Intervention update: Compulsory land acquisitions in the Northern Territory to start from August '09. Robbie Thorpe - Gunai/Kurnai Elder - 29 July 2009, at the ALP headquarters, Melbourne, Victoria.
Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin has announced that the Commonwealth Government of Australia is going to compulsorily acquire Aboriginal Community Town Camps in the Northern Territory. This will start happening from early August 2009.
The main focus has been on the Tangentyere Council which is based in Alice Springs. Tangentyere provides services to the 1,600 people from most Central Australian tribal groups living on the 18 town camps around the town.
Over the years the council has been a spearhead for the establishment of other organisations as the need arose, such as Central Australian Aboriginal Congress (medical services), Central Australian Aboriginal Alcohol Planning Unit (alcohol rehabilitation), Institute for Aboriginal Development (educational institution), Central Australian
Aboriginal Legal Aid Service, Yipirinye School (independent Aboriginal school), outstation resource centres and so on.
The NT Intervention took out compulsory 5-year leases over the town camps serviced by Tangentyere, along with outstations and other remote communities. The government said it needed powers to build housing
quickly but not a single house has been built for Aboriginal people through the Intervention. Communities across the NT have been told that no housing will be built until long-term leases are signed with government.
Town camps are now under threat of having their living areas compulsorily acquired permanently by the Federal Government and their housing stock given to the Northern Territory Government to manage. Most town camp residents have experienced tenancy under Territory
Housing and know it doesnt work for them. Tangentyere, on behalf of its client group, wants to embrace the move taking place nationally towards community housing models. With government support they have undergone the process of setting up the Central Australian Affordable
Housing Company and are keen to move ahead with this. They have implored the government to work in partnership with them and respect their right to have a say in the plans for their lives and for future generations.
Town camps are special purpose leases in perpetuity and are set up as Aboriginal communal living areas. This is not nepotism: this is how Aboriginal people live together and support each other.
A campaign in support of Tangentyere Council, its constituent members (the Housing Associations) and retention of its autonomy is growing nationally. Many more people need to raise their voices against this injustice.
We are calling for public endorsement of the Statement opposing the Commonwealths proposal to compulsorily acquire the Alice Springs town camps. It is planned to publish this Statement and endorsements in the national media on 30 July, on the first day of the Australian
Labor Partys national conference and one week prior to the governments planned takeover date of August 5.
Signed
Barbara Shaw
Mt Nancy town camp, Intervention Rollback Action Group
Larissa Behrendt
Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning, UTS
17 July, 2009.
Source: http://rollbacktheintervention.wordpress.com/town-camp-housing-takeover
Background information on the proposed takeover is available from the website: rollbacktheintervention.wordpress.com, together with the
Statement of Support.
More information on the Council is available on: www.tangentyerecouncil.org.au.
Audio interviews with William Tilmouth, Executive Director of Tangentyere Council, can be found on www.caama.org.au/radio
Robbie's website: http://www.treatyrepublic.net
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Lol "Australia is a Nazi's wet dream"...it's idiotic rhetoric like that that's just gonna alienate people who may otherwise be sympathetic. And Captain Cook brought smallpox as a weapon of mass destruction to use in a preemptive strike against innocent people. Right.
JamesTiger82 2 days ago
All countries were formed by wars and battles. This guy doesn't realise how good life is here now. Forget who claims what on paper, just live the beautiful life here. He is half white so I don't see his point. He wouldn't have a clue about how long his people were here because we told him. This guy must be pro rape and abuse if he doesnt want to look after his people.
carbideagle 1 week ago
Poor man. He's a sole voice out there but DEFINITELY the voice of TRUTH.
TheJanetsvids 2 months ago
and you all should find that out for yourselves, how deadly blackfallas are *;-p our history in this country brings all scientific standards to its knees, so while your there with your 17th century text books, give it a tickle ;-P ya fhukn redneX !
1880SON 4 months ago
and just to assist you ignorant cave/cell/office/bedroom dwelling hermits in breaking free of your mental disease, Iv gotta say (& I know its been said a million times by much more important people than I) blackfallas are just too fhukn cool !!!
1880SON 4 months ago
ewwww o.o !!! Readhng back on these comments really puts white australians in a pretty fhUked up light ! You people cannot be as cruel as that really, if you have children, they should definatly be removed frm your prescence as you people aint fit to raise dogs ! Shame on you and your parents for comments like those..
1880SON 4 months ago
@TheGreaterGood80 - in comparision to after the British arrived??? are you for real??
buxton59 5 months ago
@buxton59 I hate to say it, but when humans first arrived in Australia they drove a lot of animals to extinction. Hard to say that was "pristine"
TheGreaterGood80 5 months ago
lol nonsense. What's that saying about measuring an argument by the time it takes for Nazi/Hitler comparisons? This guy opens with it.
zybisko 6 months ago
@skullduggery55 - that previous reply was for you... walk a mile in their shoes, stand in their place, know your ancestors were murdered & your lands stolen - your children stolen, raped, tortured & murdered.... Their ancestors are dug up & discarded as trash - maybe if we treated yours the same by driving a bulldozer though your cemeteries you might understand - but then they would be seen as nasty, evil, vandals, terrorists etc.. Obviously you have not suffered this loss, nor felt their pain
buxton59 6 months ago