[Green-Activist] Media Statement from Mutitjulu

[Phillip Maher]

can we get more info on who wrote this, contact details etc ie  
standard things for a press release - for it to have credibility it  
needs to be able to be verified. Then i would be happy to forward on,  
send to newspapers, put on web sites etc

cheers

phil
On 02/07/2007, at 11:35 AM, John Hill wrote:

> Subject: Media Statement from Mutitjulu
>
> G'day,
> Thought this was interesting and relevant, and should be spread as  
> far and
> as wide as possible. Please forward it on.
> Luke Whitington
>
> Leaders of the Mutitjulu community today questioned the need for a  
> military
> occupation of their small community.
>
> We welcome any real support for indigenous health and welfare and  
> even two
> police will assist, but the Howard Government declared an emergency  
> at our
> community over two years ago - when they appointed an administrator  
> to our
> health clinic - and since then we have been without a doctor, we  
> have less
> health workers, our council has been sacked all our youth and health
> programmes have been cut.
>
> We have no CEO and limited social and health services. The  
> government has
> known about our overcrowding problem for at least 10 years and  
> they've done
> nothing about it.
>
> How do they propose keeping alcohol out of our community when we  
> are 20
> minutes away from 5 star hotel? Will they ban blacks from Yulara?  
> We have
> been begging for an alcohol counsellor and a rehabilitation worker  
> so that
> we can help alcoholics and substance abusers but those pleas have been
> ignored. What will happen to alcoholics when this ban is  
> introduced? How
> will the government keep the grog runners out of our community  
> without a
> permit system?
>
> We have tried to put forward projects to make our community  
> economically
> sustainable - like a simple coffee cart at the sunrise locations -  
> but the
> government refuses to even consider them.
>
> There is money set aside from the Jimmy Little foundation for a kidney
> dialysis machine at Mutitjulu, but National Parks won't let us have  
> it. That
> would create jobs and improve indigenous health but they just keep
> stonewalling us. If there is an emergency, why won't Mal Brough  
> fast track
> our kidney dialysis machine?
>
> Some commentators have made much of the cluster of sexually  
> transmitted
> diseases identified at our health clinic. People need to understand  
> that
> Mutitjulu Health Clinic (now effectively closed) is a regional  
> clinic and
> patients come from as far away as WA and SA; so to identify a  
> cluster here
> is meaningless without seeing the confidential patient data.
>
> The fact that we hold this community together with no money, no  
> help, no
> doctor and no government support is a miracle. Any community, black  
> or white
> would struggle if they were denied the most basic resources. Police  
> and the
> Military are fine for logistics and coordination but healthcare, youth
> services, education and basic housing are more essential. Any  
> programme must
> involve the people on the ground or it won't work. For example who  
> will
> interpret for the military?
>
> Our women and children are scared about being forcibly examined;  
> surely
> there is a need to build trust. Even the doctors say they are  
> reluctant to
> examine a young child without a parent's permission. Of course any  
> child
> that is vulnerable or at risk should be immediately protected but a
> wholesale intrusion into our women and children's privacy is a  
> violation of
> our human and sacred rights.
>
> Where is the money for all the essential services? We need long term
> financial and political commitment to provide the infrastructure and
> planning for our community. There is an urgent need for 10's of  
> millions of
> dollars to do what needs to be done.  Will Mr Brough give us a  
> commitment
> beyond the police and military?
>
> The commonwealth needs to work with us to put health and social  
> services,
> housing and education in place rather than treating Mutitjulu as a  
> political
> football.
>
>
> But we need to set the record straight:
> -      There is no evidence of any fraud or mismanagement at  
> Mutitjulu  we
> have had an administration for 12 months that found nothing
>
> -      Mal Brough and his predecessor have been in control of our  
> community
> for at least 12 months and we have gone backwards in services
>
> -      We have successfully eradicated petrol sniffing from our  
> community in
> conjunction with government authorities and oil companies
>
> -      We have thrown suspected paedophiles out of our community  
> using the
> permit system which our government now seeks take away from us.
>
> -      We will work constructively with any government, State,  
> Territory or
> Federal that wants to help aboriginal people.
>
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