Aboriginal leaders have questioned the motives behind the NT intervention policy after the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) failed to find evidence of organised pedophile rings — a key motivation of the policy produced by then-Aboriginal affairs minister Mal Brough in 2007.
The intervention imposed heavy restrictions on alcohol, welfare spending and pornography and was justified by alleged sexual abuse against children in remote Aboriginal communities.
However, few if any charges have been laid against alleged pedophiles, and the ACC told the July 5 Sydney Morning Herald that there was no evidence to support the existence of organised pedophile groups.
A meeting of Aboriginal men in Banatjarl near Katherine in June condemned the policy because it labelled all Aboriginal men as pedophiles or protectors of pedophiles, a July 6 ABC Online article said.
"I cannot see any factual evidence base supporting the work that the ACC has done", Northern Land Council CEO Kim Hill told AAP on March 5 — four months before the SMH article reported the ACC's findings.
"Where are the arrests? Where are the outcomes? Can ACC or anyone else produce proof of these claims?" We now know that after all the stigmatising of Aboriginal people — not to mention the money spent and the ongoing paternalistic policies in NT Aboriginal communities — the answer is "no".