In response to the report Little Children are Sacred on the prevalence of child sexual abuse in indigenous communities, Prime Minister John Howard has taken action. Mr Howard has sent in the army and police to Northern Territory communities, instituted a 6 month alcohol and x-rated pornography ban and planned changes for welfare.
While no one argues that the rate at which indigenous children are being sexually abused is anything less than horrific, some have questioned the Prime Minister’s motives and criticized his course of action. There have been accusations that the actions are merely a pre-election ploy for votes or, worse, part of a scheme to get hold of indigenous lands for uranium mining.
Whilst, according to AAP, Opposition leader Kevin Rudd said that Labor would work with the government to address the abuse crisis, Greens and Democrats leaders were scathing about the ‘crackdown’, pointing to years of governmental failure to address neglect and abuse.
OUTinPerth asked Queers4Reconciliation’s Jim Morrison what he thought of the Prime Minister’s response.
‘Initially I was pleased that something was happening and then after assessing it more I’ve become quite traumatized by the whole thing. How can you send the army and the police into a traumatized group to traumatize them further? Just because you’re a qualified policeman or someone in the army, you don’t have the qualifications to talk through trauma, you don’t have the qualifications to deal with the issues at that level.’
Mr Morrison went on to explain that in his opinion, there needed to be more healing to allow indigenous communities to work through trans-generational trauma. He also advocated for more work opportunities for Aboriginal people, particularly in states and territories where they constitute greater percentages of the population. He praised the ANZ Bank for their Reconciliation Action Plan that allocated spots in school-based traineeships for Aboriginal people. ‘If every corporation, every major corporation, was to look at something like that, that would have a huge impact on the Aboriginal people.’
Jim Morrison also emphasized the importance of education within the broader Australian community of Aboriginal issues and culture. He urged members of Perth’s queer community to attend one of Queers 4 Reconciliation’s workshops to learn more about the issues facing indigenous populations in Australia.
For details of Q4R workshops, click here.
