Clare Martin's speech at the ACT Labor Club.

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THE STATE of Aboriginal communities across the Northern Territory and the nation is a matter of national significance, and requires urgent attention and a long-term commitment to getting it right.

It’s a commitment that has to involve a meaningful partnership between all tiers of government and our Aboriginal communities. It must deal directly and boldly with the real causes of the problems that face Aboriginal Australians.

In the media over the past few weeks we’ve seen images and heard stories that have shocked many Australians – and so they should. Aboriginal people have:

• a life expectation 20 years less than other Australians;
• the highest rates of chronic diseases, many of which have their origins in early childhood or even before birth;
• the lowest educational outcomes of any group in Australia; and
• the highest levels of unemployment.

The issues are complex but, if we’re to make a real difference, it’s time to tackle the underlying causes of issues like child abuse, family violence and community safety – not just the symptoms. Forcing people to move from communities into cities and towns doesn’t work – we need a long term investment in infrastructure, education and employment.

Wadeye
Theodora Nardu is a senior traditional owner of the Wadeye community. Theodora has as a keen understanding of the issues facing her community and she’s under no illusion about what needs to be done.

She says that top of the wish list for most people is housing. Theodora knows the difference uncluttered housing and better living conditions would make to families like hers.Imagine having to sleep in the kitchen and wake each morning – every morning – to share a bathroom with 17 other occupants in a small house.

The World Health Organisation has identified overcrowded living conditions, resultant high levels of stress, and poverty as key risk factors associated with child abuse. I couldn’t agree more – less crowded living conditions, education and sustainable jobs are the keys to long term change.

By 2023, Wadeye will be our fourth largest town with a population that’s currently doubling every 20 years, a typical pattern across many Aboriginal townships in Northern Australia.

A total of 206 dwellings would need to be constructed immediately in Wadeye just to bring current overcrowding down to a ratio of seven persons per house.

Many fronts
I am fighting to convince the Federal Government that urgent action is needed on a number of fronts, not just law and order measures. Of course, I agree with the Federal Minister for Indigenous Affairs that we need to ensure the streets of Wadeye and other communities are safe for their residents – that’s why NT Labor increased the police budget by 55% since 2001, which mean more police resources in some of our remotest communities.

But make no mistake – the sporadic riots we’ve seen recently are a symptom of a much deeper problem, one with overcrowded living conditions at its core.

The reality is the Territory just doesn’t have the resources to tackle these issues on our own. As it stands, around half our budget is spent on Aboriginal Territorians – who make up 28% of our population. And further, if we think the situation is critical now, what will be the compounding effect of inaction be in 20 years time?

There are no easy solutions and improvements can be painfully slow – but we are making some headway. While some may have only just discovered the problems of Aboriginal Australia, we have been dealing with it in real and practical ways for years.

Alcohol management
As you know, the abuse of alcohol is at the very core of the breakdown of many Aboriginal communities. We’re focussed on addressing alcohol-related issues on a region by region basis, because there’s no one solution that fits all.

We’re developing management strategies for alcohol through ‘Local Area Alcohol Management Plans’ – which are delivering solutions that are relevant to each community. The key is for these plans to have community ownership because, without it, the exercise is pointless.

These plans are being developed across the Territory – particularly in Alice Springs, Katherine and Nhulunbuy. An example I’d like to discuss in a little more detail is Groote Eylandt.

We faced real alcohol management issues on Groote – something had to be done. Today, you require a permit to buy take-away alcohol on Groote. It’s a tough but fair system that seems to be working.

We worked closely with the President of the Anindilyakwa Land Council, Tony Wurramarrba who worked in turn with other leaders from neighbouring communities on Groote Eylandt and Bickerton Island – people like Walter Amagula and Jabani Lalara (Jar-bani Lay-lara) – to get things moving.

The result is a strong leadership group with an effective partnership between government, police and community organisations.

So Groote’s local solution is: No ID card, no take away alcohol – no exceptions.

The decisions whether to issue, revoke or refuse a permit are made by a local committee composed of community representatives from the land council, Aboriginal community councils, police, health, the local mining company and the licensees. And the results so far:

• crime and anti-social behaviour is down by about 75%; and
• sick leave at the mine Gemco has also dropped by two-thirds for their Aboriginal employees.

These are promising outcomes and we are now looking at expanding the permit system to other locations where it is appropriate and wanted.

Education
We all know educating and skilling young Aboriginal people is critical if we are to break the cycle of poverty and despair we see in so many of our communities. For the very first time, we’re delivering secondary education in these communities and exploring innovative ways of delivering education to students in remote parts of the Territory.

We’re the first Territory Government to do this since self-Government.

But the task is by no means straightforward. The school at Maningrida is a case in point. The school didn’t commence properly until 1958 – nearly half a century ago. It will amaze you to know that when we came to office in 2001, not one student from that school had ever graduated. Not one.

In fact, no Aboriginal student had ever graduated anywhere in the Territory while living in a remote bush community – it just didn’t happen.

But three years ago Rhonda Rankin, Lianna Brown and Meschach Paddy graduated through Year 12 in a bush school in the Kalkaringi community – the place where Gough Whitlam poured sand into the hand of Vincent Lingiari 40 years ago this August.

It was a momentous achievement and will be seen, I think, in years to come as a turning point for remotely-based Aboriginal Territorians.

And these three young pioneers have gone from strength to strength. Rhonda’s in her third year at Flinders University doing a Bachelor of Cultural Tourism, Lianna’s at Charles Darwin University doing a Bachelor of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, and Meschach is undertaking a Bachelor of Teaching, also at Charles Darwin University.

The following year, 2004, another six students graduated, and I’m very pleased to be able to tell you that four of those students were from Maningrida. Thomasina Hayes, Jacinta Wilson-Jinaybaray, Jodie Cooper and Isaiah Taylor were proud graduates and were the toast of the town.

The numbers really picked up last year on the back of those initial successes with 25 graduates including seven from Wadeye, and this year the number is set to rise to 30.

Now these figures may not seem very high but, given the challenges facing students, teachers and the Government in the Territory, it really is a significant achievement.

Skills development
Attitudes to school and education are changing in many of our remote communities. People are genuinely excited about the getting their children an education. Last week, the Deputy Chief Minister and the Minister for Education – Syd Stirling – had a great day out at Galiwin’ku on Elcho Island. He simply can’t stop talking about it!

Hundreds of students, parents and community members turned out to celebrate the launch of their new senior secondary school – Shepherdson College. There was a special ceremony with plenty of song and dance and lots of very excited children. It’s a bilingual school and already boasts a student population of about 700 – from preschool through to year 12. Syd also got to present three students with their Year 12 certificates.

I’m sure those young people will inspire our new students at Shepherdson to great heights. We’re determined that our students leave school literate, numerate and job ready – an essential criteria for every Australian – and absolutely vital if we are to improve the prospects of future generations of Aboriginal Territorians.

NT Labor is also committed to growing a skilled workforce and getting more people into training, especially apprenticeships and traineeships. A record number of Territorians are enrolled in apprenticeships and traineeships and over a fifth of all our apprentices and trainees are Aboriginal.

There is a long way to go … but we’re heading in the right direction.

NOTE: This is an edited excerpt from Clare Martin’s recent speech at the ACT Labor Club as part of Bob McMullan’s 'Fraser Lecture Series'. The speech is available in full under 'downloads' on this page.