SOLIDARITY Position Paper 03/07/07

Howard’s “re-invasion” of Indigenous communities

Howard’s dramatic announcement of the emergency of sexual abuse in Indigenous communities and his radical plans to occupy communities with military and police personnel has provoked outraged response from Indigenous communities and others who see this policy for what it is, more land-grabbing and vilification of Indigenous people by a Government with an outrageous track record in Indigenous affairs. From his attacks on Native Title, to his refusal to acknowledge the Stolen Generation and say sorry, to the destruction of ATSIC,

Howard’s twin policy mantra of “practical reconciliation” and “whole-of-government” approach has in fact been a twin process of dismantling self-determination and community control over land rights, and a failure to supply basic services and support to address the outrageous inequalities in health, education and employment faced by Aboriginal people. This latest attack is a massive intensification of the punitive tactics the government has always employed.

The ‘emergency’ response: stealing land and taking control

Howard and Brough announced their ‘national emergency’ plan for Indigenous communities after the release of the “Little Children are Sacred” report, though it became increasingly clear that they had failed to take on board any of the recommendations of this report and were announcing radical policy changes based merely on the information contained in their inflammatory press release. The report emphasises that there is “nothing new or extraordinary in the allegations of sexual abuse,” but that what was new was the media and government frenzy surrounding those issues when they surfaced in the Mutitjulu scandal in 2005. The report showed that the way media and politicians had responded at this time and since had actually created further barriers to addressing the issue of sexual abuse, deeply offending Indigenous people and silencing the voices of men and women trying to address these issues in constructive ways.

Howard’s plan includes banning alcohol from the occupied territories for six months with a ban on the sale, possession, transportation and consumption of alcohol, despite the fact that many of the communities in question are already dry. Health checks for evidence of sexual abuse, including physical examinations, were initially announced to be compulsory for 23, 000 children under 16 across NT, however the national outcry over this invasive and ineffective method has since forced Abbott to concede they should be voluntary. Fifty per cent of welfare payments will be ‘quarantined’ by the Government to ensure they are spent on food and other essentials. The Commonwealth Government will “take control” of 60 communities through five year leases to “ensure property and public housing can be improved”, sending in police and
miliary personnel to carry out their policies. Elected councils will be ousted and the Federal Government will appoint manages for all government businesses in communities. Permits allowing Indigenous people to decide who is allowed in their communities will be all but abolished.

Howard’s history of racism and land-grabbing

Howard’s claims to be the only one responding to a crisis are all the more outrageous in view of his government’s track record on Indigenous affairs. The myriad of reports into Indigenous community health and violence issues conducted over the last 20 years have had many of the same fundamental recommendations, including the need for a recognition of the effects of the Stolen Generation, and the massive social, economic and political disadvantage of Indigenous people which needs to be immediately addressed, all of which the Howard Government has failed to implement. In 2005 Mal Brough made basic community services contingent on signing over land on 99 year leases. In November 2006, $10 million worth of public housing was withheld from Wadeye community in NT until a 99 year lease was signed. In the Tiwi Islands, $10 million for secondary schools was withheld for a 99 year lease.

What has been abundantly clear throughout Howard’s time in office is that the biggest threat to Indigenous children is malnutrition and poverty, yet the Liberal Government’s response has been to withhold basic services to struggling communities in an effort to erode the power of the Land Councils and cut funding to health and education programs.

Indigenous communities fighting back

Aboriginal people have made numerous state and federal appeals about sexual abuse and domestic violence over the last two decades. One such report was tabled in 1999 by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Task Force on Violence in Queensland, comprehensively detailing such violence. The solutions set up in this document for the “immense task ahead” were ignored by government to such an extent that the authors actually resubmitted the report, asking “Is anybody listening?”.

In the wake of Howard’s announcements of military and police deployment, communities across Australia have held meetings and are organising protests to challenge these political attacks and military occupation of Indigenous land. Jacqui Katona, an Indigenous women from the top end of NT and a long time campaigner against mining, has labelled these measures the “re-invasion” of Indigenous Australia. The community of Mutitjulu responded by pointing out that their community has been under the direct control of the Minister for over two years, and that services had actually declined in that time. Since the Minister took control, Mutitjulu have had no doctors, less health workers, their council has been sacked and all their youth and health programs cut. They point out that the Government has known about their housing and health problems for 10 years and has failed to take any action. They are calling for funding and support for their basic services, and continuing to demand real solutions to problems of violence, alcohol and abuse, including counselling and support services which are currently non-existent, and which are completely ignored in the Governments new plans. Leaders in the Mutitjulu community have asked, “What will happen to alcoholics when this ban is introduced? How will the government keep the grog runners out of our community without a permit system?”

Amoonguna, the seventh community to face occupation in the Government’s campaign, today refused to allow military and police forces to enter their community until the 350 residents had a chance to meet and discuss exactly what was to be involved and whether they wanted to participate.

Over the years, the Liberal Government has consistently ignored these demands and repeatedly called forums and discussions instead of taking action, failing to implement the resolutions of inquiries such as the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, the Bringing them Home Report, and the Road Map to Reconciliation. When Howard first came to power, he cut $400 million from Indigenous health programs. In 2006, Senate Estimates showed that of the $37 million allocated to family violence programs after the Prime Minister’s roundtable in 2003, only about $5 million has actually been spent. Howard has recently rejected calls by Oxfam and NACCHO to increase health spending by $450 million in order address the massive discrepancy in living standards and death rates of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.

Underlying the debates about sexual abuse and remote communities has been a demonisation of Aboriginal people and culture, as Indigenous people have been positioned either as helpless victims or perpetrators, held “hostage” to a culture that “locks them in disadvantage” and is inherently abusive, according to Minister Brough. In moves reminiscent of the Hanson years and in the mode of the drastic WorkChanges legislation, Howard is employing a “scorched earth” policy to radically implement his conservative agenda. With the threat of an election loss looming, Howard is attempting to shift the ground of debate and policy to the far right and enact far-reaching changes in the lives of Indigenous Australians. Howard and Brough are pushing the buzz words of ‘gambling, alcoholism and welfare dependency’ with an eye towards the marginal seats of Queensland as the key to an election win.

Militarising politics - rolling out the nuclear agenda.

Howard has been clear he wants to open uranium mines and a massive international nuclear waste dump in the NT. The Land Rights Act which gives Indigenous communities some real say over development of their lands has long been an obstacle to Howard's push for untrammelled access for government and mining companies.

This is the agenda that lies behind, what some Aboriginal leaders have called, the "re-invasion of the Northern Territory." Troops and cops on the ground will no doubt help to intimidate opposition within Indigenous communities to his radioactive agenda. It will also give greater leverage to the Federal Government in disputes with an 'obstructionist' Territory authority which continues to speak out against Howard's plans.

Opposition by traditional owners was the cornerstone of a campaign which stopped uranium mining at Jabiluka in the late 90s. In the opening years of this century it was Aboriginal resistance spearheadeding the "Iranti Wanti" campaign which buried moves to open a waste dump in South Australia. Years of struggle for land rights have won a limited ability to control land, preserve it and use it in the interests of communities.

The Liberals have recently attempted a number of manoeuvres to undermine land rights. Changes to the 1976 Aboriginal Land Rights Act introduced into parliament last year redefine land tenure and introduce 99 year leasing provisions, grant unprecedented power over land councils to the federal Minister for Indigenous Affairs, and extinguish certain land rights claims in the Territory.

There have been numerous examples where the Government has withheld vital public funding to pressure communities to lease the land. Most recently and notoriously, an isolated group of traditional owners around the Muckaty station area in NT were promised $12million for basic services in exchange for allowing explicit plans for a nuclear waste dump to go ahead in the area.

However, the depth of opposition to the nuclear cycle existent in essentially every other community across the NT has seen a national speaking tour by traditional owners campaigning against the Muckaty Station dump proposal. One of the traditional owners Audrey McCormack, Athenge Lhere, spelled out what is at stake for the Aboriginal community, "I live just 5kms from the proposed dump… we go hunting there, we go for our bush tuckers".

'Pacific Solution'

The use of federal police and the military bears a startling similarity to the kind of interventions the Howard government has used in Australia's neo-colonial occupations of Pacific nations.

Shane Castles, the former AFP officer and Solomon Islands police commissioner for the Regional Assistance Mission (RAMSI), was hand picked by Howard to lead the task force overseeing operations in the NT.

Under Castles the Solomon Islands' political system was systematically restructured to allow direct control by the Australian Government over the judiciary, police and economic institutions. Castles has now been replaced by Major General Chalmers, formerly responsible for overseeing Australia's intervention in Aceh. Chalmers has said that he expects the occupation of Aboriginal lands to continue for years. So-called humanitarian use of the military has paved the way for a similar intervention against Aboriginal communities. In much the same way, recent anti-terror laws have given the government much wider powers to use the army in domestic situations.

In the NT the committee nominated by Howard seems set to establish an extensive administrative apparatus and assume responsibility for a large number of functions currently performed by the NT Government or other local authorities.

Military Power and APEC

Central to Howard's posturing at APEC will be the promotion of nuclear power as a "solution" to climate change. Announcing to the world Australia's ability to export large quantities and uranium and store the resulting waste grants a serious lever in trade and geo-political negotiations. Howard wants an enrichment capability to put Australia as a central player in the US plans to control the merging nuclear states. It will also position Australia itself closer to the possibility of producing nuclear weapons. "Opening up" the Northern Territory will give Howard greater claim on his ability to deliver.

The current attack on Indigenous communities demands action from progressive social movements. There is every reason for Stop the War and Nuclear Free and climate change coalitions to build links of solidarity with Indigenous resistance and mobilise for the upcoming rallies on July 14.

The response coming from community organisations, NGOs and many indigenous leaders is incredibly heartening. However, a coordinated political response is seriously lacking. The ALP, despite the repackaging under Rudd, have demonstrated once again their "me too-ism" on questions of race and "national security" which cost elections under Beazley.

Aboriginal people, suffering from years of dispossession and institutionalised racism, are set to be bulldozed off their lands and poisoned by Australia's nuclear power. Resistance to these moves remain crucial for all who want to see the back of Howard, and an end to racism and war.