Northern Territory National Emergency Response

The Northern Territory National Emergency Response, also known as "The Intervention" or the Northern Territory Intervention, and sometimes the abbreviation "NTER" (for Northern Territory Emergency Response) was a package of measures enforced by legislation affecting Indigenous Australians in the Northern Territory (NT) of Australia, which lasted from 2007 until 2012. The measures included restrictions on the consumption of alcohol and pornography (including complete bans on both at some communities), changes to welfare payments, and changes to the delivery and management of education, employment and health services in the Territory.

Alcohol and Pornography Ban Warning sign at an Aboriginal community near Alice Springs, Northern Territory

The Intervention was brought about by the enactment of the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act 2007 and several associated new Acts of Parliament, along with a raft of changes to existing laws, by the federal government of Australia. The legislation was introduced and passed by the Howard government in August 2007. The justification given for introducing the measures was the Little Children are Sacred report published in June 2007, being the findings of an inquiry into child sexual abuse in the NT commissioned by the Northern Territory Government.

The measures proved controversial, being criticised by the Northern Territory Labor government, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and several Aboriginal leaders. A report by the Australian Human Rights Commission in 2008 said that statistics for confirmed child abuse did not appear to support the "allegations of endemic child abuse in NT remote communities that was the rationale for the NTER".

The Act was amended four times by the successive Rudd and Gillard governments, finally repealed in July 2012 by the Gillard government, which later replaced it with the Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory Act 2012, which retains many of the measures.

Political context

The Intervention was introduced during the lead-up to the 2007 federal election, at which the Coalition government led by John Howard since 1996, was defeated. Paul Toohey, writing for The Bulletin wrote that the policy was poll-driven,[1] although it gained the broad support of the Rudd Labor opposition and some Aboriginal leaders. Analysis of the political arguments in support of the Intervention identified three key factors which allowed easy passage of ensuing legislation. The first was the use of the Little Children are Sacred report. The second was the failure to sufficiently detail the links between the Intervention and the measures combating child sexual abuse. The third was the failure to recognise Aboriginal agency and need for consultation.[2]

As well, the Intervention came at a time of increasing debate over the future of federalism in Australia, in particular the proper extent of federal power into areas of government traditionally managed by the states and territories. It was one of a number of federal interventions enacted in 2007. Other state responsibilities targeted by the Australian Government at the time included seaports, workplace relations, the Murray-Darling river system and public hospitals.

The policy was initially insulated from criticism because of the sensitive nature of the issue and the fact that the national parliament faced (as, in 2023, it still faces) no constitutional barriers to overruling the Northern Territory government. This is in clear contrast to the situation with Australia's state governments, all of which have constitutionally preserved areas of legislative power, against which the federal government is largely powerless to intervene.[3]

The Intervention timeline

The Intervention began with a media release by Mal Brough, Minister for Indigenous Affairs (and chief architect of the Act[4]) on 21 June 2007. The media release served as ministerial regulation to implement a taskforce of eminent Australians, led by Magistrate Sue Gordon, chair of the National Indigenous Council. The role of the Taskforce was to oversee a list of at least 12 measures in the Northern Territory, which included discriminatory changes to welfare, compulsory health checks for all Aboriginal children, the acquisition of Aboriginal townships, and banning alcohol and pornography in prescribed Aboriginal communities. The measures also included increased policing with assistance from other jurisdictions; calling in the army for logistics and surveillance; appointing managers to all government business in designated communities; and improving housing, but establishing market-based rents for public housing.[5]

According to Brough's media release, the implementation of the Taskforce reflected the government response to Ampe Akelyernemane Meke Mekarle, the Little Children are Sacred report, handed to Clare Martin, the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, on 30 April 2007. The report, the result of the Board of Inquiry into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse chaired by Rex Wild and Patricia Anderson, recommended "...that Aboriginal child sexual abuse in the Northern territory be designated as an issue of urgent national significance by both the Australian and Northern Territory Governments".[5][6] However, only two of 97 recommendations in the report were implemented. The Emergency Response was criticised, but it also received bipartisan parliamentary support.

The Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act 2007, introduced under Howard's fourth term as Prime Minister of Australia, received Royal Assent on 17 August 2007, and amended in September. The 2007 Act was amended four times by the successive Rudd and Gillard governments.[4]

The Rudd government took office in 2007, and twice amended the 2007 Act in 2008. The Labor Party replaced Kevin Rudd with Julia Gillard in 2010 and the Gillard government also made two amendments to the 2007 Act. The first amendment in 2010 introduced by Jenny MacKlin, Indigenous Affairs Minister, ended the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975.[4] In February 2011, former Howard government minister Brough argued the Intervention had become stagnant and it would not be workable unless it was revitalised.[7]

In April 2011, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott proposed consultation with Indigenous people over a bipartisan Federal Government intervention in Northern Territory towns like Alice Springs, Katherine and Tennant Creek, which would cover such areas as police numbers and school attendance in an effort to address what he described as a "failed state" situation developing in areas of the Northern Territory.[8]

Prime Minister Gillard toured Northern Territory communities in June 2011 and told media "I believe the Intervention has made a difference", citing the provision of meals to children, and better child health and welfare outcomes and a reduction in aggravated assaults, but she said more needed to be done in the provision of housing, and listening to Indigenous voices as input to shaping future policy.[9]

The 2007 Act was repealed on 16 July 2012 by the Gillard government who replaced it with the Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory Act 2012. The 2012 Act remains in force as of December 2020 and retains many of the measures of the 2007 Act.[10][4]

In the five years the legislation was in place before being repealed, the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs claims that the total number of people convicted for child sexual assaults in Intervention communities was 45, compared to 25 people in the 5 years before the Act was implemented[11] though these reports were not made available at the time, leading some to doubt the authenticity of the Departments claims.[12]

Legislation

Legislation included:[13]

  • the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act 2007;
  • the Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Welfare Payment Reform) Act 2007 (still in force as of December 2020[14]);
  • the Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Other Legislation Amendment (Northern Territory National Emergency Response and Other Measures) Act 2007 (still in force as of December 2020[15]);
  • the Appropriation (Northern Territory National Emergency Response) Act (No. 1) 2007–2008; and
  • the Appropriation (Northern Territory National Emergency Response) Act (No. 2) 2007–2008.

Notably, Clause 132 of the NTNER Act 2007 stated that the provisions of it are classified as "special measures" under the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 and therefore exempt from Part II of the Act. While the main elements of the Intervention were otherwise kept in place, this exemption from provisions of the Racial Discrimination Act was brought to an end in 2010.[16]

Measures

The A$587 million package came into effect with the passage of the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act 2007 by the Australian Parliament in August 2007. The nine measures contained therein were as follows:[13]

  • Deployment of additional police to affected communities.
  • New restrictions on alcohol and kava
  • Pornography filters on publicly funded computers
  • Compulsory acquisition of townships currently held under the title provisions of the Native Title Act 1993 through five-year leases with compensation on a basis other than just terms. (The number of settlements involved remains unclear.)
  • Commonwealth funding for provision of community services
  • Removal of customary law and cultural practice considerations from bail applications and sentencing within criminal proceedings
  • Suspension of the permit system controlling access to Aboriginal communities
  • Quarantining of a proportion of welfare benefits to all recipients in the designated communities and of all benefits of those who are judged to have neglected their children
  • The abolition of the Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP).

Reaction and debate

Though the plan achieved broad bi-partisan support in the Parliament, it was criticised by the Northern Territory Labor government, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission[17] and by several Aboriginal leaders and community spokespeople. The plan was also given strong support by other community groups and Aboriginal leaders.

The Australian Human Rights Commission's Social Justice Report 2008 said that, despite the likelihood of under-reporting, the 2005–2006 ABS statistics for confirmed child abuse did not appear to support the "allegations of endemic child abuse in NT remote communities that was the rationale for the NTER".[18]

Pretext

The use of sexual abuse as the catalyst for the Intervention has been subject to debate. One view is that sexual abuse is a Trojan horse for other purposes such as regaining government control over disputed land.[19]

Racial Discrimination Act

The measures of the response which have attracted most criticism comprise the exemption from the Racial Discrimination Act 1975, the compulsory acquisition of an unspecified number of prescribed communities (Measure 5) and the partial abolition of the permit system (Measure 10). These have been interpreted as undermining important principles and parameters established as part of the legal recognition of indigenous land rights in Australia.

In 2010, James Anaya, a United Nations Special Rapporteur, found the Emergency Response to be racially discriminating and infringe on the human rights of Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory.[20] Anaya acknowledged that emergency action was needed but said that measures like banning alcohol and pornography and quarantining a percentage of welfare income for the purchase of essential goods represented a limitation on "individual autonomy".[21]

Organisations such as Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR) have argued that breaching the Racial Discrimination Act is not necessary in order to protect the children in the affected areas.[22]

Consultation

More generally, a lack of consultation with Aboriginal community leaders is often cited by critics of the response,[23] alongside the fact that the action addresses very few of the specific recommendations contained in the Little Children are Sacred Report, while introducing many measures not suggested in the Report.

While finding some support among organisations like the Australian Greens, Anaya's Report was widely condemned in Australia, with the Rudd government's Indigenous Affairs Minister, Jenny Macklin, saying that her duty to protect the rights of children was paramount. Opposition Spokesman Tony Abbott queried whether Anaya had adequately consulted with people who had lived through the Intervention; Indigenous activist Warren Mundine said the report should be "binned" and Central Australian Aboriginal leader Bess Price criticised the UN for not sending a female reporter and said that Anaya had been led around by opponents of the intervention to meet with opponents of the intervention.[24][25]

Criticism

The Intervention in the Northern Territory came under fire by a variety of groups. Claims made by critics of the Intervention are as follows:

  • In 1999, a report titled Violence in Indigenous Communities was prepared by Dr Paul Memmott, but was suppressed until 2001 and not acted upon.[26]
  • An inter-governmental summit on violence and child abuse was held in 2006. This pointed to the cost and blame shifting that characterised federal-territory and state relations, but no further action was taken.[26]
  • The United Nations expressed concern over the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act, writing to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in March 2009 following a complaint made to the UN by a collective of Aboriginal communities.[27]

A delegation of Northern Territory Aboriginal leaders met with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, at Charles Darwin University in May 2011. The delegation stated that the situation had deteriorated under the Intervention. There is greater discrimination against them, Ms Pillay said they told her. Firstly, they said there's been an intervention and it started off badly without them being consulted, and secondly, there is insufficient respect for their land, she said. The delegation said Aboriginal people were under pressure from the Gillard government to sign leases over land they already own. They see that as a land grab, Ms Pillay said.[28]

An analysis into the speeches and arguments made by the then Prime Minister and Minister for Indigenous Affairs found that the rhetoric used justified the government's extensive and contentious Intervention into the remote Indigenous communities. The speech acts implied that the Ministers were the heroes of the situation. However, it has since been documented by several sources that some of the verifying sources that instigated the events of the Intervention were fabricated by then-minister Mal Brough and coercive in nature.[29][30][31] The rhetoric implied that the communities were helpless and incapable of responding to their own issues. By doing so, the Ministers justified ignoring the recommendations of the Little Children are Sacred report.[32]

Support

Some Aboriginal commentators and activists, such as Noel Pearson, Marcia Langton and Bess Price, offered support, criticising aspects of the response while believing it to be necessary and worthwhile.[33][34][35][36][37] The Aboriginal leader Galarrwuy Yunupingu initially supported the response, but by 2010 had lost faith in it.[38][39][40][41][42][43] Following the announcement of the Intervention plan by the Howard government, Cape York Indigenous leader Noel Pearson offered support, telling ABC Radio National on 22 June 2007:

I'm in agreement with the emphasis on grog and policing. I'm in agreement with attaching conditions to welfare payments. But the difference between the proposals that we've put forward to the Government and the proposals announced by Minister Brough, there is a difference in that we would be concerned that those people who are acting responsibly in relation to the payments they receive, should continue to exercise their freedoms and their decisions, we should only target cases of responsibility failure.

Writing in February 2008, Aboriginal academic Marcia Langton rejected arguments that the Intervention had been a "political ploy" and argued that the policy in fact marked the death of a "wrong-headed male Aboriginal ideology":[44]

There is a cynical view afoot that the Intervention was a political ploy – to grab land, support mining companies and kick black heads, dressed up as concern for children. Conspiracy theories abounded; most were ridiculous.

Those who did not see the Intervention coming were deluding themselves.

It was the inevitable outcome of the many failures of policy and the flawed federal-state division of responsibilities for Aboriginal Australians. It was a product of the failure of Northern Territory governments for a quarter of a century to adequately invest the funds they received to eliminate the disadvantages of their citizens in education, health and basic services. It was made worse by general incompetence in Darwin: the public service, non-government sector (including some Aboriginal organisations) and the dead hand of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) all presided over increasingly horrible conditions in Aboriginal communities.

The combined effect of the righteous media campaign for action and the Emergency Intervention has been a metaphorical dagger, sunk deep into the heart of the powerful, wrong-headed Aboriginal male ideology that has prevailed in Indigenous affairs policies and practices for decades.

My hope is that, as the evidence mounts of the need for a radical new approach, the shibboleths of the old Left – who need perpetual victims for their analysis to work – will also be dismantled.

Aboriginal leader and former Australian Labor Party president, Warren Mundine spoke against critics of the Intervention in 2010, saying:

What is detrimental about the protecting of children, the protecting of women against sexual assault, physical assault? [...] When Aboriginal women or Indigenous women I should say, are being raped then we need to have policies in place that deal with the rape of those women.

In 2011, after more than three years of the Intervention, Central Australian Indigenous leader Bess Price told ABC television:[24][25]

I am for the Intervention because I've seen progress. I've seen women who now have voices. They can speak for themselves and they are standing up for their rights. Children are being fed and young people more or less know how to manage their lives. That's what's happened since the Intervention.

Legacy

In 2017, a study by researchers at the Menzies School of Health Research in Darwin and the School of Economics at the University of Sydney reported that the income management scheme introduced as part of the Response was found to have a negative impact on children, with reduced school attendance and lower birth weights of infants.[45]

See also

References
  1. Toohey, Paul (2 July 2007), Hard law hard love, archived from the original on 6 September 2007
  2. Roffee, James A. (1 March 2016). "Rhetoric, Aboriginal Australians and the Northern Territory Intervention: A Socio-legal Investigation into Pre-legislative Argumentation". International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy. 5 (1): 131–147. doi:10.5204/ijcjsd.v5i1.285. ISSN 2202-8005.
  3. "Northern Territory v GPAO [1999] HCA 8; 196 CLR 553; 161 ALR 318; 73 ALJR 470 (11 March 1999)". Austlii.edu.au. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  4. Government of Australia (17 August 2007). "Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act 2007". Federal Register of Legislation. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  5. The Hon Mal Brough MP (21 June 2007). "National emergency response to protect Aboriginal children in the NT". Australian Government. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  6. Rex Stephen Leslie Wild QC and Patricia Anderson (21 June 2007). "National emergency response to protect Aboriginal children in the NT" (PDF). Australian Government. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  7. "NT intervention stagnant, just another failed plan: Mal Brough". The Australian. 26 February 2011.
  8. "AM – Abbott calls for new intervention in Alice Springs 21/03/2011". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 28 March 1989. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  9. "Gillard says NT intervention working". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  10. "Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory Act 2012". Federal Register of Legislation. Australian Government. 5 March 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  11. "Closing the Gap in the Northern Territory Monitoring Report January – June 2012 Part One" (PDF). Australian Government Department of Social Services (Government Report). Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Service, and Indigenous Affairs. June 2012. p. 25. Retrieved 13 November 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  12. "Factbox: The 'Stronger Futures' legislation". SBS News. 1 January 1970. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  13. "What is the Northern Territory Intervention?". Castan Centre for Human Rights Law at Monash University. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  14. "Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Welfare Payment Reform) Act 2007". Federal Register of Legislation. Australian Government. 17 August 2007. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  15. "Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Other Legislation Amendment (Northern Territory National Emergency Response and Other Measures) Act 2007". Federal Register of Legislation. Australian Government. 17 August 2007. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  16. "Australia restores race discrimination act". BBC News. 22 June 2010.
  17. Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Submission of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee on the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Legislation, 10 August 2007.
  18. "A statistical overview of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia: Social Justice Report 2008". Australian Human Rights Commission. 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  19. Altman, Jon (2010). Culture Crisis: Anthropology and Politics in Aboriginal Australia. UNSW Press.
  20. Anaya, James (February 2010). "Observations on the Northern Territory Emergency Response in Australia" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 April 2013.
  21. "UN rapporteur raps NT intervention 24/02/2010". The World Today. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 24 February 2010. Archived from the original on 28 January 2016.
  22. "NT Intervention". Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  23. "Indigenous Rights: Request for Urgent Action on NT Intervention from UN CERD (Sept 2009)". Human Rights Law Centre. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  24. "PM – UN's claims of 'racist' NT intervention are widely condemned 28/08/2009". PM. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 28 August 2009. Archived from the original on 28 January 2016.
  25. "Defence, Discrimination and Regrets". Q&A. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 11 April 2011. Archived from the original on 1 July 2016.
  26. Marsh, Ian (2008), Re-imagining the Australian state: political structures and policy strategies, archived from the original on 23 July 2008
  27. "UN 'concerned' over suspension of Racial Discrimination Act | the Australian". Archived from the original on 30 March 2009. Retrieved 26 April 2009.
  28. Murdoch, Lindsay (23 May 2011). "Intervention facing UN criticism". The Age. Melbourne. Archived from the original on 24 November 2011.
  29. Melinda., Altman, Jon C., 1954– Hinkson (2009) [2007]. Coercive reconciliation : stabilise, normalise, exit aboriginal Australia. Arena Publications. ISBN 9780980415803. OCLC 608065135.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  30. Lovell, Melissa (3 September 2014), "Languages of neoliberal critique: The production of coercive government in the Northern Territory intervention", Studies in Australian Political Rhetoric, ANU Press, doi:10.22459/sapr.09.2014.11, ISBN 9781925021875
  31. Evans, Brendon W. (24 May 2012). "Northern Territory Emergency Response: Criticism, support and redesign". Australian Journal of Rural Health. 20 (3): 103–107. doi:10.1111/j.1440-1584.2012.01265.x. ISSN 1038-5282. PMID 22620472.
  32. Roffee, James A. (2016). "Rhetoric, Aboriginal Australians and the Northern Territory Intervention: A Socio-legal Investigation into Pre-legislative Argumentation". International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy. 5: 131. doi:10.5204/ijcjsd.v5i1.285.
  33. "Pearson fears for Indigenous parents' freedom". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 22 June 2007. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011.
  34. "Lateline – 26/06/2007: Noel Pearson discusses the issues faced by Indigenous communities". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 26 June 2007. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  35. "The Australian: Noel Pearson: Politics aside, an end to the tears is our priority [ 23jun07 ]". Archived from the original on 23 June 2007. Retrieved 10 March 2008.
  36. "The Australian: Get parents who shield abusers: Pearson [ 26jun07 ]". Archived from the original on 25 June 2007. Retrieved 10 March 2008.
  37. Price, Bess (27 August 2009). "Against Change For Wrong Reasons". The Australian. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  38. "Top leader now backs Territory intervention – National". The Age. 19 September 2007. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  39. "Indigenous leader signs 99-year land lease to Govt". The 7.30 Report. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 20 September 2007. Archived from the original on 10 September 2016.
  40. "Paternal feelings help thrash out pact for nation – National". The Age. 20 September 2007. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  41. "The challenge begins | the Australian". Archived from the original on 9 October 2007. Retrieved 10 March 2008.
  42. Chandler, Jo (21 September 2007). "Whose coup? Canberra and clan both celebrate a deal". The Age. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012.
  43. Robinson, Natasha (12 August 2009). "Yunupingu Loses Faith in Intervention". The Australian. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  44. Langton, Marcia (8 February 2008). "Trapped in the Aboriginal reality show". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 16 June 2008.
  45. School of Economics at the University of Sydney; tMenzies School of Health Research (8 December 2017). "Children negatively impacted by early intervention restrictions" (PDF). University of Sydney.

Further reading
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