<HTML dir=ltr><HEAD><TITLE>FW: Mutitjulu Community Statement</TITLE>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=unicode">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.3020" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY>
<DIV id=idOWAReplyText8420 dir=ltr>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>Some reality testing from one NT Indigenous community</FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV></DIV>
<DIV id=idSignature59765 dir=ltr>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>Heather Gridley <BR>School of Psychology <BR>Footscray Park Campus <BR>Victoria University <BR>PO Box 14428 <BR>Melbourne <BR>VIC 8001 <BR>Australia </FONT>
<DIV>TEL +61 3 9919 5224 <BR>FAX +61 3 9919 4324 <BR>MOBILE: 0419 113 731
<DIV>Email: heather.gridley@vu.edu.au</DIV></FONT></DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><BR>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT size=2>> Conversation: Mutitjulu Community Statement</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> Subject: Mutitjulu Community Statement</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> </FONT><BR><FONT size=2>> </FONT><BR><FONT size=2>> *Dear friends*</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> **</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> *Please pass this on to as many people as possible. Send to the Media- these</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> are the questions which need to be asked.</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> *</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> Leaders of the Mutitjulu community today questioned the need for a military</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> occupation of their small community.</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> </FONT><BR><FONT size=2>> We welcome any real support for indigenous health and welfare and even two</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> police will assist, but the Howard Government declared an emergency at our</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> community over two years ago - when they appointed an administrator to our</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> health clinic - and since then we have been without a doctor, we have less</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> health workers, our council has been sacked all our youth and health</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> programmes have been cut.</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> </FONT><BR><FONT size=2>> We have no CEO and limited social and health services. The government has</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> known about our overcrowding problem for at least 10 years and they've done</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> nothing about it.</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> </FONT><BR><FONT size=2>> How do they propose keeping alcohol out of our community when we are 20</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> minutes away from 5 star hotel? Will they ban blacks from Yulara? We have been</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> begging for an alcohol counsellor and a rehabilitation worker so that we can</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> help alcoholics and substance abusers but those pleas have been ignored. What</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> will happen to alcoholics when this ban is introduced? How will the government</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> keep the grog runners out of our community without a permit system?</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> </FONT><BR><FONT size=2>> We have tried to put forward projects to make our community economically</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> sustainable - like a simple coffee cart at the sunrise locations - but the</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> government refuses to even consider them.</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> </FONT><BR><FONT size=2>> There is money set aside from the Jimmy Little foundation for a kidney</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> dialysis machine at Mutitjulu, but National Parks won't let us have it.</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> That would create jobs and improve indigenous health but they just keep</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> stonewalling us. If there is an emergency, why won't Mal Brough fast track our</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> kidney dialysis machine?</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> </FONT><BR><FONT size=2>> Some commentators have made much of the cluster of sexually transmitted</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> diseases identified at our health clinic. People need to understand that</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> Mutitjulu Health Clinic (now effectively closed) is a regional clinic and</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> patients come from as far away as WA and SA; so to identify a cluster here is</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> meaningless without seeing the confidential patient data.</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> </FONT><BR><FONT size=2>> The fact that we hold this community together with no money, no help, no</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> doctor and no government support is a miracle. Any community, black or white</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> would struggle if they were denied the most basic resources.</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> Police and the Military are fine for logistics and coordination but</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> healthcare, youth services, education and basic housing are more essential.</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> Any programme must involve the people on the ground or it won't work. For</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> example who will interpret for the military?</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> </FONT><BR><FONT size=2>> Our women and children are scared about being forcibly examined; surely there</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> is a need to build trust. Even the doctors say they are reluctant to examine a</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> young child without a parent's permission. Of course any child that is</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> vulnerable or at risk should be immediately protected but a wholesale</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> intrusion into our women and children's privacy is a violation of our human</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> and sacred rights.</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> </FONT><BR><FONT size=2>> </FONT><BR><FONT size=2>> Where is the money for all the essential services? We need long term financial</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> and political commitment to provide the infrastructure and planning for our</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> community. There is an urgent need for 10's of millions of dollars to do what</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> needs to be done. Will Mr Brough give us a commitment beyond the police and</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> military?</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> </FONT><BR><FONT size=2>> The commonwealth needs to work with us to put health and social services,</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> housing and education in place rather than treating Mutitjulu as a political</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> football.</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> </FONT><BR><FONT size=2>> But we need to set the record straight:</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> </FONT><BR><FONT size=2>> ü There is no evidence of any fraud or mismanagement at Mutitjulu - we have</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> had an administration for 12 months that found nothing</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> </FONT><BR><FONT size=2>> ü Mal Brough and his predecessor have been in control of our community for at</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> least 12 months and we have gone backwards in services</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> </FONT><BR><FONT size=2>> ü We have successfully eradicated petrol sniffing from our community in</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> conjunction with government authorities and oil companies</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> </FONT><BR><FONT size=2>> ü We have thrown suspected paedophiles out of our community using the permit</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> system which our government now seeks take away from us.</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> </FONT><BR><FONT size=2>> ü We will work constructively with any government, State, Territory or Federal</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> that wants to help aboriginal people.</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>> </FONT><BR><FONT size=2>> </FONT><BR></DIV></BODY></HTML>