It is no use pussy footing around the issue. John Howard's NT Intervention was a thinly disguised attempt to quash new native title applications on affected land, a grab at indigenous community assets and a dress rehearsal for controlling the income of all Australian welfare recipients.
It is based on 1940s-style racism and bigotry.
In The Age today a call went out for the Rudd Government to overhaul the legislation that it cravenly voted for when in Opposition.
"A GOVERNMENT human rights watchdog has called for an overhaul of the landmark emergency intervention legislation to remove "punitive and racist" provisions that discriminate against Aborigines.
A report prepared by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission has found that the "racially based legislation" contravenes a number of international human rights conventions and the Commonwealth Racial Discrimination Act.
The Age believes the report outlines a 10-point program on how to unscramble the legislation and endorses moves by the Government to reimpose permits, reinstate the work-for-the-dole scheme, known as CDEP, and provide a strategy to close the life expectancy gap for indigenous people.----
"Tom Calma, the commissioner responsible for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice issues and author of the report, said yesterday: "The whole intervention is questionable, especially the racist way it was imposed on Aboriginal people."
While declining to discuss the contents of the report, he said there was a problem with the legislation because "it contravened most of the international conventions Australia had signed up to … There will be a lot of detail and arguments identifying what changes need to be made."
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