Differing views to Mick Gooda's claim of the cause in the rise of intra-racial violence.

by Gerry Georgatos Aboriginal and Torres Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Mick Gooda has released statistics in his Social Justice and Native Title reports that there is an increase in serious violence within Aborginal communities. Mr Gooda said, "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities face many challenges and sadly some of the divisive and damaging harms come from within our own communities."

WA Nyungar Elder Ben Taylor said, "It is not right to blame our people for what has been done to them. (Non-Aboriginal Australia) has been killing our peoples for two centuries, and they haven't stopped, to this day they are still doing it. Look in our prisons what is happening."

Human Rights Alliance spokesperson Natalie Flower said, "I agree with Mr Gooda that we must all be on the alert to any violence and in his imputation that we must work towards a civil society however I disagree in his indictment of Aboriginal peoples as divisive, this happens in all cultures, look at the world over, this is a poor rationale by him and deflects from what the real causes are and what must be done."

Ms Flower said, "The causes are acute and abject chronic poverty, inter-generational, and the only remedy and surety to eliminating high levels of domestic and intra-racial violence are to allow Aboriginal peoples to thrive, and therefore our governments must eliminate their abject and acute poverty by funding everything necessary to do this."

Broome based Aboriginal rights advocate Sofia Mirnyinna said, "Those who divide us are those who talk to us about being divided. Mick Gooda has to stop blaming Aboriginal peoples for what others have done to us and start raising his voice and lay the blame where it belongs, to the Australian government. I am sick and tired of hearing about feuding and differences, this is not the root of our peoples' problems."

Mr Gooda described statistics that showed rates of serious violence remained high in Aboriginal communities. In NSW, Aboriginal peoples are murdered at 4.5 times the rate when compared to non-Aboriginal peoples, sexually assaulted at 3.7 times the rate, and grieviously assaulted at 3.3 times the rate. It is worse in the Northern Territory, where it is 5.2 times the rate for assault and 2.5 times for sexual assault, and that offenders are usually known to the victim having come from family or from a close community circle.

Mr Gooda said that lateral violence which he describes as 'institutionalised colonialism' is also part of the problem - and includes gossiping, bullying, shaming, social exclusion, family feuding, organisational conflict and physical violence. He said it happens in Aboriginal families and communities and in Aboriginal organisations and damages the hopes of the advancement of Aboriginal peoples.

"Although it has its roots in our history, it thrives today because power imbalances, control by others, identity conflict, negative stereotypes and trauma continue to feed it," he said
Ms Flower said, "That type of compartmentalised rationale is blinkered, and Mr Gooda needs to look around at every other culture on this planet and stop laying this type of angst on Aboriginal peoples. The news media listens to people like Mr Gooda and he needs to be more careful in what he puts out, he influences the thinking of journalists and readers. Fix the problems and don't create more with these stereotypes. Mr Gooda's language at this time can be argued as inadvertent intra-racial discrimination."

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) released the 2011 Human Index report on November 2, in Copenhagen, which describes Australia as second in the world, out of 187 countries, in quality of life, social wealth, public health, education and political freedom. The report's lead writer Jeni Klugman said, "Most of the world has seen dramatic progress since 1970. Average life expectancy has risen from 59 to 70 years..."

Former New Zealand prime minister and UNDP chairperson Helen Clarke attributed any failures to political mismanagement. Though Australians in general are among the world's wealthiest and advanced peoples, living to 81 years of average, Australia's Aboriginal peoples, 2.3% of the total population, live between 57 to 66 years on average, and a significant majority are impoverished with a dramatically disproportionate myriad of health issues. The United Nations Periodic Review 2011 has advised the Australian government that these inequalities need to be addressed and in a manner that does not lay blame upon the victims.

Ms Flower said, "Rich countries have grown faster than poor ones during the last 40 years and the UNDP Human Index evidences this, with Australia one of the fastest growing economies but Australia is a paradox - it is wealthy beyond the dreams of most of the world's nations however has kept poor its Aboriginal people, who are less than 2 and half percent of the total population. It has the wealth but doesn't do what it should."

Amnesty International Secretary-General Salil Shetty slammed Australia's failure to provide basic services to Aboriginal communities. He condemned the government for blaming Aboriginal peoples for their plight and for their disproportionate portrayal of intra-racial problems and which were misused to coordinate the Northern Territory Intervention.
In October, Mr Shetty visited the Northern Territory and visited Aboriginal communities such as Utopia to witness first-hand the effect that government policies have had on the lives of Aboriginal peoples. Mr Shetty said, "What I saw was just devastating. The fact that people are living with no running water, toilet, shower and electricity in one of the richest countries in the world is completely unacceptable." He said that despite 20 years of research which provides evidence of the benefits of living on Traditional homelands, around 500 homeland communities are being left to wither as the government starves them of essential services. This leads to a breakdown of societal structures.

With the Northern Territory Emergency Response legislation expiring mid 2012, Amnesty has called upon the Australian government to end its policies of exclusion in homelands. Mr Shetty said, "If the Government is serious about ‘closing the gap’, it needs to lift its game and fulfil its international obligations to homelands communities, where there are proven benefits that families are happier, healthier and stronger. To avoid a repeat of past failures, the Australian Government also has to ensure any future strategies aimed at tackling Aboriginal disadvantage in the Northern Territory are owned and controlled by the people they affect.

Ms Mirnyinna said, "Mick, and others, have to take a leaf out of their own book of advice, and stop putting down Aboriginal people, and stop finding blame in the victims. Doesn't he get it that he is doing what he says others are doing - he too is shaming us, gossiping about us, and bringing on the negative stereotypes and more trauma. It doesn't help."

Australia is ranked number 2 on the United Nations 2011 Human Index - however Aboriginal peoples languish.

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has compiled rankings of 187 countries according to their wealth, education levels and life expectancy.

Australia is ranked second in terms of the human development index and social wealth however Australia's Aboriginal peoples continue with some of the world's worst life expectancies, and the disparity between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians beggars questions of federal and state government policies which according to some United Nations committees and experts smack of overt neglect, discrimination and racism.

Earlier this year United Nations High Commissioner, Navi Pillay slammed Australia's racism towards its Aboriginal peoples, the policies that have led to overt government authority into the lives of the Northern Territory's Aboriginal peoples, and the maltreatment and indefinite detention of Asylum Seekers. Mrs Pillay, a South African, commented that Australia's racism smacked similar to that of Apartheid South Africa.

This year, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the United Nations Periodic Review have both forewarned Australia of the need to improve relations with Aboriginal peoples, to allow for self-determination and to remove discriminatory policies from practice. They argue that not enough is being done to reduce the disparity between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. Subsequent Amnesty and internal government agency reports have produced distinctively similar lament.

According to the United Nations Development Program human development index,* released in Copenhagen, November 2, Australia is the second best country in our world, after Norway, for getting rich, for learning and for health. Australians were rated first in non-income related measures such as life expectancy even though Aboriginal Australians live much less than the rest. Australians rated highest in terms of mortality rate of women giving birth and in terms of Australian's general satisfaction with life however for non-Aboriginal Australians this is not the case. When it comes to statistics and medians, Australia's Aboriginal population, less than 3% of the total Australian population is subsumed by the 97% and clearly indicts a negligence of Aboriginal peoples that for Australian governments are now hard to explain away.

The international index rated Norway at the top, followed by Australia, the Netherlands, and the United States, and then New Zealand at fifth. 187th was the Congo. Many of the nations ranked between 80th to 120th have better life expectancies for their peoples than do Australia's Aboriginal peoples.

*Takes a while to download because it's 5.6 MB

gerry_georgatos@yahoo.com.au
0430 657 309