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Swoop on township part of a 'vendetta'

Ashleigh Wilson

8 November 2006 - THE Howard Government was accused of running a "vendetta" against the Aboriginal community of Mutitjulu yesterday after police swooped on the troubled township in the shadow of Uluru.

Australian Federal Police officers arrived at Mutitjulu with two search warrants about 7.30am, spending several hours looking through documents and files in the local council office.

Police searched the home and office of Dorothea Randall, the community council's acting chief executive, and later seized her computer hard drive.

Some residents said the raid appeared to be related to Mutitjulu's application in the Federal Court against the appointment of an administrator by Aboriginal Affairs Minister Mal Brough.

The case is due to be heard in court next week.

"Who knows why (the raid occurred), but it was a search warrant for the premises of my house and the community office," Ms Randall said.

An AFP spokesman confirmed two search warrants had been executed at Mutitjulu but would not detail the nature of the investigation.

"They are part of an ongoing investigation," he said.

The community's Sydney-based lawyer, George Newhouse, said the seizure of files made it difficult for the community to prepare for its court case next week.

"It's the continuation of a vindictive campaign by Canberra against the Mutitjulu community," he said.

"Is it a coincidence that they have effectively shut down the community when the court case is on next week? They have cut them off from the outside world, and they're unable now to properly prosecute their case.

"It could just be a coincidence, but it's a particularly nasty coincidence."

Mr Newhouse said the Mutitjulu search warrants were specifically aimed at locating "a range of documents and records" relating to several public servants from the Office of Indigenous Policy Co-ordination.

He said the move might also have been connected to a police raid in July of the Canberra home of an OIPC public servant who spoke out against the department. "The Government is trying to stop the public from knowing about the conduct of public servants," he said.

The raid comes after Mr Brough was heckled by community members at Mutitjulu last weekend during the opening of a new police post, which will be staffed by two Aboriginal Community Police Officers.

The protest centred on Mr Brough's claims of "pedophile rings" in Aboriginal communities and a report by ABC TV's Lateline program about child abuse at Mutitjulu.

A spokesperson for Mr Brough declined to comment on the raid yesterday.

But one of the Aboriginal activists who protested against Mr Brough last week, Vince Forrester, said that police went through filing cabinets and computers in the raid.

"This is Big Brother in full spring out here at the moment," he said.

Source: The Australian

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