Greens release Aboriginal affairs policy

MARGIE FRIEL, director of the Aboriginal Youth Law Centre at the Northern Territory University, is the architect of the Australian Greens' Aboriginal affairs policy, released in February. Standing in the federal election as the Greens' number one Senate candidate for the NT, Friel has campaigned against racism and for justice for Aboriginal people for 20 years. TOM FLANAGAN interviewed her for Green Left Weekly in Darwin. The first goal in the Greens' Aboriginal affairs policy statement is the implementation of the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. In response to the suggestion that the chief obstacle to the implementation of those recommendations is the police themselves, Friel proposes better training for the police and the employment of Aboriginal police on a large scale to change the sort of attitudes inherent in the police force. While proposing non-custodial options such as stern warnings, sobering-up shelters and other services to avoid imprisonment, Friel also argues that the police have to be made responsible for their actions. "Until police actually start getting charged and punished for the things they've done, it's going to be very difficult", she says. One of the principles in the Greens' policy is that "Aboriginal people who retain control over land shall not be dispossessed of such land, and their right to continue to occupy and maintain a traditional lifestyle on that land shall be recognised". On the Native Title Act, the Australian Greens are proposing "an amendment to ensure that native title continues to exist on pastoral leases unless expressly extinguished". Friel commented, "The Native Title Act is something that a lot of people waited for for a long time. If they're able to get something out of it, that's good. But to me personally, it doesn't mean anything. "It disgusts me that when an Aboriginal person is making a claim, it takes over 10 years to get an answer. Mabo died before he got his answer [the High Court ruling that upheld native title]. And then, a year and a half after Mabo, we get the Native Title Act, which took it all back and gave certainty to non-Aboriginal people [pastoralists and mining companies] about their tenure; that got done very quickly. If there are people still living on their land but don't have that piece of paper in their hand, you can't come and dispossess them again." Addressing employment in remote areas, the Greens' policy calls for the replacement of the Community Development Employment Program (CDEP) with equitable, long-term employment opportunities. Friel describes CDEP as "a program whereby a community will get a bag of money — a capital element and the equivalent of the dole for people involved in a particular project". She says, "A lot of Aboriginal people like CDEP, but it's usually because there's nothing else for them. "There's this notion that Aboriginal people don't want to work. But the reality is that there are 27,000 Aboriginal people in Australia who work for the dole on CDEP programs. That's 27,000 people who want a job, and the employment isn't there. I'm not saying CDEP should be scrapped; it's a good short-term thing. But there has to be something beyond that. CDEP is 16 hours' work a week, but there's no award wages and no superannuation — that's my concern." On Aboriginal housing, Friel argues, "It has to be done, it has to take a higher priority. We're proposing that Aboriginal people be involved in the construction industry, and in maintenance and repairs. The bureaucrats wonder why they have to keep fixing Aboriginal housing up, but it's simply because the people don't know how to do it themselves. It's got to do with culture ... if you or I were sent into the bush to live, without housing or anything, the knowledge we have wouldn't get us anywhere either." The Greens call for allocation of funding for health and housing on a needs rather than per capita basis. The policy argues for the provision of direct funding for Aboriginal-controlled health services on a triennial basis — a long-standing demand of Aboriginal health services. In addition, it emphasises mental health, the inclusion of Aboriginal knowledge and the training of Aboriginal health research professionals. The Greens also call for "an abeyance in litigation examining the indigenous religious beliefs of Aboriginal peoples, particularly women". Other key policies include the implementation of youth legal advocacy services and interpreter services. Second on the Greens' Senate ticket is well-known environmentalist Ilana Eldridge. The Greens' House of Representatives candidate is Dr Philip Nitschke, a prominent campaigner against uranium mining and in favour of voluntary euthanasia legislation.