From Yuendumu to Alice Springs back to the toxic policies of The Intervention

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: Musical Dispatch from the Front
From:    "Yuendumu Mining Company NL"
Date:    Tue, September 14, 2010 10:44
To:      "undisclosed recipients>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Friends,

When I was in Melbourne a young man from Yuendumu was fatally stabbed at "Warlpiri Camp" in Alice Springs. He passed away a few days ago. Yuendumu is in turmoil, people are sad, angry, afraid, bewildered, but above all sad. Once more Yuendumu's social fabric is being torn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFQyLYzbV-o

Bob Marley said

How long shall they kill our prophets

While we stand aside and look

But little did he know that

Eventually the enemy

Will stand aside and look

While we slash and kill

Our own brothers

Knowing that already

They are the victims of the situation

On October 18, 2007, Lucky Dube was killed in the Johannesburg suburb of Rosettenville....

We live in a Democratic society. Whenever we rail against Government policies we are assuaged by being told that we will get our chance to express ourselves at the Ballot Box.

Well, Australia did, when Kevin 007 was swept into power. The vanguard of the NTER (the Intervention), John Howard and Mal Brough, both lost their seats. We were ecstatic. The Apology to the Stolen Generations was truly
inspiring, too bad that it turned out to be just another political stunt.

At the recent election the Northern Territory "bush" expressed itself loud and clear. Swings of 60-70% against the incumbent Warren Snowdon.

Jennocide Jenny has been re-appointed the Minister responsible for Indigenous affairs. Strong objections from such as the AMA (Australian Medical Association) have fallen on deaf ears.

On last night's Lateline (ABC TV) health Minister Roxon had this to say about Warren Snowdon's reappointment as Indigenous Health Minister:

"...We do know that Warren has a very established relationship through his electorate being in the Northern Territory and from his history working in indigenous health and housing and elsewhere..."

Not a word about Snowdon being a fellow traveler of the Intervention and having amongst other things destroyed WYN Health (Wirliyajarrayi, Yuendumu, Nyirpi Health), a body set up to increase local participation and autonomy
in relation to health matters.

As for our message through the Ballot Box, Nicola Roxon is either unaware of it or pretending it didn't happen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cjXewP8kcI

Frank



This email came to me through Marisol Salinas.  Links to text (not the YouTube links) have been included by Miss Eagle. Miss Eagle is sad and sorry for all concerned in this dreadful incident.  She supports the sentiments of this email.  

~~~~~~

If people living on the urban fringes of the continent think the policy of Intervention by the Howard, Rudd and Gillard governtments is acting to include Aboriginal citizens in a wider society on a just, equitableand economic basis, then they need to think again.


The Northern Territory Emergency Response, the Intervention, or the Rudd-Gillard version of Closing the Gap or whatever name is given to this toxic, failed policy is not succeeding and never could succeed.  


This policy was imposed on Aboriginal people and communities without consultation.  Many of these people and communities had never done anything to warrant such imposition.  The policy struck and continues to strike at one of the most authentic parts of the human condition - the right of the individual and the community to its own self-determination.  


Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory are living under prescription and proscription and these factors alone bring their own range of ills.  


If for no other reason than that this policy is a huge waste of taxpayers money with substantial amounts of it going into whitefellas' pockets, Australians everywhere need to rise up against this policy.  And that's before we begin to talk about the elements of this policy that are about to be inflicted on wider Australian society on a much larger scale.  An Aboriginal social laboratory to-day, policy for all Australians to-morrow.

Please work to have The Intervention stopped now.  

Please demand that Aboriginal people everywhere be accorded 

the rights, protections, and responsibilities of Australian citizens.