FEDERAL government plans to combat abuse in the Northern Territory do not address the causes of child abuse and instead attempt to introduce control over the lives of Aboriginal people, a Catholic social justice worker said.
Edmund Rice Centre acting director Zeena Elton made the comments after the Government last week seized control of 60 Northern Territory Aboriginal communities as Prime Minister John Howard declared the problem of child abuse a “national emergency”.
The intervention, which involves bans on alcohol and hardcore pornography, welfare restrictions, increases in police numbers and compulsory health checks for Aboriginal children, followed the release of a damning Little Children are Sacred report on the abuse of children in the region.
“We are dealing with children of the tenderest age who have been exposed to the most terrible abuse from the time of their birth, virtually,” Mr Howard said.
Ms Elton said there was no question that leadership and urgent action was needed to combat the sexual abuse of children, however, the creation of a new “Super Mission” in Northern Australia was not the solution.
“The Federal Government’s plans don’t address the root causes of child abuse and instead attempt to introduce an alarming level of control over the lives of Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory,” she said.
Ms Elton said governments for the past two decades had repeatedly ignored the recommendations made by both indigenous and non-indigenous inquiries into violence faced by Aboriginal people in communities.
“What is alarming is that the Federal Government appears to be using this horrendous situation as an opportunity to implement its own ideological goals and agenda,” she said
The Little Children are Sacred report placed enormous importance on consultation with Aboriginal people and the need to address a whole range of longstanding issues faced by Aboriginal communities.
Darwin’s Bishop Ted Collins warned against adopting a “bullyboy” approach and called for consultation with indigenous people.
