Successive Australian Govts have introduced life-changing policies for Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory resulting in frustration and the re-introduction of whitefella paternalism. Time for Treaty - yeah!

 ‘In the Absence of Treaty’

 December 2013

‘In the Absence of Treaty’ defines how, through changes to legislation and by engaging Aboriginal peoples in decision-making without access to independent advice, control is slipping away from them.

This book explores the current inadequacy of the processes used in engaging Aboriginal people. The Australia government has continued to blatantly ignore the recommendations of its own committees in this regard. 

For anyone wanting to explore more deeply the reasons for the ongoing and growing frustration of many Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory, In The Absence of Treaty provides a concise but incisive account from recent reports. In doing this it hints at possibly the only solution – treaties.

.  Please go here for an Order Form

Northern Territory Intervention revisited - along with more children stolen from their parents

Picture from the Remote Indigenous Gardens Network

Before the Intervention, before all the work stopped in our community, I used to work as a nutritionist at the Family Centre. But there’s nothing here now any more.
We used to provide food and I would encourage all the young mothers. How to look after their kids, how to make sure [the children] were fed healthy food. But now it’s gone, we never got an explanation why.
It’s hard for the young mothers now. If their little babies don’t put on weight for two or three weeks, they’ll be taken away from their mother’s arms by welfare.
I’ve seen it. It’s really sad for me because when I was working here I used to encourage them. Now they get no encouragement. There’s just a report typed into the computer for welfare.
For Aboriginal people, this thing is coming back for us. Stolen Generation. Taking kids away from own mother.
And that’s really sad. It’s really no good. It’s not just happening here, it’s happening everywhere in our communities.

This testimony is from a strong Aboriginal woman in a remote community in the Northern Territory. It was given in the spring of 2011 when her people were preparing for a festival and protest. She had worked as a nutritionist, a vital service in a poverty-stricken community where raising children is a daily struggle. Cuts to the Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) program closed the service down. The cuts began with the Northern Territory Intervention.

Please read more here

Looks like an intriguing watch on 4C on Monday night: PNG, corruption, 457 rorts, and money laundering in Oz

Preying on Paradise

By Marian Wilkinson and Lisa McGregor

Posted September 19, 2013 16:50:00

(Photos by Louie Eroglu, Four Corners)

Monday 23 September 2013

A businessman in Papua New Guinea is accused of taking millions of dollars for government work that has never been completed. He is charged but released on bail. Then, using an Australian issued 457 Visa, he comes to this country and avoids justice, telling authorities he is too sick to travel back to PNG.

Crime fighters in Papua New Guinea say this type of behaviour is all too common:

"Their families are down in Australia and their property is down there. They gamble heavily in Australian casinos, they bring money from Papua New Guinea down to Australia. And the evidence is in - they use Australian bank accounts to launder PNG corruptly-obtained money."

Next on Four Corners, reporter Marian Wilkinson travels north to investigate the extent of corruption in Papua New Guinea and the apparent failure of Australian officials to play their part in tracking down stolen money. She speaks with the Prime Minister, Peter O'Neill, who tells her he's determined to stamp out behaviour that is undermining his country's future.

"Some of our own ministers have been investigated as we speak. Nobody has been protected by this government and I can assure you that we are committed to this fight that we have started..."

But how far does this commitment to stamp out corruption extend?

The Prime Minister of PNG has just announced the next stage of an ambitious plan - creating new laws that would bring the massive Ok Tedi copper mine into a financial trust that would control the country's key national assets. The Prime Minister tells Four Corners this will minimise the possibility of corrupt behaviour. Others warn this move is ill-advised and could, in fact, raise the risk of money being syphoned off.

"The danger could be that if the team decided that they really wanted to look after themselves, rather than the broader interests of the nation, they could do extremely well for themselves and the nation could be severely short-changed." Paul Barker, PNG Institute of National Affairs

Australians have a vested interest in stopping corruption in Papua New Guinea. The reality is that corruption there is indirectly costing Australian taxpayers millions of dollars. Each year the Federal Government delivers over $500 million in aid to our northern neighbour. At the same time corruption fighters in PNG claim 25 per cent of their country's budget is lost in detectable fraud. In effect, the aid sent north is being used in part to subsidise basic services when the PNG budget is being swindled away.

"I think Australia should really focus in helping us to combat corruption and to show the seriousness start repatriating proceeds of crime that are deposited in Australian bank accounts..." Sam Koim, Head of PNG's 'Task Force Sweep'

"Preying on Paradise", reported by Marian Wilkinson and presented by Kerry O'Brien, goes to air on Monday 23rd September at 8.30pm on ABC1. It is replayed on Tuesday 24th September at 11.35pm. It can also be seen on ABC News 24 on Saturday at 8.00pm, on ABC iview and at abc.net.au/4corners