“Stabilise, normalise and exit”
Australian issues - - Posted on June, 24 at 10:59 pm by Helen
That’s Mal Brough’s military-style description of the Government’s plan for the response to the national state of emergency. Does it fill you with confidence?
The conservatives are controlling this issue in the MSM. Even the indigenous voice is given over to conservatives like Noel Pearson (and I think the government proposals go beyond even what he’d recommend) and Wesley Aird, a member of the Bennelong Society, which is a pro-assimilation front group with links to Western Mining, Quadrant, the Lavoisier Group, the IPA and others. Non-indigenous conservatives like Louis Nowra and Gerard Henderson dominate the airwaves and printed pages.
The “debate” will now go like this:
1. The Howard government and their supporters have offered a set of measures as a matter of emergency. This is undoubtedly a Good Thing.
2. Many people will examine the detail of the messages and suggest that many of them are half-baked, insuffiently funded, likely to cause further trauma, or likely to punish an entire population and maybe even make things worse.
3. The right-wing noise machine will say that this is proof positive that the pomo multi-culti leftist luvvies are Soft on Child Abuse (if not positively in favour of it.)
It’s time to take this paragraph by Chris Clarke, drop it into Word, format it in landscape with 28-point font and maybe a black border, and tape it to your refrigerator:
Saying that every time one discusses a bad thing, one is obliged to point out that it is a bad thing, and that bad things are bad, and that failure to point this out every single time is an offense punishable by witch hunt, firing, ostracism and the like? Fuck that noise.
OK. Also, saying “If the Aboriginal communities have been telling you this for several years, and only now you have suddenly sprung into action and declared an emergency, why now, John?“, will just be treated as shallow cynicism which won’t help anybody. So I’ll just ignore that fishy odour and say that it’s more important to ask: are the proposals workable? Are they likely to achieve the stated aims? Are they aligned at all with what Aboriginal elders, themselves, have been asking for for the last decade? But I’m sure that by asking these things, we’re putting ourselves up to be pilloried, as well.
And where are the indigenous women community leaders in all this? Why are all the Aboriginal spokesmen, well, spokesmen?
Kim at Larvatus Prodeo and Ken Parish at Club Troppo have kicked off a discussion which gives the issues involved a good workout. Ken Lovell highlights the militaristic and punitive aspect of the proposals. Lowitja O’Donohue and Malcolm Fraser point out on Crikey that paternalism has been well and truly tried before - and hasn’t worked. Tigtog highlights the disturbing aspects of the medical examination for all children.
The topic is getting traction in overseas blogs like Feministe and Echidne of the Snakes. (Her permalinks are permanently broken, so I suggest using “Find” and typing in “Howard”.) Lauredhel at Hoyden has more.
Cam at Polemica has published the actual Anderson/Wild report leading to the State of Emergency announcement.
I’m sure there are many good responses I’ve left out, so feel free to suggest others.
Crossposted at the Balcony
Posted in Australian issues |
June 24th, 2007 at 11:46 pm
I like Peter Garrett & Midnight Oil’s approach to race relations…give me partnership over ‘big stick’ approach anyday…& some integrity…check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N5ZsCGjUz0&mode=related&search=
Midnight Oil & Warumpi - Blackfella-Whitefella & Dead Heart
for the late George Burrarrawanga
Good stuff Helen…as ever.
June 25th, 2007 at 10:03 pm
Has anyone consulted the Aboriginal communities that are about to be inflicted with the lying rodents jack boot effort to control their lives, integrity and most importantly of all, the hard won country that is about to be removed.
And plese don’t quote Pearson, he is the elected spokesperson for other mob, not the bobs being affected by this.
June 25th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
Has anyone consulted the Aboriginal communities that are about to be inflicted with the lying rodents jack boot effort to control their lives, integrity and most importantly of all, the hard won country that is about to be removed.
And plese don’t quote Pearson, he is the elected spokesperson for other mob, not the mobs being affected by this.
June 25th, 2007 at 10:29 pm
(Cross posted at Blogocracy)
Abuse crisis ‘like Hurricane Katrina’
Absolutely bizarre:
“The abuse crisis gripping Aboriginal communities is akin to the disaster inflicted on the US by Hurricane Katrina, Prime Minister John Howard said tonight…
“Many Australians, myself included, looked aghast at the failure of the American federal system of government to cope adequately with Hurricane Katrina and the human misery and lawlessness that engulfed New Orleans in 2005,” Mr Howard said in the speech in Sydney.”
I’m utterly gobsmacked. The Katrina episode was the one single thing that turned the U.S. against Bush. Failure to prepare the levies despite warnings well in advance, blaming the victims, shooting the victims, and no long term plan or budget to deal with the aftermath.
And Howard thinks this is the metaphor that’s going to get him re-elected? Jesus H Christ. This guy’s a political genius in exactly the same way Bush is. That is, not at all.
June 27th, 2007 at 11:31 pm
[...] a true bipartisan spirit, is a tried and tested method of discrediting critics. Helen makes a similar argument, and offers a good collection of [...]