Northern Territory National Emergency Response

The Northern Territory National Emergency Response (also referred to as "the intervention") was a package of changes to welfare provision, law enforcement, land tenure and other measures, introduced by the Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n federal government under John Howard

John Howard

John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....

in 2007 to address claims of rampant child sexual abuse

Child sexual abuse

Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities , indecent exposure with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to...

and neglect in Northern Territory

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...

Aboriginal communities. Operation Outreach

Operation Outreach

Operation Outreach was the Australian Defence Force's contribution to the Northern Territory National Emergency Response .The NTNER is a package of changes to welfare provision, law enforcement, land tenure and other measures, introduced by the Australian federal government under John Howard in...

, the intervention's main logistical operation conducted by a force of 600 soldiers and detachments from the ADF

Australian Defence Force

The Australian Defence Force is the military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy , Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force and a number of 'tri-service' units...

(including NORFORCE

NORFORCE

The NORFORCE is an infantry regiment of the Australian Army Reserve. Formed in 1981, the regiment is one of three Regional Force Surveillance Units employed in surveillance and reconnaissance of the remote areas of Northern Australia.-History:In the late-1970s and early 1980s the need for a...

) concluded on 21 October 2008.

The package was the Federal government's response to the Territory government's publication of Little Children are Sacred
Little Children are Sacred
Little Children are Sacred is the report of a Board of Inquiry into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse commissioned by the government of the Northern Territory, Australia, was publicly released on 15 June 2007...

, but implemented only two out of ninety-seven of the report's recommendations. The response has been criticised, but also received bipartisan parliamentary support. The current Prime Minister Julia Gillard

Julia Gillard

Julia Eileen Gillard is the 27th and current Prime Minister of Australia, in office since June 2010.Gillard was born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales and migrated with her family to Adelaide, Australia in 1966, attending Mitcham Demonstration School and Unley High School. In 1982 Gillard moved...

has and continues to support the response, though her predecessor Kevin Rudd

Kevin Rudd

Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...

did make some adjustments to its implementation. The Emergency Response has since been lapsed, and is being replaced.

Legislation

The legislation introduced as part of the package included:

the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Bill 2007
Northern Territory National Emergency Response Bill 2007
The Northern Territory National Emergency Response Bill 2007 is one of five bills comprising the legislative package for the Northern Territory National Emergency Response, introduced by the Coalition Government under Prime Minister John Howard in 2007.-Exemption from the Racial Discrimination Act...

;
the Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Welfare Payment Reform) Bill 2007;
the Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Other Legislation Amendment ( Northern Territory National Emergency Response and Other Measures) Bill 2007;
the Appropriation (Northern Territory National Emergency Response) Bill (No. 1) 2007-2008; and
the Appropriation (Northern Territory National Emergency Response) Bill (No. 2) 2007-2008.

Notably, Clause 132 of the first Bill stated that the provisions of it are classified as 'special measures' under the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 and therefore exempt from Part II of the Act. While the main elements of the intervention were otherwise kept in place, this exemption from provisions of the Racial Discrimination Act was brought to an end in 2010.

Measures

The $587 million package came into effect with the passage of the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act 2007 by the Australian Parliament in August 2007. The nine measures contained therein were as follows:

Deployment of additional police to affected communities.
New restrictions on alcohol and kava
Kava
Kava or kava-kava is a crop of the western Pacific....
Pornography
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...

filters on publicly funded computers
Compulsory acquisition of townships currently held under the title provisions of the Native Title Act 1993
Native Title Act 1993
The Native Title Act of 1993 provides for determinations of native title in Australia. The Act was passed by the Keating Labor Government in response to the High Court's decision in Mabo v Queensland...

through five year leases with compensation on a basis other than just terms. (The number of settlements involved remains unclear.)
Commonwealth funding for provision of community services
Removal of customary law and cultural practice considerations from bail applications and sentencing within criminal proceedings
Suspension of the permit system
Quarantining of a proportion of welfare benefits to all recipients in the designated communities and of all benefits of those who neglect their children
The abolition of the Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP).

Political context

The response was introduced during the lead-up to the 2007 federal election, at which the incumbent Coalition

Coalition (Australia)

The Coalition in Australian politics refers to a group of centre-right parties that has existed in the form of a coalition agreement since 1922...

government led by John Howard

John Howard

John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....

, in office since 1996, was defeated. The policy was criticised as rushed and poll-driven , although it gained the broad support of the Rudd Labor

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

opposition and some Aboriginal leaders.

The response also came at a time of increasing debate over the future of federalism

Federalism

Federalism is a political concept in which a group of members are bound together by covenant with a governing representative head. The term "federalism" is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and...

in Australia, in particular the proper extent of federal power into areas of government traditionally managed by the states and territories. It was one of a number of federal interventions enacted in 2007. Other state responsibilities targeted by the Australian Government at the time included seaports, workplace relations, the Murray-Darling river system

Murray-Darling Basin

The Murray-Darling basin is a large geographical area in the interior of southeastern Australia, whose name is derived from its two major rivers, the Murray River and the Darling River. It drains one-seventh of the Australian land mass, and is currently by far the most significant agricultural...

and public hospitals.

The policy was initially insulated from criticism because of the sensitive nature of the issue and the fact that the national Parliament faces no constitutional barriers to overruling the Northern Territory government, unlike the governments of Australia's states.

Howard, Rudd and Gillard Government policy

The Northern Territory Intervention was originally drafted by the Howard Government

Howard Government

The Howard Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia led by Prime Minister John Howard. It was made up of members of the Liberal–National Coalition, which won a majority of seats in the Australian House of Representatives at four successive elections. The Howard Government...

, with Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough

Mal Brough

Malcolm Thomas "Mal" Brough is a former Australian politician and Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from March 1996 to November 2007, representing the Division of Longman, Queensland...

being the chief architect. The Rudd Government

Rudd Government

The Rudd Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia of the Australian Labor Party from 2007 to 2010, led by Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister. The Rudd Government commenced on 3 December 2007, when Rudd was sworn in along with his ministry...

took office in 2007 and pledged to continue the policy, though Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin

Jenny Macklin

Jennifer Louise Macklin , is an Australian politician. She is Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs in the Gillard Ministry...

ended the suspension of the Racial Discrination Act in 2010. The Labor Party replaced Kevin Rudd

Kevin Rudd

Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...

with Julia Gillard

Julia Gillard

in 2010 and the Gillard Government

Gillard Government

The Gillard Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia, which is led by the Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard. Julia Gillard became Prime Minister on the 24th of June 2010 after challenging her predecessor, Kevin Rudd for the position of leader of the parliamentary...

also pledged to continue the Intervention.

By February 2011, the original architect of the policy, former minister Mal Brough was arguing that the Intervention Policy had become stagnant and wasn't going to work unless it was revitalised.
In April 2011, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott

Tony Abbott

Anthony John "Tony" Abbott is the Leader of the Opposition in the Australian House of Representatives and federal leader of the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott has represented the seat of Warringah since the 1994 by-election...

proposed consultation with Indigenous people

Indigenous Australians

Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....

over a bipartisan Federal Government intervention in Northern Territory towns like Alice Springs, Katherine and Tennant Creek which would cover such areas as police numbers and school attendance in an effort to address what he described as a "failed state" situation developing in areas of the Northern Territory.

Prime Minister Gillard toured Northern Territory Communities in June 2007 and told the media "I believe the intervention has made a difference", citing the provision of meals to children, and better child health and welfare outcomes and a reduction in aggravated assaults.

Reaction and debate

Though the plan achieved broad bi-partisan support in the Parliament, it has also been criticised by the Northern Territory Labor government, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission

The Australian Human Rights Commission is a national human rights institution, a statutory body funded by, but operating independently of, the Australian Government. It has the responsibility for investigating alleged infringements under Australia’s anti-discrimination legislation...

and by several Aboriginal leaders and community spokespeople. The plan was also given strong or qualified support by other community groups and Aboriginal leaders.

The measures of the response which have attracted most criticism comprise the exemption from the Racial Discrimination Act 1975

Racial Discrimination Act 1975

The Racial Discrimination Act 1975 is a statute passed by the Australian Parliament during the Prime Ministership of Labor Gough Whitlam....

, the compulsory acquisition of an unspecified number of prescribed communities (Measure 5) and the partial abolition of the permit system (Measure 10). These have been interpreted as undermining important principles and parameters established as part of the legal recognition of indigenous land rights

Land rights

Land law is the form of law that deals with the rights to use, alienate, or exclude others from land. In many jurisdictions, these species of property are referred to as real estate or real property, as distinct from personal property. Land use agreements, including renting, are an important...

in Australia.

More generally, a lack of consultation with Aboriginal community leaders is often cited by critics of the response, alongside the fact that the action addresses very few of the specific recommendations contained in the Little Children are Sacred Report, while introducing many measures not suggested in the Report.

Some Aboriginal commentators and activists, such as Noel Pearson, Marcia Langton

Marcia Langton

Marcia Lynne Langton is one of Australia's leading Aboriginal scholars. She holds the Foundation Chair in Australian Indigenous Studies at the University of Melbourne, Australia...

and Bess Price

Bess Price

Bess Nungarrayi Price is an Australian indigenous activist and chair of the Northern Territory Indigenous Affairs Advisory Council.Born in Yuendumu, her first language is Warlpiri. She also knows Luritja, Western Arrernte and Anmatyerre...

, have offered qualified support, criticising aspects of the response while nevertheless believing it to be necessary and worthwhile. The Aboriginal leader Galarrwuy Yunupingu

Galarrwuy Yunupingu

Galarrwuy YunupinguAM is a leader in the Australian Indigenous community, and has been involved in the fight for Land Rights throughout his career...

initially supported the response, but by 2010 has lost faith in it.

In 2010, James Anaya, a United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

Special Rapporteur, found the Emergency Response to be racially discriminating and infringe on the human rights of Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory. Anaya acknowledged that emergency action was needed but said that measures like banning alcohol and pornography and quarantining a percentage of welfare income for the purchase of essential goods represented a limitation on "individual autonomy". While finding some support among organisations like the Australian Greens

Australian Greens

The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, is an Australian green political party.The party was formed in 1992; however, its origins can be traced to the early environmental movement in Australia and the formation of the United Tasmania Group , the first Green party in the world, which...

, the Report was widely condemned in Australia, with the Rudd Government

Rudd Government

's Indigenous Affairs Minister, Jenny Macklin

Jenny Macklin

Jennifer Louise Macklin , is an Australian politician. She is Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs in the Gillard Ministry...

, saying that her duty to protect the rights of children was paramount; Opposition Spokesman Tony Abbott

Tony Abbott

querying whether Anaya had adequately consulted with people who had lived through the intervention; indigenous activist Warren Mundine

Warren Mundine

Warren Stephen Mundine is an Australian Aboriginal leader and the former National President of the Australian Labor Party . He is a member of the Bundjalung people....

saying the report should be "binned" and Central Australian Aboriginal leader Bess Price

Bess Price

criticising the UN for not sending a female repporteur and said that Abaya had been led around by opponents of the intervention to meet with opponents of the intervention.

Criticism

The intervention in the Northern Territory has come under fire by a variety of groups. Claims made by critics of the intervention are as follows:

In 1999, a report titled Violence in Indigenous Communities was prepared by Dr Paul Memmott, but was suppressed until 2001 and not acted upon.
An inter-governmental summit on violence and child abuse was held in 2006. This pointed to the cost and blame shifting that characterised federal-territory and state relations, but no further action was taken.
The United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

has expressed concern over the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act, writing to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...

in March 2009 following a complaint made to the UN by a collective of Aboriginal communities.

Support

Following the announcement of the intervention plan by the Howard Government

Howard Government

, Cape York

Cape York

Cape York may refer to:* Cape York , a cape at the north-west coast of Greenland, in northern Baffin Bay* Cape York meteorite, meteorite found in 1894 near Cape York, Greenland...

indigenous leader Noel Pearson

Noel Pearson

Noel Pearson is an Aboriginal Australian lawyer, academic, land rights activist and founder of the Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership, an organisation promoting the economic and social development of Cape York....

offered qualified support, telling ABC Radio on 22 June 2007:
Writing in February 2008, Aboriginal academic Marcia Langton

Marcia Langton

Marcia Lynne Langton is one of Australia's leading Aboriginal scholars. She holds the Foundation Chair in Australian Indigenous Studies at the University of Melbourne, Australia...

forthrightly rejected arguments that the Intervention had been a "political ploy" and argued that the policy in fact marked the death of a "wrong-headed male Aboriginal ideology":
Aboriginal leader and former Australian Labor Party president, Warren Mundine

Warren Mundine

Warren Stephen Mundine is an Australian Aboriginal leader and the former National President of the Australian Labor Party . He is a member of the Bundjalung people....

spoke against critics of the Intervention in 2010, saying:
In 2011, after more than three years of the Intervention, Central Australian indigenous leader Bess Price

Bess Price

told ABC television:

Legislation

Measures

Political context

Howard, Rudd and Gillard Government policy

Reaction and debate

Criticism

Support

See also

External links

Further reading