My good friend Bohemian Rhapsody is up in the Northern Territory experiencing the changes that are going on following the Government's radical and highly suspect intervention to curb child sexual abuse in indigenous communities. She has been there since the intervention was suggested, and now, long after the issue died away in the local press, she's still there and she emailed me today.
It's easy to forget things when you're removed from their immediacy. I'll admit to having not thought about it for a while, but after she emailed me I decided to make a start. Thoughts are only thoughts until we give them voice through action.
If you want more information on this issue you can find it here at the Australians for Native Title and Reconcilliation site.
What follows is my email my MP Ms Nicola Roxon. I urge you to do the same. Find your MP here at the AEC website.
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Dear Ms Roxon,
I'm angry but not surprised at crisis-whore John Howard.
I'm writing with deep concerns and misgivings about the Government's paternalistic response to the Little Children are Sacred report. I'm writing with the hope that the Labor party has the courage and wisdom to uphold basic human rights in this situation, and to advocate for intelligent and comprehensive solutions to the problem.
The logic behind much of the proposals highly is suspect and defective, flying in the face of both recommendations that arise from both experts in the field as well as the lessons learnt from general world history.
Prohibition didn't work for the Americans in the 1920s and they didn't have to contend with the complex cultural issues that exist for indigenous Australians. Does John Howard have his nose so deep into the backsides of the Americans that he cannot remember this?
I hope that the vision of the Labor party is not so clouded.
The proposed changes to strip away the permit system and land titles from Aboriginal communities makes me wonder about the last time I saw a nasty land title wander out of a filing cabinet and beat up a poor unsuspecting indigenous child.
Oh wait - wait, I remember when - it was in the Dark Ages, when using logic and reason got you burnt at the stake, or hung.
The other thing I want to touch on is the fact that there will be provisions exempting this legislation from the Racial Discrimination Act.
You know that if this happened to any other ethnic group, particularly any that might reside within your electorate, there would be widespread outrage.
The remoteness of the indigenous communities involved means that exposure of this issue is limited and I will be the first to admit that I only know about it because I have a friend who is in the Northern Territory on the ground, in the field, experiencing it firsthand.
I paraphrase my friend in saying that the Government's actions violate the principles of democracy and fairness this nation is meant to be built upon. Any emotional connection to the Aboriginal people notwithstanding, I cannot stand by a Government that employs myopic problem solving skills that sacrifice basic ethical standards.
In closing, I hope the Labor party can serve as a vital check against this madness. Have you and your colleagues read the Combined Aboriginal Organizations proposed plan?
http://www.antar.org.au/content/view/491/1/
Thanks for your time. Yours in good faith,
Dr David Mai
MBBS BSc(Med)
Western Health Footscray
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2 comments:
remember how at adam hills, he said - i get john howard now, he's a grumpy old man.
yep, he's a grumpy, old white lawyer who became prime minister. and on the way conservative WASP values got firmly cemented in him.
it's nuts that all these years of research and what about stuff like colonization, the patriachy, relativism etc... all out the window. we're going back in history dave, back to the good ole dark ages boy.
screw everything we ever learnt about seeing it from the otherside. the whiteside is the right side.
I have to say, that as an outsider who doesn't know the issue at hand (I'm from Canada), your letter appears to be useless ranting.
At no point did you say what the problem is that your friend is seeing 'on the ground', what the perceived cause is and what a possible solution could be.
Personally, I only started to read this because I was moved to hear about the suffering of real people. Instead, you never mention what's happening, you just say ridiculous things like that people were killed in the dark ages because they used logic–a ridiculous concept to the extreme–then you spend the rest of your time throwing insults around.
I just think that if this is an important issue it deserves a better effort. You're writing because you are sensitive to the suffering of others right? Then why do you write as if you're an angry ranting jerk? Can you imagine if you were an MP and had to read letters like this all day?
I'm guessing you wouldn't stick your neck out in parliament based on letters like this.
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