National Emergency thoughts

The Howard/Brough plan to actually do something about the abysmal Indigenous problems has certainly taken Rudd’s union problems off the front page and the blog world is awash with opinions and attacks. The Left are screaming and as usual are very strong on criticism but offer no answers of their own. PATERNAL…A WEDGE…TAMPA 2007…BANDAIDS…TOP-DOWN IMPOSED AUTHORITASIANISM are just a few of the screams. A common cry is “why now Howard?” suggesting it’s all about the election year but maybe it’s all about the plan being subsequent to a report that emphasizes the problem. Medical anthropologist Gregory Phillips, claims it’s all about uranium.

What Howard really wants is to destabilise Aboriginal communal rights to land and to get easy access to the NT’s uranium.

The debate at Larvatus Prodeo underlines why nothing has been done since Whitlam and Nugget Coombes thought up the outstation plan that hid the problem and denied solutions. Over at Surfdom “military involvement” translates as “martial law” in left-think, conjuring up images of soldiers with rifles standing guard against grog runners and recalcitrant locals. I think you’ll find the Army will be used for repairing and/or building infrastructure and it’s been my experience that soldiers and locals establish a good relationship when they’ve been used previously. Medical checks for STDs. There is concern about medical checks for all kids under 16 with TigTog questioning if they will also be checked for other maladies. Of course they will and to suggest otherwise is to insult the professionalism of the medicos involved. A problem of sexual abuse was identified by the recent report. How the hell are we going to even start to fix the problem if we don’t quantify and subsequently treat it? Permit Entry. Ken Parish at Club Troppo and others claim the cancellation of the permit system for entry to Aboriginal townships will open up the communities to white predators. I have never agreed with the permit system since it’s inception – I think it hides the problem. Let the police handle predators and grog runners and give unfettered access to tourists, the media, the police and bureaucrats. My eyes were opened when I went into Arnhem Land and visited communities under the auspicies of Gallowray Yunupingu. I learned a lot about their problems from one of his wives and from my own general observation. I also learned a lot about the causes of these problems. Let’s stop hiding the problems. Grog. A comment at Club Troppo

Howard tonight on Lateline said something like “We know what the root cause of this is, it’s alcohol.” That’s it right there: a boxed-up Easy Pack human solution and a complete inability to understand the Aboriginal spirit and what is really the root cause of their utter heartbreak, and all of that – sick and impoverished as his best humanity is – running a vast sunburnt expanse behind his political need.

We’ve spent too long trying to understand the root cause of their utter heartbreak. Two weeks ago I spoke to a thirty something-policeman who had just finished a tour at Doomadgee. The best time he ever had there was when the grog couldn’t get though due to the wet season. The town turned functional – the policemen’s lot revolved around actually being able to police the community for the community’s benefit and not just stopping fights, sending kids and woman off to a hospital or being on the lookout for grog runners. When the grog could get through it was a nightmare. No point trying to understand root causes when the people are drunk all the time. Stop the grog for a while and and then reason can function. ‘If you stop the grog they’ll just go elsewhere’ is a common call and fair enough. I’ve seen it myself but I’d bet next weeks army pension that the people who are going to be involved are well aware of that and will include it in their plan. There is plenty of evidence that dry communities” aren’t really dry and that determined drinkers can always find a way to circumvent regulations but that doesn’t mean we stop trying to dry them out. As no plan survives contact with the enemy then nitpicking of the original plan without offering alternatives is pointless. The lesson is, when confronted with a problem do something and adjust as other problems arise. To do nothing just doesn’t cut it.