Bishops and lawyers slam land seizures and restricted payments as racist

CATHOLIC bishops have questioned the need to seize Aboriginal land as part of efforts to tackle child abuse, saying the Howard Government push could lead to “cultural annihilation”.

The bishops say that among their concerns about some of the Government’s emergency response measures are that they are racially discriminatory, and a link between land tenure and child welfare has not been established.

The federal Government will take control of land for five years, during which it will promote the use of 99-year leases in an attempt to push economic development and private home ownership in the Top End.

The Law Council and the Northern Territory Police Association also raised opposition to the land seizures yesterday.

The bishops called on the Government to implement the recommendations made in several reports, notably Little Children are Sacred, produced by Rex Wild QC, a former NT director of public prosecutions, and Pat Anderson a month ago.

“The Government needs to demonstrate why action to address child abuse in Aboriginal communities requires amendments to land rights and self-government legislation,” they said in a statement yesterday.

“Talk of mainstreaming calls to mind the following warning about the dangers of ethnocentricity: The rejection of differences can lead to that form of cultural annihilation which sociologists have called ethnocide.”

They said placing restrictions on welfare payments for all parents in remote Aboriginal communities, while elsewhere applying them only to irresponsible parents, was racially discriminatory and counter-productive.

“It would appear to breach the Racial Discrimination Act and Australia’s international law obligations,” the bishops said.

Northern Territory Police Association president Vince Kelly told The Australian that the Government’s plan to abolish the need for people to obtain permits to enter indigenous communities would not reduce child abuse.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough has argued that the system could be protecting criminals, but Mr Kelly said police were at present able to enter any community where a crime was suspected to have been committed.

He said the Government had failed to explain why the permit system needed to be abolished. “What’s the connection, and I’m confused as to why this is being tied into dealing with sexual violence against women and kids,” he said.

Tim Bugg, president of the Law Council of Australia, said there was no evidence to support a link between the permit system and child abuse or drug trafficking. The council was also opposed to the land seizures.

“We regard the compulsory acquisition of land as an extreme measure which conflicts with the fundamental rights to land ownership,” Mr Bugg said. “The Law Council can see no relevant explanation for compulsory acquisition of Aboriginal land on the scale currently proposed.

“There seems to be a significant risk that the special measures proposed could well breach the Racial Discrimination Act.”

Source: Patricia Karvelas

~ by jeditopcat on 8 November, 2008.