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Whilst the Northern Territory’s Chief Minister and the Federal Minister for Aboriginal Affairs are doing all they can to deny responsibility....

Whilst the Northern Territory’s Chief Minister and the Federal Minister for Aboriginal Affairs are doing all they can to deny responsibility for the shame that is Aboriginal Australia, it is their patronage of the very political system that is mandated to address this nations issues (that has subsequently failed our indigenous peoples and led us all into disgrace and humiliation), that allows this unspeakable shame to occur. Claire Martin and Mal Brough both must in the final wash-up, be accountable.

As can be clearly seen by the behaviour of these two senior party politicians, they are more concerned with protecting their own privileged position and defending the citadel than confronting the issue at hand. Instead of acting with the dignity, compassion and intelligence that this situation calls for, we the Australian community are left to hear once again the squabbling, name-calling and gross accusations that have become the common fare of politics in this country. It is repugnant in the extreme to hear especially the Chief Minister defend frankly what most would, I hope, consider the indefensible.

To hear the Chief Minister insist that there is "just not enough money", that we lack the financial capital to address the problem, that we cannot afford to provide even a rudimentary level of police presence in all aboriginal communities to ensure that law and order is upheld. This, Minister is repugnant and offensive in the extreme. That the rights of all Australians to be protected by the laws of this country doesn’t just apply to the non-indigenous community.

Tax receipts from the so called "minerals boom" alone have multiplied considerably in recent years and revenue into all Federal, State and Territory governments is increasing massively as we speak. Add the probable export of uranium to the list and the federal coffers are bulging. This country is awash with funds, with financial capital, with money. And yet I hear a senior politician, indeed a Territory leader, insist that there is not enough money so that the government can provide law and order to indigenous communities. Ms Martin’s government has at best been exposed as one of "selective inertia", in that is seems capable, somehow, of ignoring up until this point in time one of the most profound human rights issues this nation has faced. And the matter is right there on her door-step; it sits squarely, in the jurisdiction of her government. (One reason enough that the Chief Minister must resign.)

Private wealth in Australia via massive profits from a record share market and a "housing boom" have grown enormously over the past few years and yet at the same time the health status of indigenous peoples continues to decline in a real sense. That their social systems strain and groan under the weight of lawlessness at a time of such profligate public and private prosperity must surely shame us all. And surely also must demand that even the most rigid among us, the most ideologically driven, the most narrow-minded begin to sense that something is seriously remiss here.

In front of our very eyes a situation is growing, a contemporary issue of manifest moral proportions is hurtling out of control to become a tragedy so great that future generations will struggle to answer to the international community as to why in such a wealthy nation, such diabolical despair can exist. A situation that is a gross humiliation will be handed to the next generation of Australians from the current one, that lacked the compassion to bring the issue to brook.

Our federal government is running a massive budget surplus at present, we literally have more money than we know what to do with it. Consider also that the federal government does still in a very real sense have some direct responsibility in regards to funding Territory governments in this country. The Howard government is charged under the charter of Australian government to provide funding streams into Territory communities, both Indigenous and non-indigenous.

So there is an enormous budget surplus on the one hand and a huge need for the provision of law and order, health, education, social services among other things in aboriginal communities on the other and yet the funds do not flow, why? Just what is this intransigent bulwark that blocks this provision of essential funding? What is it apart from apathy that continues to support catastrophe?

I put it to the public of Australia that it is the insidious two-party political system once again that is culpable in this act. It is indeed the very nature and structure of our political system that is the primary buttress that pushes against the necessary flow of social support to indigenous Australia. With a Liberal Federal administration and Labor Territory and State administrations we, the people of Australia, are once again presented with the time-honoured scenario of blame shifting, abuse, rhetoric, vitriol and verbal nonsense that constitutes the sum of this nations political dialogue. Australia’s two major political parties have honed to perfection, the hectoring and badgering of each other, at the expense of their designated task. That is, to keep government honest and find a consensual way forward. Seems pretty much like "pie in the sky" stuff these days, a distant dream of the way things should or cloud be.

If it was not so tragic a circumstance it would be almost laughable to suggest that any nation, let alone a self professed progressive one like Australia should support such facile behaviour from our leadership and such unfettered sponsorship of their ills from the community. There is no room for progress under our two-party state. It simply cannot happen.

The impasse in reconciling the rightful position of aboriginal Australia clearly demonstrates this. The ideological gulf that supposedly use to separate the two parties has narrowed significantly, some would say to the point of confluence, leaving the protagonists to constantly find fault, disorder and blemish in order to try and differentiate themselves; albeit artificially. So all we are left with is a slanging match, where due credit is never given, where co-operation never exists, where a common goal is never sought, nor ever reached. Whilst one party governs, the other is in opposition and opposes everything, even the worthy ideas.

Given the similar position both parties share on a number of issues, the opposition really has very little of any substance to contribute. They cannot in all honesty condemn the government position, though they try constantly, as very likely it so similar to theirs as to be almost unrecognisable in its difference. So we have this insidious impasse. One position holds sway and is seldom really challenged.

The one position we are concerned with here is the plight of our indigenous peoples. Their position in the community, their capacity and right to live with dignity and respect has improved so very little. One would argue that given the recent revelations, their position has indeed declined in real terms. Another giant leap backward from our two party political system.

The parliaments of this nation must be breached; the voices, ideas, values and morals of other people must be heard in the national debate. Otherwise among a great many other tragic human issues , our indigenous peoples are condemned to, at best, a state of inertia and at worst total obliteration as a race of people.

Australians should retake their rightful ownership of the parliaments of this country, out of the hands of the tired and ordinary thinkers of the two major parties. These people, these minions, acolytes and toadies have had decades to showcase their wares and have left us in despair.

Minor parties and individuals need to gain the capacity to contribute to the parliament in a greater dimension than is currently the case. This can only happen with the support of the people, when they finally abandon their slavish adherence to the siren call of Liberal or Labor. That they examine the policy on offer and vote with a conscience. Above all else, the voice of reason, the voice of understanding and the voice of compassion should resonate load in the parliaments of this nation. This should be our clarion call. Truthfully how long has it been since this was the case? The voice of possession, of fundamentalism and rationalism, of division is our current shameful dialogue.

It is both sickening and insulting to have had to listen to generations of Australian government’s talk of the need to "do something about the plight of Aboriginal Australia". Whenever there has been some high-profile crisis, be it "Black Deaths in Custody" or Riots in Redfern, or this latest catastrophe, the call is the same; "we really must address this issue". We have a new policy, a new approach, indeed a "cure all". Still we wait and generations of Australians carry the weight of guilt in their hearts.

Indigenous peoples across the world it seems have had there cultures pillaged, their traditions ridiculed, their dignity crushed by "White Immigrants" and Australia dares to suggest that we are any different.

I would suggest there is still deep and entrenched prejudice in this country, that a great many still consider aboriginal peoples not worthy of "special attention and treatment", that somehow they have brought their tragic circumstances on themselves. That somehow they, themselves, should fix the mess they are in.

That some people, let alone almost an entire nation, could so fundamentally misunderstand an issue and perceive that alone Aboriginal people have the means to address their manifest issues, honestly beggars belief. And yet I sense this is the case.

There is a duplicity in the way we approach the matter. Foremost there is the public and candid concern, there is the speak of justice and emancipation, of righting so many past wrongs, of facing up to the matter. Of course also there is the ever-present "new policy". Then though, there is nothing. No action, no response, no real and ongoing commitment, indeed no virtue. Obfuscation and deceit predominate and the people of Australia allow it to happen. By their inane attraction to the banal, by their preoccupation with their own self, by the weight of their never ending thirst for more chattels and more pleasure, the Australian nation are too easily distracted, too ready to hand the matter to someone else. Too willing to believe the issue is being addressed, too ready to move on and walk away, conscience salved and hearts balmed.

Am I to believe we are so gullible that we cannot see this act of fraud on our behalf? Of course we can see it, we just lack the intelligence and compassion to give the matter due credence. Are we so depleted in our morale state that we are willing to accept that enough is being done, when in fact nothing changes? That it is time to look away again at something else, usually centred around our own needs. Time to leave the problem of Justice in Aboriginal Australia to government whilst we refocus on us, that ubiquitous centre so prevalent. That we take our eye from the issue, pretending somehow, somewhere, someone will fix it for us and we can continue to pedal the myth of justice and equity in our midst. How else do we explain the state of intransigence that exists?

And perhaps that is the crux, the nub of the matter. With our political system being so obviously reactive, a body politic that responds to perceived values in the community, that listens to the directives the people utter, our politicians our Federal, State and Territory governments have been free to amble and saunter in their approach to both recognition and reconciliation. The voice, the call governments hear from contemporary Australia, is not a voice that calls for action on this seminal issue, it is indeed a voice that encourages further inertia, lethargy and idleness. It is the community of Australia that is to shoulder the blame for what is occurring in Alice Springs, because it is the Australian community that sends the message of to our governments.

If the political system in this country is to salvage any reputation and respect from this heartbreaking and tragic situation, the Chief Minister should resign her position forthwith, and whilst in transit should offer an unmitigated apology to the Aboriginal peoples of the Northern Territory. Yes that word again, Sorry! The word that the Labor Party has taken the high-morale ground on, the one our Prime Minister will not utter. Now we have the opportunity to truly measure the values, the wherewithal and the courage of the Labor Party. Will ALP State and Territory administrations now speak the forbidden word? Will they admit to their heinous wrongs or will they continue to consider their own position, will they as ever put party, before the public.

Instead of rhetoric, counter rhetoric and accusation and counter accusation, the political system in this country should at this juncture accept full responsibility for the continuing moral quagmire that is our indigenous peoples plight.

For those in the community that refuse to feel in their hearts the appalling humiliation and hideous degradation that these people face, I can only say it is time to come clean, it is time to find the courage to focus on the situation that is being exposed in Australia’s Northern Territory. It is time to change your view. What is occurring, what has been occurring since white settlement is our responsibility and we must accept it. We must give it our time and attention above all else that we may desire to do with our futures. For all our sakes and the sakes of especially our children, I hope you are successful in your struggle.

The two-party system that rules politics in this country has for the umpteenth time once again been exposed for the utter sham that it is. I ask you this question. If the two major parties who have dominated politics in Australia since federation have sat back and allowed this appalling and horrifying situation to go unattended, to not in any sense even attempt to find real solutions, to not make any real effort to convince the Australian people that this cannot go on, what value and worth have they really been to us?

Just where are the manifest benefits we are told emanate from this two-party system? Just what are the collective achievements of these party’s, and further more what nation of peoples have we become under their patronage? What values what fundamentally decent human tenets have been constructed from this inane body politic? Or do we care for nothing else than the honing of our skills to enable us to compete for the spoils of this fortunate and wealthy society more successfully.

By any measure the two-party system is failing Australia and it is demonstrably failing the aboriginal peoples of this country.

Either the Northern Territory and Australian governments are completely incompetent and therefore have not noticed the tragic situation in the Territory up until this time, or they have chosen to turn away, to condemn aboriginal people to exist in some hell on earth. Either scenario, one of which must be the truth, deserves full censure.

There are manifest issues in this country, perhaps few as tragic and deplorable as this one that continue to bubble away, continue to damage our sense of self, continue to damage our international reputation and continue constantly to remind us that we must change. We must change the political system in this country before we digress into a nation that is progressive only in name, that is equitable and just only in its own mind. Only the people of Australia can bring forth this change, it is our responsibility and it is time we took up the cause.

Otherwise we will find it harder and harder to turn our backs on the manifest problems that the self-serving members of the Labor and Liberal Parties fail to address. And I wonder in all honesty have they become so immersed in the power and the position and the perks of office that they have no opportunity to fully understand the issues around them. Have they had no opportunity through their own narrow and blinkered circumstances to empathise with those who struggle and therefore see no need to act, even now that the full shame has been exposed.

Instead they engage in slander and diatribe, vitriol and blame shifting. They keep Australia in a constant twilight zone, far from the light of progress. It really is time Australia, time to change our ways, time to change our politics. Those whom struggle need us to do so, most desperately.

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Politics Fails Australia's Aboriginal Peoples :: (Howard S. Emanuel)

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Politics Fails Australia's Aboriginal Peoples :: (Howard S. Emanuel)