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Calma calls on Rudd govt to "get it right" on intervention
ISSUE 180 - 25 Jun 2009
By Madelaine Sealey
NATIONAL
ISSUE 180, June 25, 2009: ABORIGINAL and Torres Strait Islander Commissioner Tom Calma has urged the government to "get it right" when considering the future of the Northern Territory intervention.
Mr Calma praised the government on its recent decision to re-instate the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA) in October but warned that any attempts to make compulsory income and alcohol management strategies should be completely understood by the communities.
Mr Calma said that open and genuine consultations must be central to federal government consultations in the 73 prescribed communities affected by the intervention.
He noted that while some previous measures had been "beneficial", outcomes should not be delivered, "through racially prejudiced means".
"We know that a consultation process was entirely absent in the introduction of the [intervention] measures and that community views were not considered in the design or delivery of these measures," Mr Calma said.
"Once we create and allow laws that treat people differently on the basis of their race, it's a slippery slope downwards to an Australia where the 'fair go' no longer counts."
 
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