In the June of 2007 the government under John Howard declared a national state of emergency in the Northern Territory, staging a massive intervention under claims of widespread child abuse, as well as an epidemic of alcohol, drugs and violence. In little time, the government moved into action, sending in the troops to seize 73 remote aboriginal communities and install white officers to take control of them. Draconian new laws were introduced in the communities, and 50% of welfare payments cut off , further increasing poverty and disenchantment. Community leaders and village elders were at no stage consulted before the implementation of this policy. In order to implement this program, known as the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Plan 2007, the government "suspended" the Racial Discrimination Act of 1975, due to the laws included in this act protected the aboriginal people from discrimination and compulsory land acquisition. They also created new legislation to circumvent the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976.
The government went on a media frenzy at the time, proclaiming boldly the state of a national emergency. The media circus was headed by PM John Howard and the former Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Mal Brough, who declared on ABC Radio that "Every single one of these communities has a number of active pedophiles in them". A statement that turned out to be a blatant lie. Following three formal police investigations, a number of 7,433 children where checked for signs of sexual abuse, of which only four children showed any sign that they may have been abused.
The government came in with promises to improve medical facilities and education and childcare, bringing in with them a budget of 672 million dollars to spend on building these new facilities and more houses for people to live in. What they didn't tell us is that the communities are being bribed. The government is refusing to build houses and infrastructure unless the lands that the aboriginal people had won back from 1976 onwards , and after "Terra Nullius" was overturned in 1992, is handed over to the government on a 40 year lease. They are being forced to give away their homelands and their rights in the name of a handful of cheap demountables. Quite a number of communities have been essentially forced to give up their land rights, such as the Guliwinku people in Arnhem Land, who signed off the rights to their land in exchange for a promise of 50 new homes, which the government later downgraded to 15. As of yet, no homes have been built for them, and in actual fact the number of homes built for the 73 indigenous communities of the NT is less than ten all up. Meanwhile, over 75 homes have been built for the police and federal forces who have assumed control of the communities.
Conditions in these settlements are still very grim. Alcohol and drug use is still rampant, and old ways are getting lost to the ugly side of westernised culture. Australia is the only "civilized" country yet to have eradicated the blindness-causing eye infection trachoma. Other diseases and infections are widespread, especially among the kids. Diabetes is also at staggering levels due to processed food and soft drinks sold at the shops in the communities, which by chance happen to carry the highest prices for groceries of anywhere in Australia. We are a rich country, and yet we hide the third world in our backyard. Australian indigenous life expectancy is the lowest of all global indigenous peoples, being some 17 years less than that of Australian white people. Child mortality rates are three times higher than that of white Australians also.
More and more aborigine families are being forced into these settlements from their traditional homelands and healthy age-old lifestyles as the government forces them out to make way for mining projects to dig up more uranium to provide for the obviously retarded nuclear industry. It seems uranium is worth more than the livelihood of these people, more than their freedom. This is what this whole thing is really about, and it's so blantantly obvious and contemptible it makes me sick. Where is the TV media on this one? No surprises actually.
I just cannot believe that this is still happening in this day and age, where our government claims things like "a land of opportunity", "equal rights", "justice", "freedom". Bullshit and hypocrisy. It's the same racist fucking system as it was when the constitution was made back in 1900. Even after the Mabo case, and giving them the right to own land and vote and saying "sorry", our Aborigines are been faced with what can only be described as genocide. Their situation continues to get worse. Australia is the only Commonwealth country without a bill of rights or a constitution for the rights of the people. Some democracy, hey?!
Still we take their land and their dignity and their way of life, forcing them to live in filth and poverty in mission camps at the fringes of our highly civilized lie. Out of sight, out of mind, out of the way so we can mine. Because, fuck it. Human rights don't fill the coffers and keep an economy strong do they? We must ensure that those numbers stay green so we can call ourselves brilliant world leaders and responsible economists. Look how smart and strong we are! Yes! Go Australia! Ah yes, Growth! Prosperity! Yay Capitalism!
Yet who exactly is prospering from all this? Sure as hell isn't those poor bastards whose land they steal, that's for sure. Is it You, or Me? No. Well, maybe. Spare a little caviar for the locals wont you, ERA and Rio Tinto? It's the least you can do.
Below is a documentary called "Our Generation". It is ESSENTIAL viewing for every single Australian. Please watch it.. Follow the link below. Watch it, show your Mum, tell your pals. Do it.
http://thoughtmaybe.com/video/our-generation
http://thoughtmaybe.com/video/our-generation
http://thoughtmaybe.com/video/our-generation
http://thoughtmaybe.com/video/our-generation
http://thoughtmaybe.com/video/our-generation
I'm Sorry.
Generation One.
TREATY
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