Australia: Labor moves to shut down remote Aboriginal settlements

Working Future, announced by the NT government on May 20, seeks...to force the estimated 10,000 Aboriginal people living in some 580 remote “homeland” settlements into 20 special settlements or so-called “economic hubs”. The homeland communities have been defined as “non-viable”.

In reality, Working Future is aimed at clearing the way for mining, pastoral and tourism interests at the direct expense of Aboriginal communities.

Henderson declared that the hubs would be successful only “if private businesses can get secure tenure on Aboriginal land”. Private investors, he said, would be given security of land tenure and generous tax incentives. All of the hubs are located on traditional Aboriginal lands and government funding is conditional on traditional owners and land councils signing long-term leases in favour of the territory government.

Federal indigenous affairs minister Jenny Macklin congratulated the NT government for driving “fundamental reform” and then announced that the Rudd government would compulsorily acquire 15 town camps on the fringes of the central Australian city of Alice Springs...Currently managed by Tangentyere Council, a local Aboriginal body...

Labor’s acquisition of the camps sends a clear message to Aboriginal communities, including those in the “economic hubs”, that they will receive similar treatment unless they conform to government dictates. Macklin declared the acquisition was not temporary or under a 40-year lease, but “forever”.

Macklin ordered the acquisition because Tangentyere Council refused to sign over a 40-year lease to the government in exchange for federal funds for new houses, repair and maintenance of existing dwellings, road upgrades and some infrastructure...

The Laynhapuy Homelands Association, which manages outstations in Arnhem Land, denounced Working Future as another crime against Australia’s indigenous population. Association official Waturr Gumana told ABC radio: “The stolen generations—this is happening again. People are going to be taken out of their homes and we know what they are doing. The government only wants the dollars from our land. And our kids, our people who will be taken back to the main communities ... history is going to repeat itself.”




http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/jun2009/abor-j27.shtml

Nothing more.. nothing less.

Memo to other readers- the situation involves funding and improving services and living conditions for Aboriginal peoples- and thoroughly misrepresented here.

Macklin delays town camps takeover
Posted June 4, 2009 11:34:00


The Federal Government has had to delay its plan to compulsorily acquire Aboriginal town camps in Alice Springs.

The Indigenous Affairs Minister, Jenny Macklin, announced she would take control of the camps on July 6 if the Tangentyere Council, which currently manages the camps, did not agree to a 40-year lease deal worth $100 million.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/04/2589104.htm


yes, it's always "for their own good".



Takeover of Aboriginal Land marks Opening of Reconciliation Week
Media Release

Intervention Rollback Action Group




Takeover of Aboriginal Land marks Opening of Reconciliation Week

Today Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin marked the opening of Reconciliation Week by announcing that Alice Springs town camps will be compulsorily acquired. The announcement has been met with outrage by town camp residents. The move comes after Tangentyere Council, acting on behalf of town camp residents, rejected a 40 year lease deal which precluded all Aboriginal control and management of camp housing which would put decision-making and resources into the hands of Territory Housing.

The community housing model proposed by Tangentyere Council and the ability of residents to have input into housing management has been flatly rejected by the government. The community housing model was to be run by the Central Australian Affordable Housing Company, which Minister Macklin helped establish in March last year but has now been rejected in favour of a government takeover.

http://wgar.info/2009/05/25/takeover-of-aboriginal-land-marks-opening-of-reconciliation-week/

The United Nations expressed concern over the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act, writing to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in March 2009 following a complaint made to the UN by a collective of Aboriginal communities.

In order for the Federal government to implement the Northern Territory Emergency Response, suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 was required making it legal to force communities to sign over control of Aboriginal land in 5 year leases, prohibit alcohol consumption and distribution in Aboriginal communities, control spending patterns through income management and store cards and take-over Aboriginal service-providers.

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1027847/What-is-the-Northern-Territory-Intervention

The tricky deal there involves the disbursement of welfare payments so that an appropriate percentage is spent essential items such as food and clothing, etc.

A quote from Indigenous Affairs Minister Macklin in this regard



One proposal is to have Centrelink have a review and "certification" sort of process in place for disbursement of funds- and make it consistent with the act, so that income management isn't used across the board. Another proposal being considered is to make it voluntary- and though it's questionable how effective that would end up being, it's considered by some to be a likely outcome of a court challenge once the act is put back in place.

These are difficult issues- and not easily given to pigeonholing.

That's your credible source.

lol

The Rudd government has been in negotiations for some time now- and the policies are aimed at IMPROVING conditions in Aboriginal communities. And as alway, there's a LOT of local, regional and national politics going on (that you fail to grasp).



Further details:




In addition, the Rudd government is lifting the Howard government's suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act- which is a tricky matter, considering that it bears on alcohol and income management through Centrelink. If you knew the first thing about the situation you'd realize that these are serious and systemic problems affecting the health and welfare of entire families and communities.

They can say it's for "improvement" all they want, this is what they're doing:

"The council has knocked back a commonwealth offer because the deal requires it to relinquish rent control and sign a 40-year lease which it labels as a land grab. Ms Macklin said she was determined to compulsorily acquire these leases."

But as usual, I am blown away by your lack of basic respect for EVERY damned body. Why you feel the need to be so rude and condescending, particularly as you've been in Australia for all of five minutes even though you act like you've been here forever and know what's going on, I don't think anyone will ever understand.

Hannah, unfortunately depadik has a point. I think your source may be a bit questionable. I have not come across this in any of the papers here. But I'll definitely keep my eyes open as this is an area of particular interest to me.

to call me names & label wsws "propaganda".

I post from it every night just to piss them off.

As for the reliability of wsws: I've found they're usually correct as to the facts, & their articles are typically taken from mainstream media sources (msm), sometimes augmented by on-the-spot interviews. Their spin: that we must all vote for the SWP & build the rev, I don't take seriously.

However, I do find the reporting on their website decent & useful.

They report news interesting from a labor POV v. the POV of capital, & report news I'd otherwise miss if I relied on the msm (since the points are often buried in msm reporting).

Case in point: you're apparently australian, interested in this area, yet you've not heard of it. Yet it's been in the papers.


Here's some msm links for you: June 19

http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-national/nt-intervention-anniversary-end-it-20090619-cnn8.html

Indigenous people from more than 20 remote communities and major towns, including Alice Springs and Katherine, have converged on Darwin for protests to be held on Saturday.

"I'm travelling long way up to Darwin to join forces with other Aboriginal people, leaders, elders, men and women," said town camp resident Barbara Shaw.

"Intervention measures have caused dispossession, confusion, fear and disempowerment ... (they) have not improved child safety nor reduced rates of sexual abuse."

Meetings of the Prescribed Area Peoples Alliance (PAPA) were held this week in Darwin and the leaders have scripted a statement they hope to hand to NT politicians at protests on the eve of the anniversary.

Their key concerns include the compulsory acquisition of Alice Springs town camps and the "paternalistic and racist" income management system, whereby 50 per cent of welfare payments are set aside so it can't be spent on grog, drugs or gambling.

They also oppose NT government plans to scrap bilingual education in remote NT schools and a controversial homelands policy which seeks to turn 20 communities into "economic hubs", while denying additional funds to a further 500 smaller outstations.

More:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/29/2611102.htm

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25636330-2702,00.html

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/04/2589104.htm


I appreciate your cordiality. always ready to discuss issues politely with those whose first response isn't ad hom.

I didn't realize that something other than a simple reporting of a news story was occurring in this thread.

All too happy to leave you all to it and to keep my peace henceforth.

myself the redbaiting.

i just think it's funny they do it so predictably.

i linked you to the msm sources.

check them out & see if you find errors in the wsws report.

regarding the personal aspersions, my guess is that comes from a beef on another thread.

As it happens, I've spent a bit more than 5 minutes over the past several years. Indeed, we were on the lawn of Parliament at Canberra for the Apology to the Stolen Generations in February, 2008- so it may be that I take some interest in the complex issues involved here as well.

and were one to go through the history, one would find *you* were first with the ad hom in every case.

here, mr. sensitive:

Indigenous people from more than 20 remote communities and major towns, including Alice Springs and Katherine, have converged on Darwin for protests to be held on Saturday.

Meetings of the Prescribed Area Peoples Alliance (PAPA) were held this week in Darwin and the leaders have scripted a statement they hope to hand to NT politicians at protests on the eve of the anniversary.

Their key concerns include the compulsory acquisition of Alice Springs town camps and the "paternalistic and racist" income management system, whereby 50 per cent of welfare payments are set aside so it can't be spent on grog, drugs or gambling.

They also oppose NT government plans to scrap bilingual education in remote NT schools

and a controversial homelands policy which seeks to turn 20 communities into "economic hubs", while denying additional funds to a further 500 smaller outstations.

http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-national/nt-intervention-anniversary-end-it-20090619-cnn8.html

:eyes: