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AUSTRALIA 
Rudd should scrap intervention, protesters say
Saturday, 21 June, 2008
Protesters have called on the Rudd government to abandon the federal intervention. (Getty)
Protesters have called on the Rudd government to abandon the federal intervention on the first anniversary of the reforms into Northern Territory Aboriginal communities.
The Howard government launched the radical measures to combat child sex abuse a year ago today, including alcohol and porn bans, welfare management and the compulsory acquisition of 73 communities.
Labor has rolled back some of the measures since coming to power seven months ago.
It has reinstated the Aboriginal work-for-the-dole scheme and moves are afoot to revive the permit system.
But NAAJA (North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency) chairman
Norman George told a protest in Darwin city today the intervention should be scrapped.
He also said the legislation underpinning it should be repealed.
"There was a lack of consultation, a lack of long-term sustainable planning and inherent discrimination," he told a gathering of about 40 people.
"It has set indigenous people back decades. They have been stripped of their rights and are being controlled by the government."
Local Larrakia woman Ali Mills, who sang a welcome to country, said the "so-called wonderful intervention" marked a sad turning point for her people.
"Our cries have been falling on deaf ears for decades," she said.
Protests against the intervention are underway in every major city in Australia today, including Alice Springs.
Source: AAP
The Howard government launched the radical measures to combat child sex abuse a year ago today, including alcohol and porn bans, welfare management and the compulsory acquisition of 73 communities.
Labor has rolled back some of the measures since coming to power seven months ago.
It has reinstated the Aboriginal work-for-the-dole scheme and moves are afoot to revive the permit system.
But NAAJA (North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency) chairman
Norman George told a protest in Darwin city today the intervention should be scrapped.
He also said the legislation underpinning it should be repealed.
"There was a lack of consultation, a lack of long-term sustainable planning and inherent discrimination," he told a gathering of about 40 people.
"It has set indigenous people back decades. They have been stripped of their rights and are being controlled by the government."
Local Larrakia woman Ali Mills, who sang a welcome to country, said the "so-called wonderful intervention" marked a sad turning point for her people.
"Our cries have been falling on deaf ears for decades," she said.
Protests against the intervention are underway in every major city in Australia today, including Alice Springs.
Source: AAP
