Interim conclusions from a PhD researcher in Australian Deaths in Custody

my friend, gerry georgatos' contribution here shows and explains quite clearly why we need a national death in custody coalition or whatever name it will finally be known as. i doubt if there was ever a term for 'national' in our languages but perhaps there was a term for 'unity' or 'interconnected' or a term that meant 'inter-tribal'. all you language speakers out there perhaps could pass the word back to me.

reading and listening to gerry's piece raises the need to not only restrict ourselves to the deaths in custody of aborigines and torres strait islanders but we must also be aware of all deaths in custody of all peoples within the custodial systems of this country and that must include deaths in custody of asylum seekers in the detention camps set up by federal governments who have lost their way in the issues of human rights.

again, as gerry points out, we need to go beyond just deaths in custody. we must also look squarely at the social justice situations in these custodial systems. we must raise our abhorrence to a system that allows young (under-18) indonesian crew members on the boats arriving in australia to be placed in adult gaols. these crews are not the so-called 'people-smugglers' so hated by governments and other xenophobic racists. these crews are from the desperate indonesian poor and, i would argue, really know nothing about the consequences of their actions except that by their standards they are well paid to crew the boat.

we must remember, as i have so often said, the asylum seekers and their crews have not broken any laws. if they have indeed broken an australian law then it is a bad law and bad laws must always be broken and fought against. everywhere. apartheid was a bad law and it was fought against internationally. segregation in the usa was a bad law and that too was fought against. the nt intervention is a bad law and must also be fought against. it is the unalienable right for people to flee persecution or death in their own countries. that is international law and has been accepted and was signed by the federal government of the time.

during the term of malcolm fraser as prime minister (1975-1983) he welcomed the vietnamese boat people despite, or perhaps because of, most having had some form of collaboration with the usa during the vietnam war. some others undoubtedly were fleeing communism and that too is their right. whether or not malcolm may have presumed they would probably vote liberal is beside the point. he honoured australia by allowing them to take up residence here. all other prime ministers since fraser have erred badly, from hawke to gillard.

if our federal government wants to stop the boats then the answer is easy. hire a cruise ship, go to indonesia and load up and keep doing that until the camps are empty. no more 'people-smugglers', no more sinking boats, (although that never worried howard and his psychopath ministers. remember siev x?), no more world opprobrium. we get good solid middle-class people (being the only ones who can afford to pay the exorbitant fees) and mostly small business types and the economy bounces back. makes sense to me.

but as usual i digress.

in one report of gerry's post there is mention made of a 15 year old indonesian crew member who is in an adult gaol working with sex offenders in the gaol laundry. and why is this youth in an adult gaol? because the authorities do not believe he is 15. they obviously know nothing of an indonesia that works children every day of the week. despite the billions of dollars the indonesian government receives from our governments (because they are many and muslim and must be kept on side) and the usa (to stop the advent of a socialist state) none of this money of course trickles down to the workers and peasants. same as all that 'aboriginal money' we never see.

during the above juvenile incarceration it became headlines here that a 14 year old white australian boy had been arrested for having cannabis on him. our media were outraged that the indonesian authorities would hold a 14 year old in their custody. (a la chapelle corby). our government sprang to attention and following the lead of the verbal vomit made known to indonesia that this was not on whilst quoting no doubt the correct un declarations. what hypocrisy! they have several youngsters from indonesia locked up in adult gaols for breaking no law whilst our 14 year old had to have special treatment in indonesia. again, what hypocrisy!

but this only proves gerry's point that we must be vigilant of the legal excesses our governments perpetrate against not only its own citizens but against other nationals as well. we must make australia proud once more of its stand for human rights at home and abroad.

i especially recommend the music clip at the end of gerry's post on hurley/doomadgee.

fkj

ray jackson
president
indigenous social justice association

isja01@internode.on.net
(m) 0450 651 063
(p) 02 9318 0947
address 1303/200 pitt street waterloo 2017

www.isja.org.au

we live and work on the stolen lands of the gadigal people.

sovereignty treaty social justice

Ray,

Nobody I spoke to was outraged at the treatment of a "14 year old white australian boy". Except may be those from the Open Borders Brigade, they were bleating by far the loudest of the injustice of the treatment of this boy and then in the next sentence comparing it to the treatment of people smugglers in Australia whose age is unknown. To the Open Borders Brigade it was just another opportunity to make their point. But for me, by all accounts most of the people I spoke to or heard from thought that the "14 year old white australian boy" was very, very lucky to get off as lightly as he did.

It is clearly evident that like every other problem introduced into Australia by Europeans, as every Aboriginal person cognisant with tradition knows, the cause of Australia's horrific deaths in custody record and "ill-conceived and damaging" Emergency Response and Stronger Futures legislation is male privilege, in particular the imbalance of male power in the administration of prisons and government services, and the entire justice system, sourced from Australia's parliaments and constitutions. But don't expect a PhD candidate or a community justice organisation presided over by men, however well meaning, to reveal the truth because university faculties and their boards of directors, and a bias towards male leadership, are similarly persuaded.

I must say I am a fan of your work on this site. I am a fan of this site and its work. Gerry, you have a way with with writing, with words and you often hit the nail on the head. Your decision to publish your research findings on this site deserves much respect and I for on I appreciate what you are bringing to us.

The trauma you describe is saddening and every reason why it would be best to avoid mandatory detention and to end the Intervention.

With regards, Sally

It's just atrocious that children spend time in adult jails, what have we dropped down to.

Why the hell is the NT Intervention being kept on when what is being said is not the case and what is being done there is not doing any good but making things worse?

Ray,

Really sure even you can see the problem with:

"if our federal government wants to stop the boats then the answer is easy. hire a cruise ship, go to indonesia and load up and keep doing that until the camps are empty. no more 'people-smugglers', no more sinking boats, (although that never worried howard and his psychopath ministers. remember siev x?), no more world opprobrium. we get good solid middle-class people (being the only ones who can afford to pay the exorbitant fees) and mostly small business types and the economy bounces back. makes sense to me."

How many of the worlds 15 million refugees and 40million plus displaced people do you want in Australia?

How many of the worlds 5 billion poor do you want in Australia?

Where are they going to live, in what part of Australia?

Who is going to pay for their housing?

Where are they going to get jobs?

Who is going to pay to build the infrastructure that they need?

Please recognize that Australia does have a limited capacity to absorb refugees and displaced people. An open invitation to the people smugglers will only see that capacity exceeded. Sending ships as you suggest will only see hundreds of thousands and possibly millions of people descend on Indonesia in the hope of getting accepted into a high average income country such as Australia. But Australia now has a massive budget deficit that in the future will see large reductions in government spending and reductions in government services. Not only this, with the coming of peak oil (read cheap easy to get sweet light crude) building the housing and infrastructure that these people need will become increasingly more expensive and more difficult over the coming decade.

The Human Rights of non Australian Citizens is very important but it should not trump everything. In today's world an Open Border Policy like you propose won't be very good for Australia or Australians, whether Indigenous or otherwise.

Excellent work Gerry - have you submitted the work you have done to government? I think the senate committee could have benefited from your work though I do not imagine anything could have altered the powers that be. There is more to what's going on that caring about people, there are profits involved, mining profits but I'll be thought loopy like Helen Caldicott!

It is clearly evident that like every other problem introduced into Australia by Europeans, as every Aboriginal person cognisant with tradition knows, the cause of Australia's horrific deaths in custody record and "ill-conceived and damaging" Emergency Response and Stronger Futures legislation is male privilege, in particular the imbalance of male power in the administration of prisons and government services, and the entire justice system, sourced from Australia's parliaments and constitutions. But don't expect a PhD candidate or a community justice organisation presided over by men, however well meaning, to reveal the truth because university faculties and their boards of directors, and a bias towards male leadership, are similarly persuaded.

philip

"We have never had a successful prosecution into deaths in custody in 30 years where there have been 2056."Bullshit Gerry Carl Williams died in custody and there was a successful prosecution there have been many others.

Gerry, I think you are very correct about trauma and that at some point there is no longer the option of any recovery from it, and I think you are correct that this explains Aboriginal prison rates and their suffering in poverty. I think you make a lot of sense about so many things.

Thank you,

In solidarity, Simone

unfortunately Gerry is not some government listens to, he is the type that they run from, he is too smart for their dumb arses

Gerry there is hope when there are people like you, Ruth

http://indymedia.org.au/2012/03/22/%E2%80%98genocide%E2%80%99-risk-in-br...

we need him calling the shots

You've explained things real well Gerry in such a short byte

we need the likes of ya brother

moorditch

You are a great man Gerry

My hat off to you, power to you my good man

Louie

Publish your thesis online when you have finished many of us would like to read it, it will do more good online and accessible than on a book shelf! Power to you Gerry

Matt

PM's staffer did not act alone: report

By Lisa Martin, AAPUpdated February 1, 2012, 3:02 am

A federal government source has contradicted Prime Minister Julia Gillard's statement that a former staffer acted alone when he passed on information to a third party that led to a security scare at an Australia Day event, an indigenous newspaper says.

The National Indigenous Times (NIT) reported on Wednesday that an unnamed source, described as holding a "senior position within government bureaucracy", had told it a number of people within Ms Gillard's office knew beforehand the "leak" was going to happen.

The explosive report, which has not been confirmed, comes after a protest on Thursday at The Lobby Restaurant in Canberra sparked a security scare involving Ms Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.

Gillard media adviser Tony Hodges resigned on Friday, after making an "unauthorised phone call" about the whereabouts of Mr Abbott to indigenous ACT union official Kim Sattler, who passed on the information to Aboriginal tent embassy organisers.

"The federal government source said Mr Hodges did not act alone, that others in his office were aware of what was planned and the intention behind the call, and those who were aware may have included the Prime Minister herself," the page three report by Gerry Georgatos says, according to an extract seen by AAP.

About 200 protesters had headed to the restaurant angry at what they mistakenly believed was a call by Mr Abbott to remove the embassy from its site outside Old Parliament House.

As the protest escalated, Ms Gillard's security detail advised that she leave.

She was bundled down some steps, losing a shoe and almost tumbling, and rushed to a waiting car, with Mr Abbott running close behind.

Ms Gillard has since said Mr Hodges "acted alone" and his actions were "grave error of judgement".

"Mr Hodges, in taking these actions, acted alone and his actions were not authorised. Clearly they are viewed by me as unacceptable," she told reporters on the weekend.

The incident at The Lobby has been described as the worst political security scare in 30 years.

According to Ms Gillard's account, she did not know about Mr Hodge's involvement until late on Friday afternoon after attending an awards ceremony at Flowerdale in country Victoria.

Mr Hodges had informed his superiors - the senior press secretary and communications director - about his actions and her office spent the day investigating.
The federal opposition has called for the Australian Federal Police to investigate the events leading up to the security scare.

trauma, the trauma is yes brutal my good brother, Gerry you are a good friend to all people, my respect to you my brother

trauma, the trauma is yes brutal my good brother, Gerry you are a good friend to all people, my respect to you my brother

http://www.4zzzfm.org.au/news/audio/2012/mar/23/trauma-prisons-dententio...

it's a bit sad that senate inquires come years after the event, in some cases never, but those years after like the immigration ones now the writing was on the wall years back as gerry points, who listens, not enough at the beginning

wow gerry you dig into the heart of things

its a sad state when you write so well and others still don't get it, speaks volumes of the ignorance you fight

fiona