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‘The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man
are threatened.’ This memorable line was from John F. Kennedy’s
Civil Rights Announcement, back in 1963. Over 50 years on, the
message still holds true: when one man, or one group of people, are
treated less fairly than every one else – it doesn’t matter who they are
– then all people are worse off. Why? Because it means we are
surrounded by unfairness, by prejudice, and by cruelty.
Though here in Australia, we are considered fair to all cultures,
what we don’t see is the poor treatment of specific groups of people by
our governments. One particular example of this is the mistreatment
of Aboriginal Australians living in remote communities, through an
obscure program known as the Northern Territory Emergency
Response.
The Northern Territory Emergency Response, also shortened to
NTER
, or ‘the Intervention’, was a government initiative first
implemented in 2007. It supposedly aimed to strengthen the
disadvantaged communities of the Northern Territory and protect
Indigenous children from abuse and domestic violence. At this point,
you are probably wondering what could possibly be wrong with the
Intervention. Well, there’s a lot.
Firstly, it heavily regulates the lives of Aboriginal families. They
do not receive money, but are forced to shop with ration cards. At
school, children must be taught in English for the first four hours of
the day – even though, to them, English is often a third, or even
fourth, language.
Secondly, the Intervention has also had many economical
downsides for the Indigenous. It caused the government-funded
Community Development Employment Projects to be abolished,
meaning a great loss of jobs. Within four years, the unemployment
rate increased by 14%. The Australian government also took over a
great deal of the Indigenous people’s sacred land, therefore not
treating them as its traditional owners.
I’ve only just touched the surface, but it’s pretty clear to see that
the Intervention is questionable. In fact, it violates specific human
rights, as laid out in the Universal Declaration for the rights of
Indigenous peoples.
Namely, Article 3: the right of the Indigenous to self-determination
(which is the community’s right to solve their own issues as they wish).
This is all very well, but the Australian government did not consult
Why We Should
Stop The
Intervention
Ciara Brennan
Orator of the Year
Runner-Up
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