven to larger towns in order to buy food and small and remote local shops are going out of business. 

On the Northern Territory Intervention, FEMINISTE, by HEXY on 16 July 11 “……..Compulsory acquisition of townships currently held under the title provisions of the Native Title Act 1993 through five year leases, with no appeal process and exclusive rights over all buildings and properties. This is the portion of the Intervention that lead the loudest accusations of it really being a “land grab”, designed to push Indigenous people off of their land so that the government could acquire it. It is worth noting that the majority of Australia’s extensive supply of uranium (almost half of the world’s supply) is currently found under Aboriginal land in the Northern Territory, making these lands extremely valuable to the Australian government and mining companies.

• Suspension of the permit system. The permit system that had previously been in place allowed Aboriginal communities to determine who was and wasn’t allowed access to their communities, granting them a level of autonomy. The scrapping of the permit system under the guise of “protecting children” ignored the protests of Aboriginal women that much of what sexual assault and abuse does occur in Aboriginal communities often happens at the hands of visiting white men, and that the permit system allows the communities to protect themselves against these predators. Dismantling the permit system in the name of protecting children from sexual abuse made the statement that when sexual abuse occurs in Aboriginal communities, the perpetrators must be Aboriginal men, and that white people must be present in order for those children to be protected, as well as potentially opening the door for white predators to have increased access to vulnerable members of these communities. The permit system has since been partially reinstated, however communities now have government-employed “business managers” who determine who may enter the community….
• Quarantining of 50% of welfare payments to all inhabitants of Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory,….The quarantined money is available only via a “Basic Card”, which can be used only at certain stores, ……. Some communities have found themselves forced to travel extreme distances to access a store where the Basic Card is accepted. Additionally, only the card holder themselves can use the Basic Card, meaning friends and family members cannot pool together to share shopping responsibilities, which is vital in remote communities with limited transport options. This last factor is taking a lot of people off their lands, as they are driven to larger towns in order to buy food and small and remote local shops are going out of business. The government has marked welfare quarantining as the element of the Intervention that they first plan to export to communities outside the Northern Territory…..
• In case you’re wondering why the implementation of reforms that clearly single out a group of people based on their race aren’t in breach of the Racial Discrimination Act, the government “cleverly” predicted that problem and suspended the Act at the beginning of the Intervention. When it was reinstated, the government declared that “special measures” applied to the Intervention, as the whole thing had apparently been beneficial to Indigenous Australians, and therefore could not be in breach of the Racial Discrimination Act. Smart. The question of whether Indigenous Australians have actually benefited in apparently not up for discussion and does not, it seems, need to be proven….
• And that’s kind of the thing: it doesn’t seem to be able to be demonstrated that the Intervention has actually helped anyone. No child sex abuse charges have been laid, despite child sex abuse allegedly being the motivation behind the Intervention. The health of Aboriginal children has not been much improved. Aboriginal literacy has not been improved, and with the scrapping of bilingual education, Aboriginal children raised in non-English speaking homes are struggling in school even more than they were before…….
• The end of the primary stage of the Intervention comes early next year and a lot of eyes are on what will be happening next in stage two…
• ……….I believe the Intervention was a mistake, driven by paternalistic and racist politics, colonialist ideals and (most probably) a desire for extremely valuable Aboriginal land. I sincerely doubt that the policies of the next stage will change my mind.

July 19, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | aboriginal issues, Northern Territory