|
How is the national intervention changing the lives of indigenous people in the Northern Territory? Are children safer? A tale of two far-flung communities…
After decades of hollow promises, it was time to cut the talk. In Canberra’s eyes the rolling scandal of child sexual abuse in indigenous communities demanded action, swift and certain.
So the Federal Government grabbed control of 73 Territory bush communities, dispatching soldiers and police to "stabilise" townships and squads of doctors and nurses to check the kids. It declared it would ban grog and porn, quarantine welfare payments and scrap the visitor permit system.
Four months on from the dramatic announcement, what impact is the intervention having on the thousands of people it is supposed to help? Among the majority who are neither diehard opponents nor committed barrackers for the intervention, is the early confusion and fear giving way to wary optimism - or to a familiar weary cynicism?
Four Corners has been on the ground in the Territory to prepare the most comprehensive television report so far assessing the intervention. Reporter Matthew Carney journeys to two vastly different communities…
At tropical Maningrida, on Arnhem Land’s coast, bedevilled with problems but blessed with energetic leaders and potentially abundant resources, there is scepticism from the outset. People are fearful about ceding control over land and assets. When the ex-policeman appointed by the Government to bring change to Maningrida flies in to introduce himself, he quickly encounters resistance.
The locals have independently taken their own initiative to deal with sexual abuse. They wonder about the effectiveness of the child health checks and worry about what will happen when welfare payments are overhauled.
At Finke, 2000 kilometres to the south, on the edge of the Simpson Desert, most residents embraced the intervention as an opportunity to garner real jobs, funds and facilities. Here the intervention is much further advanced than at Maningrida. But, as a simple excursion to the town store soon makes clear, the process is still bound bizarrely in red tape. And workers now without jobs are wondering where their money went…
Join Matthew Carney "Tracking the Intervention" – on Four Corners, 8.30 pm, Monday 5 November on ABC TV.
This program will be repeated about 11.35 pm Tuesday 6 November; also on ABC2 at 9.30 pm Wednesday and 8 am Thursday.
Four Corners
4 Corners - Tracking The Intervention
http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/
FOUR CORNERS VIDEO ON DEMAND
Four Corners presents broadband video available on demand for selected programs.
4 Corners Video on Demand
http://abc.net.au/4corners/specials.htm
|
|
