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Stand for Freedom!
Stand against Macklin's Decade of Discrimination - Stop the Second Intervention!
Members of the Stop the Intervention campaign in Sydney and the 'Say No to Government Income Management - Not in Bankstown Not Anywhere' committee will travel to Canberra to join representatives from 'prescribed' Aboriginal communities in the NT and national human rights organisations to voice our outrage at the extension of the intervention. Confirmed speakers so far include Rev. Dr. Djiniyini Gondarra and Dr. John Falzon, CEO St Vincent de Paul Society.
Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory legislation currently before parliament would extend the NT Intervention for a further ten years. Explicitly racist laws, which vilify Aboriginal people & culture are being kept or strengthened including:
* “Star Chamber” powers held by the Australian Crime Commission for investigations in Aboriginal communities, including removal of the right to silence.
*Prohibition of consideration of Aboriginal customary law and cultural practice in bail and sentencing.
* Blanket bans on alcohol on Aboriginal Land, despite consistent opposition from the Aboriginal Peak Organisations of the NT (APO NT) who have said, “The decision regarding alcohol restrictions should be for relevant residents to make… The principal effect of these widely flouted laws has been to further criminalise and alienate many residents”.
* Increases in penalties for possession of alcohol on Aboriginal Land, including 6 months potential jail time for a single can of beer and 18 months for a 6-pack.
* Blanket bans on “sexually explicit or very violent material” on Aboriginal Land. These restrictions serve no purpose other than the perverse stigmatisation of Aboriginal men.
* Continued suspension of the operations of the permit system in communities
* Complete Commonwealth control over regulations in Community Living Areas Proposed amendments to the Social Security Act will see further attacks on the rights of Centrelink recipients. These measures will initially be targeted at NT Aboriginal peoples, but have national implications, especially in areas such as Bankstown where Income
Management is being rolled out:
* An expansion of the School Enrolment and Attendance Measure (SEAM) means chronic school attendance problems could see families cut off certain Centrelink payments entirely.
* Staff from any nominated organisation will have the power to order people onto Income Management in the same way that Child Protection agencies currently do.
* Staff from nominated government agencies will be able to pass on information about clients to Centrelink, even if doing so contravenes State or Territory law.
* Income Management will follow you even if you move out of an Income Management area.
The Stop the Intervention Collective Sydney (STICS) is working with campaigners in Bankstown and the NT to organise a major rally in Canberra on Feb 28, when the new Intervention and Income Management legislation is set to be debated in parliament.
We need your help to make this rally a success!
www.stoptheintervention.org