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Aboriginal outstations facing closures

18 October 2008 - Reporter: Anna Henderson

ELIZABETH JACKSON: Former senator Amanda Vanstone scathingly called them "cultural museums", but for many Aborigines in the Northern Territory outstations are simply called home.

They're small remote settlements often housing just one or two extended families. They were set up in the 1970s to move people away from the problems of larger Aboriginal communities.

But this week the Northern Territory Government said it was too expensive to provide services, and the outstations might be forced to close.

Anna Henderson reports from Darwin.

ANNA HENDERSON: This is Dhuruputjpi, a tiny outstation on the east Arnhem Land coast.

The people who live here say they're happy to be on their own land.

YANANYMUL MUNUNGGURR: Lot of bad things happening in the main communities, we would rather have our children grow and live in the homeland communities.

ANNA HENDERSON: The Laynhapuy Homelands Association looks after a group of at least 18 outstations in Arnhem Land. Yananymul Mununggurr is the association's chief executive.

YANANYMUL MUNUNGGURR: The land is very important because of our culture and we would like to look after that land; we would like to live and work in our land, our country.

ANNA HENDERSON: What would happen if you were forced to move?

YANANYMUL MUNUNGGURR: We would have no identity. Who would I be, what I be? My identity would be gone.

ANNA HENDERSON: But the Territory Government says it doesn't have the money to service these remote settlements with even the basics such as education, electricity and in some cases, a phone line.

Deputy leader Marion Scrymgour says the Government is going to review its outstations policy, and funding for new outstations has been frozen.

MARION SCRYMGOUR: I don't think any of us want any of those homelands to be shut down, but we do think we need to look at - particularly if you look at education - what is going to be the best delivery in terms of education services for those children that are resident in those homelands.

ANNA HENDERSON: Most small outstations don't have a school, and often the education focus is on culture, ceremony, and tradition.

Marion Scrymgour says the education that's provided at outstations isn't up to scratch.

MARION SCRYMGOUR: At the moments its ad-hoc; it's a mish-mash of programs that go out to those homeland centres, and unless we are serious about closing the gap we need to make sure we are coming up with a very clear policy about how those deliverables are going to be met.

JON ALTMAN: Other rich countries are able to support small indigenous communities in remote areas and Australia should be able to do a lot better than it is at the moment.

ANNA HENDERSON: Jon Altman is from the Australian National University's Centre for Aboriginal Economics and Policy Research.

JON ALTMAN: Governments supported the establishment of outstations and it seems to be a travesty of human rights to suddenly turn around and say we can't retain these communities because it's too expensive

ANNA HENDERSON: But the leader of the Territory Opposition, Terry Mills, says it's time to admit outstations have failed.

TERRY MILLS: The homelands movement is a failed social experiment and we need to take decisive action before it's far too late.

ANNA HENDERSON: No matter what the politicians say, the people at the Laynhapuy Homelands maintain they won't be forced out.

YANANYMUL MUNUNGGURR: We are not moving out of our homelands.

ANNA HENDERSON: The Territory Government is taking public submissions on the future of the homelands until the end of this year, before it makes its final decision.

ELIZABETH JACKSON: Anna Henderson with that report.

Source: ABC Radio National AM

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