UPDATE: GetUp has compiled your comments and written a submission to the NTER Review Board which was received on August 15th. You can read the submission here. The Board has released its Report, and the Minister, Jenny Macklin has released an interim response to its recommendations. Watch this brief video appeal from members of some communities affected and sign the petition below to demand a consultative approach that protects human rights, not strips them away. Dear Mr Rudd & Ms Macklin: The NT Emergency Response is an ill-considered, discriminatory and blanket approach to issues that demand serious attention. The Racial Discrimination Act must be reinstated and the ‘emergency’ measures must be replaced with a long-term, consistent community development program that consults directly with the communities affected. These are fundamental issues of human rights, and we encourage you to properly implement the recommendations of the Little Children Are Sacred report.
GetUp’s campaign has been formed in consultation with HREOC and their Ten Point Action Plan for modifying the NT intervention, outlined in detail in the Social Justice Report 2007, which includes:
– Restore all rights to procedural fairness and external merits review under the NT intervention legislation.Reinstate protections against racial discrimination in the operation of the NT intervention legislation.
– Amend or remove the provisions that declare that the legislation constitutes a ‘special measure’.Reinstate protections against discrimination in the Northern Territory and Queensland.
– Require consent to be obtained in the management of Indigenous property and amend the legislation to confirm the guarantee of just terms compensation.
– Reinstate the CDEP program and review the operation of the income management scheme so that it is consistent with human rights.
– Review the operation and effectiveness of the alcohol management schemes under the intervention legislation.
– Ensure the effective participation of Indigenous peoples in all aspects of the intervention Developing Community Partnership Agreements.
– Set a timetable for the transition from an ’emergency’ intervention to a community development plan.Ensure stringent monitoring and review processes.
The Social Justice Report 2007, community guides and media information are available online here.