Graeme Mundine, Executive Director of the Aboriginal Catholic Ministry, Sydney Archdiocese, has lamented the Senate's passing of the Stronger
Futures Legislation on Thursday evening (28 June). "This is a sad day for all
Aboriginal people in Australia and it is a sad day for democracy," Mr
Mundine said.
"The Stronger Futures legislation has now passed through both Houses of
Parliament despite comprehensive opposition from Northern Territory
Aboriginal Nations, community groups, Churches, welfare groups and others.
More than 43,000 people have signed a petition and more than 450 submissions
were made to the Senate inquiry. International Human Rights bodies have
criticized the legislation and countless letters have been sent to
Parliamentarians. Most importantly, Aboriginal people have made it clear
that issues can be better addressed through respectful partnerships rather
than through racist and discriminatory legislation.
"Civil society has played its part in our democratic process, but Government
and Opposition Parliamentarians have failed in their responsibilities. They
have ignored the voice of the people and pushed their own ill-informed and
racist agenda.
"Djiniyini Gondarra and Rosalie Kunoth Monks said in a statement this week
that if the Bills pass "it will be a day of mourning for all Aboriginal
peoples. This legislation will be the cause of great suffering in our
hearts". I share their pain as do so many other Australians, both Indigenous
and non-Indigenous, who have stood up for what is right. I say to everybody
in the Northern Territory you are not alone we feel immense sorrow about
this injustice and we won't give up.
"We may have lost this battle, but we will continue to seek justice. Even if
our domestic law and Parliamentary process fails to protect us Australia has
obligations under International Law and is signatory to several human rights
conventions. We must hold our Government accountable to those Conventions.
We have been fighting for our rights for over 200 years and we will continue
to fight for our rights for however long it takes," Mr Mundine concluded.
Dr Gabrielle Russell-Mundine
Research and Project Coordinator
Aboriginal Catholic Ministry
Sydney Archdiocese
PO Box 121
Alexandria NSW 1435
M: 0407 133 904
T: 02 9698 4265
Other initial responses
Indigenous leader Dr Djiniyini Gondarra from east Arnhem Land and Rosalie Kunoth Monks from central Australia have jointly declared a day of mourning for Aboriginal people following the passing of the laws.
"For those of us living in the Northern Territory the anguish of the past five years of intervention has been almost unbearable," Dr Djiniyini told AAP.
Greens senator Lee Rhiannon said Labor was trashing its proud history in indigenous affairs, particularly the goodwill from former prime minister Kevin Rudd's apology and Paul Keating's Redfern speech.
National Congress of Australia's First People spokeswoman Jody Broun was disappointed the government did not allow a parliamentary committee to subject the laws to a human rights test.
Australian Lawyers Alliance national president Greg Barns said the Stronger Futures laws were further disenfranchising indigenous communities.
Comments
It's indeed a sad day in the Territory today...
From: "Redman, Chris (Sen R. Siewert)"
Date: 29 June 2012 8:37:22 AM AEST
NT wakes to sad news after Intervention laws pass the Senate
The Government and Coalition have united to push the Stronger Futures
legislation package, expanding the NT Intervention, through the
Senate.
Senator Rachel Siewert said today that it will be a sad day for
Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory waking up to the
news.
“The continued commitment to the interventionist approach in the
Northern Territory is a commitment to punitive and largely unproven
measures, developed on the back of a flawed consultation process.
“When we failed in our attempt to vote down this legislation, the
Greens sought to remove some of the most harmful aspects of this Bill,
such as Income Management and SEAM, but we did not receive the support
of the other parties.
“We also moved to ensure better consultation in the future by adding
provisions to the legislation. The consultation process used in the
development of this legislation has been heavily criticised, and our
amendments were designed to make a positive contribution to the bill.
“We also acted to reduce the length of the legislation from ten year
to five years, but again, the Government and Coalition turned their
backs.
“The body of evidence from individuals, communities, welfare
organisations, health services and academics gives us the basis for a
better, smarter and fairer approach to improving outcomes for
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but the other parties
remain sadly unwilling to take this path.
“A minor concession from this debate has been the adoption of a review
after three year, rather than seven years.
“The Greens will not a day pass without closely scrutinising the
operation of this legislation and we will continue talking to
communities about how best to deliver the outcomes they want,” Senator
Siewert concluded.
Chris Redman
Media & Communications Adviser
Senator Rachel Siewert
Australian Greens Whip & Senator for WA
GreensMPs.org.au
M: 0418 401 180 P: 08 9228 3277
Education, training in life skills, jobs, health the only way
It is almost impossible to believe that in 2012 banning alcohol and income
management for the next 10 years can even be considered as suitable tools to
make inroads into the disadvantage of Aboriginal people.
It is shameful that a Labor government is prepared to adopt such a
contrived, racist approach which will not work. This is just a pathetic
attempt at a cheap fix.
The only way forward is to commit the necessary funds to provide genuine
opportunities for improvement in education, training in life skills,jobs,
health etc.
Hope is what's needed not further degradation.
Laurie.
Things just keep getting more and more difficult
Things just keep getting more and more difficult. There's still hope, though.