‘State-funded ghettos obsolete’
Jamie Walker; 10/5/08
Having worked on 50 Aboriginal land rights cases, anthropologist Peter Sutton says that time is up for the nation’s troubled indigenous communities. Professor Sutton, picking up on this week’s Mullighan report in South Australia, the latest to uncover rampant child sex crime in an Aboriginal homeland, said governments should withdraw funding rather than perpetuate the cycle of abuse. There was no future in “state-funded ghettos”, he told The Weekend Australian. Asked if they should be closed down, Professor Sutton said: “No, I am talking about withdrawing funds rather than actively closing them. The fact is they are artificial communities. If they were full of white fellas, no one would dream of propping them up just because the people say they want to stay there.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23673553-5013404,00.html
Outstations spared shake-up; Natasha Robinson; 10/5/08; http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23673557-5013404,00.html
Blackwater finally gets pay phone
Paul Toohey; 10/5/08
The Weekend Australian yesterday took one of the first phone calls made on the Blackwater public pay phone. Last weekend, the paper reported how a three-week-old baby from the remote community had died after having convulsions in the middle of the night. Blackwater is a small outstation close to Papunya, 260km northwest of Alice Springs. The community had not had a public pay phone since 2004, and the baby’s mother had no way to ring for the Papunya ambulance or call the on-duty nurses. The baby’s mother and grandmother had to walk to Papunya in the middle of the night for help, and by the time they got there, the baby, Karen, was dead.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23673554-5013404,00.html
Brough left out of work group
Patricia Karvelas; 10/5/08
Kevin Rudd has locked out former indigenous affairs minister Mal Brough from a bipartisan working group on Aboriginal affairs, and attacked Brendan Nelson for misrepresenting the truth about government efforts to assemble a “war cabinet” to address disadvantage. In a letter sent to the Opposition Leader last night and released publicly, the Prime Minister names the seven members he wants included in the indigenous housing working group, but does not include Mr Brough despite the insistence of the Opposition. Mr Rudd argues the group should be “above politics”.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23673552-5013404,00.html
Lonely highway death exposes tension
Elisabeth Wynhausen; 10/5/08
The night Paul Carter died, he had been picked up by Mildura police and dropped off 12km out of town. Brain-damaged from sniffing petrol, he was drunk and poorly dressed for the sobering midnight walk along the Sturt Highway back into town. About 25 minutes after senior constable Nigel Hoyle used his police radio to report “Mr Carter dropped off. All correct”, the 34-year old indigenous man was hit by a truck and killed. “What happened to Paul I feel, in my own mind, and in my family’s mind, it was wrong,” said his stepbrother, Dennis Johnson.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23673833-5013172,00.html
Inquest puts spotlight on police duty of care; Simon Mann; 10/5/08; http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/inquest-puts-spotlight-on-police-duty-of-care/2008/05/09/1210131265825.html
Cannabis found in 10yo’s backpack; 9/10/08; http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23670296-5013172,00.html
Time for redress
Editorial; 10/5/08
Indigenous children deserve full protection; The preface of the Mullighan report on sexual abuse in South Australian tribal lands should be required reading for all with an interest in reconciliation. “Prior to the mid-1970s, life for the Anangu on the (Pitjantjatjara) lands was generally healthy, peaceful, safe and content,” wrote Ted Mullighan QC. “There was an effective system of social order, law and governance, and mutual responsibility. During the 1980s and 90s, life changed drastically. By the turn of the century, communities were dysfunctional and abusive. There was widespread violence and alcohol and drug abuse.”
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23672746-16382,00.html
Tags: "Outstations", Aboriginal, Australia, Drugs, Facilities, Housing, Police, Sex Trade