Is the Australian army going to be sent to lawless aboriginal communities?

Mar 18
2008

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A recent report on the dire conditions existing in Australia’s largest aboriginal community shocked the nation and prompted a suggestion the army should move in. The area in question is in the northern territories where according a recent survey “1,300 children under the age of 15 in the aboriginal community of Wadeye are at risk of abuse or neglect. Chief Minister Clara Martin quoted by ABC news on-line said in Darwin that Wadeye is not just a northern territory problem but rather a national one. Some reports indicate there is endemic abuse of children including rape cases with the youngest victim being seven months old. Other parts of the report show a systematic abuse of women to the point, as one of the social workers described, of being down right inhumane and shameful. In addition to abuse of girls and women a study of aboriginal men indicates the rate of sexual abuse of boys is 33 percent whereas in the general population abuse of young boys is less than 12 percent. Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough rejected the idea of sending the army saying this it is a police matter. Workplace Participation Minister Sharman Stone visited the remote aboriginal community where she was “impressed by a large shelter for women.” She said: “A big room that has a lot of bars a big sign on the door saying No Man Allowed.” Dr. Stone believes the government should establish many similar centers “certainly there should be a place where women can retreat to when they are in real danger with their kids and their teenage children but of course that’s just a short term band-aid solution… much more has to be done,” she said. Stone’s observation received an angry response from local officials who complained the federal government had cut funding for women’s refuge canters. Officials also doubted whether a proposed emergency summit on aboriginal violence would do any good.

Some of the government’s observations concluded “there’s not enough English teaching for

aboriginal children. They should be taught English and not just brought up to speak traditional languages,” said Doctor Stone. She also said that some aborigines have a bleak future because they cannot speak English. The idea of a national summit is supported by the chairwoman of the National Indigenous Council stating that leadership is the key to combating sexual assaults and violence in aboriginal communities in far west New South Wales and in Tasmania. Marty Cibasado of the Aboriginal Justice Group, reacting to the summit idea, said: “More talks will not stop the trauma. Other aboriginal activists said that there is no value in “talkfest” instead of finding practical solutions.

Observers say it is hard to understand how a prosperous nation such as Australia, with 20 million people of whom only one percent are aborigines, cannot find a solution to a growing human tragedy short of sending the army or the police. The matter will continue to haunt the Australian political scene in the coming years unless the government finally undertakes drastic measures to erase this national disgrace of gross neglect of Australia’s native people.


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