FOUR days after the Government launched its promised 12-month review of the Northern Territory intervention, the program’s chairwoman has declared the radical measures a popular success, especially with women in the Territory’s indigenous communities.
“While I appreciate that a lot of people were opposed to the NT emergency response, either as a package or in part, I would urge you to read what women and some men in the communities are saying about how it has changed their lives,” Dr Sue Gordon, whose tenure ends on June 30, told the Sydney Institute last night.
She said that controversial human rights breaches inherent in some emergency measures paled in comparison to the damage done to indigenous children over decades of neglect by governments.
“I know personally from my own experience of working full-time on the ground over these past 12 months in some of the most remote communities in Australia, and seeing the complete neglect of basic services, and hearing the stories. I am glad that this once-in-a-lifetime major funding program has gone into the NT to benefit Aboriginal people in the prescribed communities and town camps.”
But there remained a long way to go before the gap between indigenous and other Australians would be closed.
Despite results on the ground there are still minions of the left who are whining about the “rights agenda” surely practical improvements for women and children trump such concerns every time.
Cheers Comrades
Filed under: Australian Politics, Domestic life, Education, Ethical questions, Federal politics, Indigenous Issues, Political Correctness, Racism | Tagged: NT intervention
