Election fever is hitting Queensland, and Law and Order is high on the agenda. And the problems Indigenous kids present are front and centre. And the economy as the campaign rollings along… Labor are not able to run the economy, look at the cost of living, inflation, interest rates, housing costs.
Taking a leaf out of the recent Northern Territory campaign which saw Labor representation reduced to two seats with LNP the promise to deal with youth crime, by reducing the age of criminal accountability to 10 years and on the economic front to reduce restrictions on the destruction of the environment by promoting broader farming reliant on ground water sourced irrigation the campaigning is reduced to simplistic sloganeering, tough on crime and the economy.
March next year it is election time in Western Australian and the Liberals are taking heart and looking closely at the campaign run in the NT to reclaim previously lost ground. A simple message: Labor is weak on crime and the economy, so we criminalise kids and ‘drill, baby drill’ drill to exploit natural gas, jobs, jobs jobs, (profits, profits, profits for those who have already got the most) and bugger the environment.
And hot on the heels of the state election will be the Federal election with Dutton leading the charge in a quest to regain ground lost last time around, a fairer distribution of GST, Western Australia gets way too much, the economy, drill baby drill some more, let’s go nuclear and lets get real tough on crime… especially poor people who resort to crime, bring in the army to bring to heal rampaging kids in Alice Springs or Townsville or Broome, but leave the corporate criminals alone, those who don’t pay taxes on their million dollar incomes, those giant corporations who provide so much employment but manage to off shore their profits to tax havens while demanding infrastructure, roads, ports, airports, the billionaires who fund pet projects in preference to paying taxes.
Tough on crime is problematic. How tough do we need to be to reduce crime? Especially uncontrolled kids stealing cars, doing drugs and drinking alcohol?
Does lowering the age that a kid can be called a criminal and face sanctions including youth detention the answer?
Youth detention in the Northern Territory, Western Australia, Queensland have been in the news in recent times, but is an issue in all places around the country.
Kids being abused, beaten while in detention, locked away in solitary confinement with a minimal amount of sunshine time has seen the detention centre in Western Australia, Banksia Hill almost destroyed as kids rioted, that forced the government to open a unit in an adult prison for kids. That worked really well, as the recent coronial inquest into the death by suicide of a young man demonstrated. The staff in the adult prison were not trained in dealing with kids, and were negligent in their duties. And a son, a brother, a friend died needlessly.
And then just last week another young man in youth detention suicided.
How tough on crime do we need to be? Or could it be that there are some specific issues these young, mainly Indigenous young people face which need to be focussed on?
Could it be that kids who are disengaged in schools are giving some serious clues that they may be facing some issues?
Could it be that in this wealthy nation we could throw a bit of money to establish some intervention programmes, like taking those kids out of the school environment, where they hardly attend (absenteeism is a pretty good indicator that there are issues) and perhaps guide them through some of these issues, get them ‘work ready’ through finding suitable TAFE or apprenticeship programmes, have empathetic councillors available to walk and talk them through some of the life issues they face, oh and possibly, just maybe find a means of engaging their parents in such an endeavour? Maybe even connect them with their Indigenous cultures with time on country with an elder to take them through an understanding of who they are?
The problems faced by Indigenous people is that they have not really been listened to in the past. (What a good idea it would be to find a means of listening to them rather than have them be told what is needed… something like giving them a VOICE!)
I recently picked up a book first published in 1997 (and recently updated). The newest edition included a foreword which highlighted the need for an Aboriginal voice to be heard since successive governments rewrite the rules of engagement to suit them, rather than to listen to those who need most to be heard. The book is called Grog Wars, by Alexis Wright, dealing with alcohol issues and domestic violence in Tennant Creek. The conflict between the business needs of the hotels, bottle shops and night clubs, the claim of a ‘human right’ to drink being restricted from some members of the Tennant Creek community through restricted trading hours, especially on pension days, the marketing strength of the alcohol drink manufacturers, the resistance to understanding Indigenous needs and the deafness of politicians to try to understand the damage alcohol was doing to the town culture and the Aboriginal communities of Tennant Creek. It is an ongoing issue, not just in Tennant Creek but throughout Australia.
Law and order probably means building more prisons and juvenile detention centres to further disenfranchise the most marginalised members of our communities, effectively criminalising their poverty. I do wonder if by being tough on law and order, politicians would welcome restrictions on alcohol in all the parliaments… and perhaps even drug and alcohol testing as is carried out in many work places. Barnaby Joyce may have a bit of a problem with that, his is just the first name which comes to mind, but I am confident that he is not alone in liking a bit to drink now and again… and then there are those rumoured to enjoy other substances.
Maybe, just maybe, by being a little more creative in dealing with social issues such as drug and alcohol abuse and family violence the Law and Order debate can focus on how to help people deal with the ‘shit life syndrome’ which is so often the cause of the addictions and subsequent behavioural issues.
Now, what about the economy, how can it be demonstrated that Labor are pretty useless when it comes to ‘the economy’? They stand in the way, placing too many obstacles in the path of unfettered development. (Don’t mention that there have been budget surpluses during the current Labor government).
Is ‘the economy’ all about development, changing the environment, using the environment as a resource to develop new industries, new crops to grow, more resources to drill and dig up, despite the ever growing recognition that the environment is under threat, climate change is bringing home these problems we were warned about?
It would appear so.
On the ABC’s Four Corners programme a couple of weeks ago, the development of new crops including cotton are the new economic drivers in the Northern Territory. Cotton is a thirsty crop, and irrigated water is a limited resource. The license to use the water for the cotton crop is almost limitless, and it is free; the agreement does not apply a charge for the water drawn from the aquifer. The cotton industry in Queensland and Northern New South Wales has been the major cause for the destruction of the Murray Darling River system.
Indigenous people – the traditional owners – have expressed their concern that the draw of water from the aquifer is damaging the flow of ground water in the streams and creeks which have sustained life over many thousands of years, but the flow is reducing, and the water quality is compromised meaning that traditional food sources are being compromised.
If water quality is compromised because of the destruction of its course, it means that the development of new agriculture is nor sustainable in the long term. A bit like mining really, when the ore body is gone, the mine closes, the employment generated disappears and the environment has a giant hole in it. Or the aquifer no longer sustains life not just for cotton or what ever other new, thirsty crop was grown, but the natural environment is destroyed. The vegetation which for countless eons has sustained life dies.
Again, listen to the Indigenous voice: their song lines which tell the story of the land, which have been the songs of survival in the harsh environment for many thousands of years. The land is sacred, and the Indigenous people know it intimately.
Ah, the economy. Live sheep exports are coming to an end and the sheep farmers are not happy. Labor’s doing. Yet the market for the meat of those animals will not just disappear. Again, a bit of creative thinking... perhaps new abattoirs can be built in regional centres, and packaged meats can be shipped to the markets. Oh, an airport close by and aircraft loaded with frozen meats can deliver same day to anywhere in the world. Employment opportunities in regional areas. Not such a silly idea, is it?
Especially not such a silly idea when the alcohol-fuelled crime rates in regional areas are a significant problem, the ‘shit life syndrome’ problem where people resort to drugs and alcohol and get into trouble because there is no employment, no sense of self worth through being able to afford to live a normal life, from being dependent on the welfare cheque rather than a wage or salary, of having too much time with nothing to do, to get into trouble, to have to build more prisons and youth detention centres because we are tough on crime, law and order is the go! Lock ‘em up, even kids as young as 10.
Election slogans with no substance, looking for quick fixes for complex problems make for easy wins from a disengaged population. But do not form the basis for tackling the problems we face.
[textblock style=”7″]
Like what we do at The AIMN?
You’ll like it even more knowing that your donation will help us to keep up the good fight.
Chuck in a few bucks and see just how far it goes!
Your contribution to help with the running costs of this site will be gratefully accepted.
You can donate through PayPal or credit card via the button below, or donate via bank transfer: BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969
[/textblock]
