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The Northern Territory's Anti-discrimination Commissioner, Tony Fitzgerald. |
BLACK&WHITE: The right to be treated equally
ISSUE 169 - 21 Jan 2009
ISSUE 169, January 22, 2009: In Darwin, GRAHAM RING has a yarn with the Northern Territory's Anti-discrimination Commissioner, Tony Fitzgerald.
Tony Fitzgerald was born in Sydney and spent the first 16 years of his life there, before moving to Melbourne where he studied law and commerce at Melbourne University.
Fitzgerald describes himself as a "fairly ordinary student" but remembers his time at uni with some affection.
"I played a lot of rugby and met a lot of people. I got a job working for the Tenants Union at Fitzroy Legal Service for a year or so.
"I stayed in Melbourne till I was 25, then in 1978 I came to Darwin and, apart from a three-year stint back in Melbourne in the late eighties, I have been here ever since.
"The Northern Territory is a fabulous part of the world and I'm really glad that I came here."
Tony was aware of Indigenous disadvantage in an abstract sense, but like many people growing up in the south-east of the continent, had very little contact with Aboriginal people.
"I had never even spoken to a blackfella before I got to Darwin," he recalls.
"I came up here to take a job with the Aboriginal Legal Service. I had a contract for a year and I thought I would stay here for 12 months and then go overseas. When I was introduced to the staff, that was the first time I had ever spoken to Aboriginal people."
Tony spent four years with the North Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service, then worked as a lawyer and barrister in private practice before taking a job with the Legal Aid Commission.
In the mid-nineties, Tony left the law and got involved in dispute resolution.
"I was interested in the idea of a neutral third-party sitting between people and helping to resolve their difference, as distinct from the adversarial side of the law."
In 2002 Fitzgerald commenced in the role of NT Anti-Discrimination Commissioner, with an extraordinarily wide remit.
The objects of the Act include the promotion of the right to equality; the elimination of sexual harassment; and the elimination of discrimination on the grounds of race, sex, sexuality, age, marital status, religious belief or political affiliation.
The commissioner is a statutory office holder whose job is to try and resolve complaints, rather than represent the complainant.
"I don't advocate for either side," Fitzgerald explains. "I try and get parties to resolve their situation and if they can't, I'll hear evidence and make determinations.
"I can make orders, award damages and require people to submit to training so they understand their rights and responsibilities."
The Commission is also funded to provide public education and training, and to advise government on human rights issues.
Tony is keen to see the Commission take a higher profile in the bush, but says that the organisation is restricted by resource imitations.
"We are not a high priority for government. We don't have an office in Alice Springs and in my view this severely compromises access to justice for people in Central Australia.
"We need to be there promoting the issues, and talking about respect and tolerance.
"We should also be doing a lot more work in remote locations but we can't because we don't have the money."
The Anti-Discrimination Commission made a detailed submission to Peter Yu's NTER review team. Fitzgerald is scathing about the intervention, particularly the imposition of unilateral welfare quarantining.
"It's an expediency approach. A short term, knee-jerk response to the major problem of disadvantage in remote communities.
"The government styled the intervention as an emergency, but they had known there was a problem for at least 40 years.
"The Territory government and the federal government have systematically under-funded remote communities."
Tony argues that quarantining should be made voluntary, or at least based on fault, rather than being imposed across the board on the basis of geography or skin colour.
The controversial Northern Territory Emergency Response legislation not only suspended the federal Racial Discrimination Act in prescribed areas, it also suspended the operation of the NT Anti-Discrimination Act in respect to matters associated with the intervention.
"The suspension of the Act strikes at the heart of the human right to be treated equally."
Fitzgerald's submission to the NTER Review recommended the restoration of both pieces of legislation. He called for the scrapping of the NTER in favour of long-term initiatives designed to overcome remote disadvantage, particularly in relation to housing, health, education and employment.
The submission noted the importance of constructive engagement with remote communities and the need for flexibility of policy design and delivery to incorporate regional variation.
Finally, the Commissioner made the novel suggestion that the recommendations of the Little Children are Sacred report - a document widely touted as the trigger for the intervention - be properly considered by governments.
Fitzgerald expresses disappointment at the way in which Aboriginal people in the Territory are so readily demonised, and made to carry the can for wider social problems.
"Child abuse is a problem Australia-wide. It's not just an Indigenous problem - we shouldn't lose sight of that. Alcohol is not just an Indigenous problem, it's a problem right through the Territory."
"Government must lead," Tony responds when asked about the economic development of remote Indigenous communities in the Territory.
"The private entrepreneurs are not going to go in unless they see that there is a stable, safe environment that they can operate in.
"At the moment, few of the people in the bush have any option beyond unemployment benefits.
"We need to improve the delivery of training and education in the bush so that people can opt to be involved in a commercial economy."
Fitzgerald notes dryly that while remote Aboriginal communities are subjected to increasing pressure to demonstrate their economic viability, struggling whitefella townships across Australia are much less likely to be called to account.
The idea of the ALP's long-promised 'national representative Indigenous group' finds favour with Fitzgerald, at least in principle, but he is quick to impose a caveat.
"I think it's important that the government gets it right. The concern that I have is to ensure that the advice from such a group does not take the place of consulting locally with Indigenous leaders all around the country.
"Decisions should not be made in Canberra or Sydney about remote communities unless the issue has been run past the community that will be affected.
"One size will not fit all, because Maningrida has different issues to Yuendumu."
Beyond the office, Tony is dad to a couple of kids, and describes the responsibility as "pretty full-on but really enjoyable".
Fitzgerald, a self-confessed 'rugby nut' who has captained NT representative teams, is a keen watcher of sport. When it comes to real football, Tony confesses to being a Sydney Swans supporter - which Black and White is prepared to overlook - and having a 'soft spot' for Collingwood - which we are not.
Tony also has a substantial vinyl record collection, includes albums by Pink Floyd, Creedance and Chicago, and he plays the tenor sax - apparently with more enthusiasm than finesse.
During our yarn, Fitzgerald returns on a number of occasions to the importance of elevating the administration of Indigenous affairs beyond the capriciousness of three or four year electoral cycles.
"We need to get Indigenous funding out of the electoral cycle because it so critical that funding remain constant.
"The long-term change must be generational.
"It's going to cost a lot of money and the broader Australian community needs to support it."
This is surely a telling observation from a man who is in the business of ensuring that people get a fair go.
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