Aboriginal Elders speak out to raise awareness about the Northern Territory Intervention

At a recent talk at the University of Sydney, Aboriginal elders Richard Downs and Harry Nelson offered their perspectives on the Northern Territory Intervention. Many people in the audience were well aware of the issues, but unfortunately for many Sydney-siders, news of the Intervention has been a confusing muddle of contradictory reports.

Richard and Harry believe that the walk-off is the only means of making themselves heard. Richard, an Alyawarra Elder from the Ampilawatja community, 300kms north-east of Alice Springs, says, “The majority of Australian people are feeling real uneasy now that the truth is coming out more and more about the NT Intervention.”

Aboriginal people are again being paid in rations and the government is taking back control of their land. People in the Northern Territory are being divided along government instituted colour lines. At supermarkets, white people queue at the normal checkouts while Aboriginal people, with their green cards, queue at a separate check-out. Richard says, “We thought we were coming forward but in actual fact we’re going back.”

Harry, a Walpiri man from Yuendumu, 350kms north-west of Alice Springs, stresses that the blame must not go to the Australian people. “It’s the people who make laws, who change the laws. They’re the ones that are racist. The Australian people are not responsible.”

The national speaking tour aims to raise awareness of what is going on in the Northern Territory, to explain why the elders have once again walked off their land, and to honour the still living members of the first walk-off in the 1960s.

“We’re here for those elders who remember that,” says Richard. “Why are we pointing the finger at those old people in their late 80s who’ve given their lives to the Australian people? We’ve got to show a bit more respect for our elders.”

According to Richard and Harry, the Intervention is treating Aboriginal people like animals, removing the leaders to get control of the pack.  “Communities rely on their leaders,” Richard says. “[But] our voices have been silenced… we’ve got no say at all, no involvement… we’re just tokens.”

Richard questions how a community can possibly build strength and stability when the leaders are constantly undermined by racist government policies. Members of the audience expressed their support drawing connections to the Stolen Generation and South African apartheid: one person saying that the government’s paternalistic policy was putting the blame on Aboriginal culture, attacking the leaders in order to destroy and assimilate the people.

“Harry and I can be picked up and locked away for three months without any reason just because we’re standing up, we’re rebelling,” says Richard.

This “rebellion” consists in moving away from dependence on government welfare. “Politicians are still digging up our country, still sending pollution up in the air,” Richard says. “[But] we are caretakers of a lot of the country, of the dreaming, of the spirits.”

Richard says the Ampilatwatja walk-off aims to set up a sustainable Aboriginal community that is self-sufficient and gives back to the environment. They want to grow their own food and use renewable energy, as well as establish nurseries for the preservation of native plants and bush medicine. Overall, Richard says, “A more family, community oriented program. It’s about looking out for each and every person, looking out for all our tribes across the country.”