Dr Djiniyini Gondarra and Rosalie Kunoth-Monks

By Chip Henriss

United First People’s men and women gathered in Melbourne last month to speak out against the Federal Government’s Stronger Futures document.

The document was produced by the Gillard Government and is an extension of the largely discredited Northern Territory Intervention undertaken by the Howard Government.

The group, which represents people within the prescribed areas in the Northern Territory under the Intervention, said the report created further anger and frustration.

Uniting Church Minister Rev Dr Djiniyini Gondarra OAM read a statement with Rosalie Kunoth-Monks OAM before a crowd of journalists and members of the public.

“We have been through a horrific four years. We are Australian citizens. We’ve been traumatised; our children have been traumatised as well,” Ms Kunoth-Monks said.

“I’m not here for anybody’s entertainment. I’m here for the survival of my language and of my culture and of certain human beings that have been targeted, horrifically targeted by our government.”

One of the chief complaints by those living under the Intervention was the absence of any commitment to bilingual learning programs.

Measures to punish parents whose children failed to attend school were also seen as a short-sighted negative approach rather than rewarding families whose children attended regularly.

“Today we are making this statement so that you the people of Australia will witness what we’re saying,” Dr Gondarra said.

“Blanket measures have been central to the Northern Territory Intervention and have been the source of much distress.

“Where there are problems, they must be addressed on a case-by-case basis and preferably with the assistance through the appropriate community channels.”

Another complaint was the methods undertaken by the Minister for Indigenous Affairs Jenny Macklin to consult with communities.

“There are elders in every Aboriginal Nation invested by the authority of the majority. These are the people with whom Minister Macklin should be negotiating, rather than with the chosen few, as has been her habit,” Dr Gondarra said.

The statement noted that since the Apology by then-Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, “the level of incarceration of Aboriginal men has increased three-fold; our families are being punished for failure to attend a foreign school design; our capacity to govern our own lives has been totally disempowered; Aboriginal youth suicide rates in the Northern Territory are higher than anywhere else in Australia and our people have been demonised, labelled and branded.”

The full statement can be read at: http://www.concernedaustralians.com.au/

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4. Our own back yard Forgetting the intervention By Chip Henriss
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