JOIN US AS WE CALL FOR THE RIGHT OF ABORIGINAL PEOPLE TO DETERMINE THEIR OWN FUTURES
WHEN: Noon, Tues 28th February 2012
WHERE: Lawns of Parliament House, Canberra
Newsletter date: 10 February 2012
Flyer: http://stoptheintervention.org/uploads/files_to_download/Past%20Events/C...
Paddy Gibson: paddy.gibson@gmail.com
Website: http://stoptheintervention.org/
STAND FOR FREEDOM
NO MORE NT INTERVENTION
MORATORIUM ON INCOME MANAGEMENT
The Stronger Futures legislation threatens to extend key parts of the NT Intervention for 10 more years. It will extend income management across Australia. Funding to healthy homelands is being cut, and vital community employment programmes are being shut down.
These policies are against the wishes of Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory and organisations across the country.
The day will include:
* Aboriginal Representatives from the NT, including Rev. Dr. Djiniyini Gondarra
* Aboriginal elders from Bankstown, Sydney
* Dr. Falzon, CEO St Vincent de Paul Society National Council of Aust.
Plus live music by special guests, food & refreshments and a FREE outdoor screening of the award winning documentary, Our Generation.
Initiated by: Stop the Intervention Collective Sydney (STICS), Our Generation,
Say No to Government Income Management Coalition
STAND AGAINST MACKLIN'S DECADE OF DISCRIMINATION - STOP THE SECOND INTERVENTION!
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.
Help us organise the Feb 28 rally.
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!
More info:
Paddy 0415 800 586
Mon 0415 410 558
www.stoptheintervention.org