Any rights they would have previously enjoyed under the Land Rights Act to “free, prior and informed consent” about sub-leases would no longer apply. “Bolkkime ngarri-bekkan manekke kun-wok!”-“That’s the first time we have heard/understood this information.”
And so to the here and now. In 2014 we again have a coalition government in Canberra. The self-proclaimed ‘Prime Minister for Indigenous Affairs’ has emphasised his commitment to fixing up the constitution so that Indigenous people have a proper place in it, and in the nation. I’m not a constitutional lawyer, and there are aspects of the recent constitutional reform debate which have struck me as somewhat arcane.
The term ‘rivers of grog’ was seized upon by the media and Mr Brough. Unfortunately, the impression that seems to have taken hold down south was that the place where the rivers of grog were flowing was in remote Aboriginal communities.The intended outcome of the leasing program was the more-or-less permanent Commonwealth takeover of Aboriginal community land.
Child sex abuse is only one aspect of child protection. General child neglect and associated social dysfunction was the underlying problem which could have, and should have been focussed on by Mr Howard and Mr Brough. By using paedophilia as the emotive hook for their PR campaign, they indiscriminately and irresponsibly labelled the male population in remote Territory communities as predators of the worst kind. That was the second, again almost immediate, negative impact of the Intervention declaration.
Despite poverty and marginalisation, there was a spirit of defiance and pride amongst the Elliott mob. The slogan from the previous year’s anti-bicentennial – ‘we have survived’ – had continuing resonance. There was respect for the endurance and fortitude of the many former stockmen who lived in the town. Through their skill and discipline they had earned a limited degree of autonomy, despite working for white bosses, and they had managed to maintain culture and ceremony under difficult conditions.
"This is just bullshit; it’s all gone backwards. Everything goes to Tennant Creek (headquarters of Barkly Council). We want to get Elliott going again, but Tennant Creek just shoots us down in flames," Councillor Ray Aylett.
When we see dangerously naïve or misguided non-Aboriginal crusaders running around hurling emotional Molotov cocktails willy nilly into the flammable undergrowth of community perceptions and politics, I believe it is sometimes necessary to turn the fire prevention hoses onto them.
How the north was won - Alison Anderson and Matthew Cranitch got the CLP over the line in Blain.
Unlike me, she was Aboriginal. And unlike me, as we exited the bottle shop, she was stopped by the police officer stationed at the door, who conducted a mini-interrogation. Name? Address? Where are you taking this carton?
"If ever I've met a racist group of people, I've met them in the Country Liberal Party," Alison Anderson, 2014.
