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key indigenous australian issues
| home | news lChief of Army to investigate KKK scandalBy Luke McIlveen In its first detailed response to the KKK scandal engulfing Australia's biggest military barracks in Townsville, Defence said claims of chronic racism in the ranks would be investigated at the very top. "It goes against the values and ethos of the Australian army," the department said in a preliminary report released yesterday. "The army actively promotes a fair go for all and encourages soldiers to speak out if they feel they have been vilified, or the subject of any unacceptable behaviour, so it can be dealt with." The picture of hooded soldiers taunting their black comrades sent shockwaves through the community this week. Taken three weeks before the 1RAR Delta Company was deployed to Timor from Townsville's Lavarack Barracks, the image showed 21 white soldiers dressed in KKK-style hoods with four dark-skinned soldiers sitting on the ground in front of them. One of the victims of the joke tried to hang himself at the barracks early last year after racial bullying at the hands of his comrades. An internal inquiry into the young private's claims was conducted by a major from the 1st Royal Australian Regiment, leading many to believe it would be a whitewash from the start. Despite interviewing the dark-skinned recruit while he was in a hospital bed on suicide watch, the major found no evidence that he had suffered from anything more serious than "jovial banter". "Unit level investigations into the circumstances behind the photograph were undertaken in 2003 and action was taken at that time," Defence said in its statement. "The soldiers were required to undergo further equity and diversity training and a number of soldiers wrote apologies to the unit." An Aboriginal soldier came forward after the picture was published claiming he was once locked in a cell at Lavarack Barracks and given a piece of rope fashioned into a noose. Defence chief Peter Cosgrove ordered a second investigation into the photograph and other forms of racism. The new inquiry will be headed by Chief of Army Peter Leahy, who is based in Canberra. The department said the picture destroyed the fine work Australian soldiers – black and white – had done in past wars while fighting together. "The Australian Army has a long and proud history of soldiers from different ethnic backgrounds and cultures fighting side by side on the battlefield in the service to their nation," the department said. "This image is an insult to the memory of all soldiers past and present who represent Australia's cultural diversity." Source: Brisbane Courier Mail related links :
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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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