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key indigenous australian issues
| home | news lAction plan over Aborigine strife By Phil Mercer Extra police have been sent to Wadeye to quell unrest that has left many families too frightened to leave home. There have also been calls for the army to be deployed to townships that have been scarred by high levels of domestic violence and child abuse. Violence between rival gangs has torn Wadeye apart. The Evil Warriors and Judas Priests have been marauding through the isolated Aboriginal community carrying spears, machetes and crowbars. One newspaper said the township had become Australia's first war zone. It is home to indigenous clans from across the region. Hostility between different tribes may partly explain the tensions. Poverty, boredom and alcohol abuse have also played their part. Dozens of arrests have been made, but still many residents are too scared to leave their homes. Radical move The local council is considering drastic action. One plan is to relocate hundreds of people to Darwin, 250km (150 miles) away. Some doctors in the Northern Territory have called for troops to be deployed to Wadeye. The violence there is symptomatic of the problems facing many of Australia's Aborigines. They suffer very high rates of unemployment, preventable disease and infant mortality. Members of the Northern Territory and federal governments are scheduled to meet later this week to discuss the crisis in Wadeye. Source: BBC
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its one year on from the Australian Governments controversial intervention into NT Indigenous communities
action Roll back, listen to Indigenous community voices speaking about the intervention |
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