Wed, 7th May 2008

Indigenous South Australians deserve a better future

The Hon Dr Sharman Stone MP
Shadow Minister for Environment, Heritage, the Arts and Indigenous Affairs

Shadow Minister for Environment, Heritage, the Arts and Indigenous Affairs, Dr Sharman Stone said like most people she was shocked and saddened after reading the Commissioner’s report into sexual abuse in the APY Lands which was presented to the South Australian Parliament today.

“Unfortunately this report follows on from a series of such inquiries which have identified the trauma, and in fact the danger, for some children living in the remote communities of the APY lands in north-western South Australia. Lets hope we get effective action at last.

“Whilst I thoroughly agree with the Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin and South Australian Premier Mike Rann that urgent action is needed, just adding to the police presence, as well as more child protection workers, is not enough.

“We have to address the underlying causes of hopelessness experienced by so many indigenous Australians who find themselves trapped in poverty and third-world conditions in these remote places. A generation of unemployment and welfare dependency with the lack of self-determination that brings, has meant real danger for too many of their children.

“Drug and alcohol abuse and endless pornography is about all there is to fill the days of people with nothing to do, no real skills or education to look for work and nothing to look forward to.

“Perhaps this new Report will bring Minister Macklin to reinstate Coalition policy in relation to the CDEP (Indigenous Work for the Dole programme). The Coalition put employment in real jobs at the forefront of its solution for the indigenous generations who are literally self-destructing. The Coalition was in the process of replacing CDEP with a requirement for welfare recipients to look for work and to undertake mentored education and training in the pursuit of the work, in return for welfare.

“It is also most disturbing to read that the Inquiry had evidence of graft and corruption in some of the communities including in their Councils and Administration. Apparently the perception of the extent of this corruption left many thinking that if the law did not apply to administrators then it was the ‘law of the jungle’ when it came to any protection for the individuals being preyed upon.

“The first and most urgent task for the South Australian and Federal Governments is to provide medical and psychological assistance for the children who are now so damaged by rape and sexual assault. The police must also be made to undertake their work to the same standards as would be expected in suburban Adelaide. We must urgently address the issues of education, training and employment for the families whose despair has sometimes driven them to damaging or failing to protect their children.

“There is a growing realisation for the Federal Government that what has now been documented in the Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia surely requires Minister Macklin to have adopt a consistent approach putting indigenous wellbeing instead of political imperatives as the forefront of her response.