tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/northern-territory-emergency-response-3323/articlesNorthern Territory Emergency Response – The Conversation2023-01-24T11:19:39Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1984102023-01-24T11:19:39Z2023-01-24T11:19:39Z‘Opt-out’ alcohol bans in prospect for Indigenous communities after PM’s Alice Springs visit<p>New temporary restrictions on takeaway sales and the prospect of reimposed bans on alcohol in Indigenous communities – with “opt-out” provisions – have followed Anthony Albanese’s Tuesday visit to crisis-ridden Alice Springs. </p>
<p>After a brief round of talks with local Indigenous, civic and police representatives Albanese fronted the media with Northern Territory Chief Minister Natasha Fyles, federal minister Linda Burney, senators Malarndirri McCarthy and Patrick Dodson and the member for Lingiari, Marion Scrymgour.</p>
<p>Albanese stressed the need for co-operation across levels of government and announced the federal and NT governments had appointed Dorrelle Anderson as Central Australian Regional Controller. </p>
<p>She will lead consultations with communities on an “opt-out” system for banning alcohol in them. A report will be made next week to the two governments on moving to the change.</p>
<p>The lapsing last July of the federal legislation banning alcohol in communities has been followed by a dramatic spike in crime in Alice Springs and problems in other NT Indigenous communities. </p>
<p>Despite widespread calls to do so, the NT government has refused to reimpose the bans, saying that would be race-based discrimination. Communities wanting to stay dry have had to opt to do so. </p>
<p>The outcry about the wave of crime put strong pressure on the federal government to act, and prompted Albanese’s visit, which was only announced on Tuesday morning. He had intended to visit Alice Springs late last year but was struck down with COVID.</p>
<p>Albanese told the news conference Anderson would “report back on February 1, to myself and to the Chief Minister, about the implementation of potential changes to alcohol restrictions in Central Australia, including potentially moving to an opt-out situation rather than opt-in that has applied”.</p>
<p>Fyles said: “We put in an opt-in system and we have seen communities opt-in. That opt-in finishes next week, and what I commit to is looking at the system, working with the community, including the possibility of placing an [opt-out] system”. </p>
<p>In immediate measures, Fyles announced takeaway alcohol won’t be sold on Mondays and Tuesdays. The hours in which it can be sold on other days will be reduced and purchases limited to one daily transaction per person. These measures, which the federal government hopes will be a “circuit breaker”, will be imposed for three months. </p>
<p>She told the news conference that “not everyone will be happy” with the measures she announced. </p>
<p>Fyles said the NT government had “done more than any other government around alcohol policy and measures to reduce harm in our community. But we need to give the community respite and support and we need to do that immediately.” </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/federal-labor-mp-warns-alice-springs-crime-crisis-is-impeding-voice-debate-198312">Federal Labor MP warns Alice Springs crime crisis is impeding Voice debate</a>
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<p>The federal government also announced it will spend $48.8 million over two years in Alice Springs “to tackle crime, keep women and children safe and provide support for young people in communities”. </p>
<p>Money will go to high visibility law enforcement, improved CCTV, lighting and other safety measures, additional emergency accommodation to give young people a place to go at night, a boost for domestic violence services, and extending funding for safety and community services where the funding is due to end in June. </p>
<p>Meanwhile a Resolve poll in Nine newspapers has found support for the Indigenous Voice to parliament referendum declining from 53% in August-September to 47% in December-January, with 30% against (previously 29%). When people were forced to choose between a yes or no vote, 60% supported and 40% opposed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198410/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Albanese stressed the need for co-operation across levels of government and announced the federal and NT governments had appointed Dorrelle Anderson as Central Australian Regional controllerMichelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1233522019-09-16T20:40:22Z2019-09-16T20:40:22Z‘An insult’ – politicians sing the praises of the cashless welfare card, but those forced to use it disagree<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292133/original/file-20190912-190012-19fozeu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3872%2C2590&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The grey cashless debit card cannot be used at any alcohol or gambling outlet, nor used to withdraw cash.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>“This is a bit controversial, we know that,” deputy prime minister Michael McCormick told the <a href="https://www.michaelmccormack.com.au/media-releases/2019/9/16/address-to-the-nationals-federal-council-canberra-14-september-2019">National Party’s federal council</a>, which on the weekend voted for a national roll-out of cashless debit cards for anyone younger than 35 on the dole or receiving parenting payments. </p>
<p>The Nationals have joined the chorus within the federal government proclaiming the cards a huge success. </p>
<p>The Minister for Families and Social Services, Anne Ruston, has even gone so far as to claim welfare recipients are “<a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6355110/welfare-card-users-full-of-praise-govt/">singing its praises</a>”.</p>
<p>Really? </p>
<p>Both McCormick and Ruston have proclaimed success based on the most recent trial of cashless welfare in Queensland. This trial began barely six months ago, and the independent evaluation by the <a href="https://www.adelaide.edu.au/future-employment-skills/research#review-of-cashless-debit-card-cdc-trial-in-the-goldfields-region-of-wa">Future of Employment and Skills Research Centre</a> at the University of Adelaide is ongoing. </p>
<p>A more complex story emerges out of my research into lived experiences of the first cashless debit card trial, which began in Ceduna, South Australia, <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/families-and-children-programs-services-welfare-quarantining-cashless-debit-card/cashless-debit-card-ceduna-region">in March 2016</a> </p>
<p>I spent about three months in the town of Ceduna between mid 2017 and the end of 2018 talking to people <a href="https://insidestory.org.au/weve-lost-our-vision-a-card-cannot-give-vision-to-the-community">about life on the card</a>.</p>
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<span class="caption">Ceduna is located on the north-west coast of Eyre Peninsula, South Australia.</span>
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<p>All communities are diverse and people’s experiences diverge. Some liked the card, or had come to accept it, others were caught up dealing with far more significant problems. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-cashless-debit-card-trial-is-working-and-it-is-vital-heres-why-76951">The Cashless Debit Card Trial is working and it is vital – here's why</a>
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<p>But I talked to people who found the card “an insult”. They told me it made them feel “targeted” and “punished”. They talked of degradation and defiance. They also told me the card didn’t work. </p>
<p>As for the the claim by both Ruston (and her ministerial predecessor <a href="https://www.paulfletcher.com.au/portfolio-speeches/speech-to-sydney-institute-welfare-personal-responsibility-and-the-cashless">Paul Fletcher</a>) that the card empowers people to “demonstrate responsibility”, the opposite was true. In the words of June*, an Indigenous grandmother, foster carer and talented artist: “It has taken responsibility away from me. It’s treating me like a little kid again.” </p>
<h2>Indigenous testing grounds</h2>
<p>Ceduna, in the far west of South Australia, was the first of four sites chosen to trial cashless debit cards. The second was in the East Kimberley </p>
<p>The location of these two trial sites meant early trial participants have been predominately Indigenous. I am of the view that Indigenous communities are being used as testing grounds for new technologies and controversial measures.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/expansion-of-cashless-welfare-card-shows-shock-tactics-speak-louder-than-evidence-82585">Expansion of cashless welfare card shows shock tactics speak louder than evidence</a>
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<p>In the first two trial sites, income support recipients younger than 65 have just 20% of their payment deposited into their bank account. The remaining 80% goes on to their debit card, which cannot be used at any alcohol or gambling outlet across the nation. Nor can they be used to withdraw cash.</p>
<p>The lead-grey cashless debit card is similar but different to the lime-green BasicsCard, introduced as part of the 2007 Northern Territory National Emergency Response (the “Intervention”). The use of the BasicsCard as an “income management” tool was extended to non-Indigenous people in the Northern Territory in 2010, and to other states in 2012. </p>
<p>The BasicsCard generally quarantines 50% of a social security recipient’s income so that it cannot be spent on alcohol, gambling, tobacco or pornography. BasicsCard holders need to shop at approved stores. In contrast, the cashless debit card, administered by financial services company <a href="https://www2.indue.com.au/">Indue</a>, can theoretically be used wherever there are Eftpos facilities. </p>
<h2>Shame and humiliation</h2>
<p>My research wasn’t based on collecting statistics but “hanging out” and getting to know people. I came to see the stigma associated with the “grey card” sometimes resonated with past experiences. </p>
<p>Robert*, for example, told me about growing up on a mission and then suddenly finding himself as “one little blackfella” in a large high school. He was acutely sensitive to the “smirks” and judgements of others whenever he used the grey card to pay for things. </p>
<p>Pete* left high school after a couple of weeks to join an itinerant rural workforce that has since vanished. After decades of manual work, finding himself unemployed due to ill health was devastating enough. Being issued the grey card compounded his humiliation. </p>
<p>Others voiced their belief the grey card was designed to induce shame. But they refused that shame, expressing instead a defiant belief in the legitimacy of their need for support. </p>
<p>The welfare system often defines people by the one thing they are not currently doing – waged employment. But many people I spent time with in fact laboured constantly: it just wasn’t recognised as work. People like June*, for example, looked after sick kin, the elderly and children. Yet the grey card treated <em>them</em> as dependents. </p>
<p>I heard about ways of getting around the card’s restrictions. As one acquaintance put it: “Drunks gonna drink!” One strategy involved exchanging temporary use of the card for cash. With terms that nearly always disadvantage the card holder, it has the potential to make life tougher for people living in hardship.</p>
<p>These observations concur with the sober assessments of experts such as the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/cashless-welfare-card-trial-not-working-drug-and-alcohol-centre-says-20190910-p52pv5.html">South Australian Aboriginal Drug and Alcohol Council</a>.</p>
<p>The evaluation of the Ceduna trial for <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/10_2018/cashless-debit-card-trial-final-evaluation-report_2.pdf">the Department of Social Services</a> was more positive, noting that alcohol drinkers and gamblers reported doing so less frequently. But it also noted no reduction in crime statistics related to alcohol consumption, illegal drug use or gambling. And the Australian National Audit office was so critical of the government’s evaluation it <a href="https://www.anao.gov.au/work/performance-audit/implementation-and-performance-cashless-debit-card-trial">concluded</a> that it was difficult to ascertain “whether there had been a reduction in social harm” as a result of the card’s introduction. </p>
<p>Which makes simplistic claims about the card’s success look a bit rich.</p>
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<p>*<em>Pseudonyms are used throughout</em>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123352/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eve Vincent does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The lived experience of the lead-grey cashless debit card is a world away from the black-and-white impressions of federal politicians.Eve Vincent, Senior Lecturer, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/587292016-05-12T03:20:00Z2016-05-12T03:20:00ZWhy is it still possible to climb Uluru?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120961/original/image-20160503-19538-1ks2eue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dan Peled/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Northern Territory Chief Minister Adam Giles has described climbing Ulu<u>r</u>u as an unforgettable tourist experience – comparable to <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-20/adam-giles-calls-for-renewed-debate-about-uluru/7342208">scaling the Sydney Harbour Bridge</a>. The traditional owners, he has said, could derive important economic benefits from keeping it open. </p>
<p>Yet the A<u>n</u>angu people, Ulu<u>r</u>u’s traditional owners, have asked for decades that tourists not climb it. They <a href="http://www.parksaustralia.gov.au/uluru/do/we-dont-climb.html">explain</a> that Ulu<u>r</u>u is a sacred place; the path followed by the climb represents an important dreaming track and A<u>n</u>angu feel a personal responsibility for the deaths or injuries of climbers. </p>
<p>So why is the climb still an option? </p>
<h2>History of the climb</h2>
<p>Ulu<u>r</u>u has been climbed by tourists for much of the 20th century. In the early 1960s, a safety chain was installed to accommodate the growing number of visitors. Despite this chain, over 30 people have lost their lives climbing “the Rock”. Many more have been injured. Still, about <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/resource/management-plan-2010-2020-uluru-kata-tjuta-national-park">one-third of visitors</a> choose to climb. </p>
<p>The title for Ulu<u>r</u>u-Kata Tju<u>t</u>a National Park, in which Ulu<u>r</u>u stands, was transferred to A<u>n</u>angu control in 1985. Following the Rock’s handback, the traditional owners were obliged to lease the Park back to the Director of National Parks, with day-to-day management handled by Parks Australia. </p>
<p>At the time of the handover, the Ulu<u>r</u>u-Kata Tju<u>t</u>a National Park board of management (made up of a majority of traditional owners) agreed not to close the climb, to minimise harm to the tourism industry.</p>
<p>In 2010, Parks Australia <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/b4822afc-2694-46d4-978c-e298decf4255/files/tourismdirections.pdf">published a report</a> saying the climb would be permanently closed when:</p>
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<li>the Board, in consultation with the tourism industry, is satisfied that adequate new visitor experiences have been successfully established, or <br>
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<p>This means that Parks Australia has a clear mandate to develop alternative tourism products. Despite this, the core business of Parks Australia is conservation, rather than tourism development. </p>
<p>Although there are specialist staff to facilitate A<u>n</u>angu participation in tourism at Ulu<u>r</u>u, an inevitable tension exists between the traditional focus and knowledge base of Park employees and the push to develop A<u>n</u>angu business opportunities.</p>
<h2>Conflicting economic imperatives</h2>
<p>Between 2013 and 2015, I conducted 20 weeks of research at Ulu<u>r</u>u as part of a study undertaken by the Australian National University, in association with Macquarie University. I examined how A<u>n</u>angu use their cultural heritage to earn a living. As I discovered, the environment in which A<u>n</u>angu attempt to develop sustainable alternatives to climbing is extraordinarily challenging. </p>
<p>In this complex cultural and economic situation, one challenge comes from the Ayers Rock Resort. The resort is located 20km from the Rock, and A<u>n</u>angu land rights don’t extend to its grounds. </p>
<p>Instead, Ayers Rock Resort is owned by the Indigenous Land Corporation (ILC), a federal statutory authority that buys land and businesses to realise economic, social, cultural and environmental benefits for Indigenous Australians. </p>
<p>A subsidiary of the ILC, Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia, has been responsible for running the resort since it was acquired in 2011. Voyages has focused on transforming Ayers Rock Resort into a prime destination for Indigenous tourism.</p>
<p>As an example of the conflict that can arise from this arrangement, we can look at Ma<u>r</u>uku Arts, a locally-based A<u>n</u>angu arts and tourism enterprise. Ma<u>r</u>uku has a regional mandate and serves many communities outside Ulu<u>r</u>u. The resort contracted Ma<u>r</u>uku to run a market stall on its lawn, so guests could buy art and watch demonstrations of local artists at work. </p>
<p>Through its new outlet, Ma<u>r</u>uku is able to put <a href="http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p344543/pdf/ch102.pdf">over A$100,000 extra each year into the local A<u>n</u>angu community</a>. However, Ma<u>r</u>uku has struggled to pay the sales commissions stipulated by the resort, on top of the commission paid to artists and the running costs of the stall. Between May 2012 and April 2015, the A<u>n</u>angu enterprise lost A$16,163 on the market stall, whereas Ayers Rock Resort earned A$112,652 in commission.</p>
<p>As the resort management explained to me, Voyages has invested considerably in developing the market stall infrastructure, and Ma<u>r</u>uku’s market has caused the resort’s income from its own art galleries to drop. It also argues that the market provides new jobs to A<u>n</u>angu.</p>
<p>The market stall represents just one example of the competitive business environment in which not-for-profit A<u>n</u>angu businesses like Ma<u>r</u>uku Arts are trying to survive. </p>
<p>Ayers Rock Resort strives to be profitable, not least because the ILC’s acquisition has resulted in a <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-19/uluru-resort-deal-sparks-call-for-reforms/6864796">sizeable debt burden</a>, (the ILC recently received a <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-08/ayers-rock-resort-65m-bailout-nigel-scullion/7393378">A$65 million loan</a> from the federal government). This induces decisions which, while commercially sound, are not always conducive to the sustainability of A<u>n</u>angu-owned enterprises focusing on “culture work”.</p>
<h2>Funding and the Intervention</h2>
<p>There are other complications in the attempt to develop sustainable and culturally appropriate alternatives to climbing Ulu<u>r</u>u. One is the <a href="https://theconversation.com/thinking-corporately-getting-national-parks-on-national-balance-sheets-8152">tight operational budget for Australia’s park agencies</a>.</p>
<p>At Ulu<u>r</u>u, Parks Australia has faced some particularly challenging years, as a decline in tourists – from 349,172 in 2005 to 257,761 in 2012 – caused revenue from the sale of entry tickets to fall. </p>
<p>At the same time, lack of funding has meant that the Ulu<u>r</u>u Cultural Centre, where tourists are encouraged to begin their visit to the Park and learn about A<u>n</u>angu culture, hasn’t been maintained properly. It looks dilapidated, and anything but an alternative to climbing.</p>
<p>The community has also been impacted by the Northern Territory Emergency Response, known locally as the Intervention. In 2006 an administrator was appointed to run the A<u>n</u>angu village of Mu<u>t</u>itjulu, which is adjacent to the Rock.</p>
<p>The Mu<u>t</u>itjulu Community Aboriginal Corporation, responsible for delivering aspects of municipal and community services, had its funding and several of its functions taken away. </p>
<p>Although the corporation regained control of the community in 2007, it has since wrestled with a high turnover of CEOs, disagreements over service provision and accusations of corruption. The corporation oversees several local businesses, one of which – a tourism enterprise – failed during my research.</p>
<p>Let us return to Northern Territory Chief Minister Adam Giles and the subject of climbing Ulu<u>r</u>u. Rather than investing in the climb, in the face of A<u>n</u>angu wishes, Mr Giles should consider resolving the conflicting agendas, governance challenges and funding difficulties that characterise the Ulu<u>r</u>u economy. </p>
<p>Once tourists can enjoy various sustainable products based on A<u>n</u>angu culture, the destination will become truly unforgettable and benefit A<u>n</u>angu economically. Then, the Ulu<u>r</u>u climb can be closed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58729/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marianne Riphagen worked on the research project The value of Aboriginal cultural heritage – cultural production and regional economies in Eastern Arnhem Land and the Western Desert, which was funded by a Discovery Grant from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Uluru’s traditional owners have asked for decades that tourists not climb their sacred site. Parks Australia has committed to closing the climb – but only when some ambitious goals have been met.Marianne Riphagen, Visiting Fellow, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/122612013-02-19T04:12:57Z2013-02-19T04:12:57ZIn mining and governing, policy made on the fly is likely to flop<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/20387/original/qz8mvd7x-1361244092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Martin Ferguson, Julia Gillard and Wayne Swan announced the MRRT in 2010 … but three ministers and three miners do not a policy make.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Alan Porritt</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Most controversial public policy could be said to be made on the run, or at least amended on a brisk walk.</p>
<p>So the revelations in Peter Martin’s <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/business/mining-tax-how-canberra-got-diddled-20130214-2ee7j.html">recent article</a> on the errors embedded in the Gillard government’s <a href="http://www.ato.gov.au/taxprofessionals/content.aspx?doc=/content/00286481.htm">Minerals Resource Rent Tax</a> (MRRT) are all too familiar.</p>
<p>There is much to criticise. The tax agreement is infamously short - only one and a half pages - and was signed off without experts from treasury in the room to properly assess the proposal and ensure the government’s objectives were being pursued.</p>
<p>Certainly, it was a compromise agreement - all policies are, given the complex nature of such problems and the conflicting goals of stakeholders and governments. But in their rush to put the issue to rest, it seems the government was too accommodating towards those seated across the table and, as Peter Martin reported, a drafting error allowed the states to take a huge cut of the revenue before it reached the Commonwealth.</p>
<p>While the Gillard government’s ill-fated MRRT may have failed its revenue raising purpose, it remains an invaluable lesson in policy formation. It taught us the high cost of making policy on the run, and it may even cost the government the next federal election, especially now the Greens have <a href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/christine-milne-says-labor-has-walked-away-from-agreement-with-greens/story-fncvk70o-1226581081454">stepped away from their agreement</a> with the government.</p>
<p>Policy making and reform should follow a slower, considered and rigorous path from conception to implementation to review. </p>
<p>In Australia, we often refer to the “policy cycle”, a model developed by Peter Bridgman and Glyn Davis in their <a href="http://www.allenandunwin.com/default.aspx?page=94&book=9781741753318">ubiquitous handbook</a> for students and practitioners of government policy. It stresses a sequential approach: problems are identified and carefully defined, research is undertaken and analysed, policy instruments considered and selected, stakeholders are consulted, coordination between government agencies occurs, and only then is there a decision, implementation and evaluation.</p>
<p>While Bridgman and Davis recognise the constraints of imposing a normative theoretical model in the messy “real world”, the policy cycle still provides critical analytical tools. By stressing process and rigour, it helps break complex problems into manageable pieces to enhance understanding of the issues and the appropriateness of any response. I agree with the authors that good policies should include all these steps, even if the sequence varies or some steps are repeated.</p>
<p>I’ve found in my research that while this cycle model continues to guide policy making, particularly within government departments, it remains a best case scenario.</p>
<p>Life and politics often get in the way. The problems that arise are complex and unpredictable, as can be the solutions. Policies are sometimes made very quickly for good and bad reasons. Sometimes whole sections of this policy cycle are ignored. Sometimes decisions are made by the prime minister alone (such as Howard’s reflexive declaration of military support to President Bush <a href="http://australianpolitics.com/2001/09/14/government-invokes-anzus-treaty.html">following the September 11 attacks</a>) or with a small number of others (a la Rudd’s <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/the-rudd-gang-of-four/story-e6frg6z6-1225795556696">“gang of four”</a>), or, as it appears here, all of the above.</p>
<p>There are, unfortunately, many other cases of policies made on the fly that later flopped. The Howard government’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/nt-intervention">Northern Territory intervention</a> is one example. This was a grab-bag of policies hastily assembled and rapidly pushed through parliament without normal Senate review - prompted by a Four Corners exposé of the appalling and heartbreaking abuse and neglect of indigenous children and others, and the <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20070703014641/http://www.nt.gov.au/dcm/inquirysaac/pdf/bipacsa_final_report.pdf">Little Children Are Sacred Report</a>, which had laid bare the extensive abuse and dysfunction in many indigenous communities. </p>
<p>Yes, the cause was urgent, but it had been increasing in urgency for decades. Deeper government consideration and consultation and robust parliamentary scrutiny would have ultimately led to much better policy, and better health, safety and education for Indigenous Australians. In their rush to do something quickly, the Howard government reportedly neglected even to consult the authors of the report and consequently <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/editorial/what-the-intervention-failed-to-do-20110501-1e2xg.html?skin=text-only">ignored most of its central recommendations</a>, such as the necessity to <a href="http://www.hrlc.org.au/northern-territory-intervention-request-for-urgent-action-cerd">engage with community leaders</a> to tailor meaningful policy responses.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/pink-batts-not-a-scandal-but-not-as-good-as-claimed-10213">pink batts scheme</a> is another example. It was a key plank of the Rudd government’s raft of policies to quickly quash the local effects of the global financial crisis. Lenore Taylor and David Uren report in their book <a href="http://www.readings.com.au/product/9780522857290/lenore-taylor-and-david-uren-shitstorm-inside-labors-darkest-days">Shitstorm</a>, that when free ceiling insulation was offered to households, the sector rapidly expanded to 20 times its original size, with “many shonky and inexperienced operators” taking part. This was a recipe for calamity. </p>
<p>The scheme only operated for eight months, but four deaths and around 200 house fires <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/national/safety-checks-for-pink-batt-scheme-to-be-wound-up-20110420-1dp21.html">have been attributed to it</a>. Not only did Rudd’s “Kitchen Cabinet” veto two, safer policy alternatives recommended by their government departments, but “clear warnings about the danger inherent in the scheme [had] been dismissed in the rush to implement the government’s stimulus decisions”.</p>
<p>Nearly half of the <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/archives/old-news-pages/natural-disasters-and-botched-ber-pink-batts-to-blame-for-debt/story-fn8menqx-1226053524017">$2.5 billion allocated</a> for the scheme would be spent checking roofs and repairing unsafe electrical work.</p>
<p>Process matters. The exacting set of processes suggested by the policy cycle does not guarantee perfect governing, but as Bridgman and Davis state, it does reduce the chance of “howling errors”, such as a revenue raising tax that fails to raise revenue and destabilises a government already under attack.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/12261/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bronwyn Hinz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Most controversial public policy could be said to be made on the run, or at least amended on a brisk walk. So the revelations in Peter Martin’s recent article on the errors embedded in the Gillard government’s…Bronwyn Hinz, PhD Candidate and Tutor, School of Social and Political Sciences & Melbourne Graduate School of Education, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/100512012-10-12T03:12:20Z2012-10-12T03:12:20ZNew singers, old songs: alcohol bans in Aboriginal communities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16317/original/dgtp4jym-1349752880.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A sign outside an Aboriginal community near Darwin, noting the ban on consuming alcohol in the area.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Xavier La Canna</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The newly elected conservative governments in Queensland and the Northern Territory have <a href="http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/national/15050895/nt-agrees-with-easing-grog-bans/">opened the way</a> to relaxing laws restricting access to alcohol in Aboriginal communities.</p>
<p>In Queensland, a number of observers including Aboriginal leaders Noel Pearson, Marcia Langton and Warren Mundine, have <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/indigenous/relaxed-grog-bans-to-revive-violence-aboriginal-leaders-warn/story-fn9hm1pm-1226487743699">expressed their dismay</a> and argued the case against <a href="http://www.news.com.au/national/indigenous-councils-to-rule-on-liquor-bans/story-fndo4ckr-1226486894437">plans to dismantle</a> the restrictions, pointing to the high levels of alcohol-related violence and social dysfunction prevalent prior to the restrictions being introduced from 2002 onwards, and to evidence of improvements in areas such as assaults and school attendance. </p>
<p>In order for these improvements to become embedded in sustained cultural and social change, they argue, restrictions must be retained at least for the time being.</p>
<p>Now the Northern Territory’s new Chief Minister Terry Mills has <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/indigenous/nt-joins-the-push-to-relax-bans-on-grog/story-fn9hm1pm-1226489530801">signalled his government’s intention</a> to roll back restrictions on alcohol in NT Aboriginal communities, with an argument that obfuscates the history of alcohol controls in NT Aboriginal communities.</p>
<p>Mills invokes that most sacred value of a consumerist society – “choice” – and is <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/indigenous/nt-joins-the-push-to-relax-bans-on-grog/story-fn9hm1pm-1226489530801">quoted as stating</a> that “alcohol bans and other restrictions set by outsiders were trapping indigenous people in a cycle of disempowerment and dependency”. </p>
<p>Leaving aside the question of how banning alcohol fosters dependency, a key point in his argument is his phrase “set by outsiders”.</p>
<h2>The complex history of alcohol bans</h2>
<p>Current blanket bans on consumption or possession of alcohol anywhere on any land designated under the NT Aboriginal Land Rights Act were indeed set by outsiders: specifically by Mal Brough and John Howard under the <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/num_act/ntnera2007531/">2007 NT Emergency Response</a> (NTER), in response to allegations of widespread alcohol-fuelled violence in communities in the report <a href="http://www.inquirysaac.nt.gov.au/">Little Children Are Sacred</a>. </p>
<p>Although the unilateral and blanket geographical coverage of these restrictions angered many Aboriginal (and other) people, the principle of banning alcohol was not new.</p>
<p>On the contrary, prior to the NTER, most Aboriginal communities in the NT had already banned or heavily restricted alcohol access in their communities – at their own request. They had done so under Section VIII of the <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nt/consol_act/la107/">NT Liquor Act</a> which, from its introduction in 1979 until the Act was partially over-ridden by the NTER, empowered communities to ban or limit alcohol use in defined areas, and to have those decisions enshrined in NT law. </p>
<p>Sparse police resources in some areas, and the ingenuity of grog-runners ensured that the restrictions were more effective in some places than others, but they nonetheless represented exercises in considered decision-making on the part of Aboriginal community residents.</p>
<h2>The current situation</h2>
<p>In July this year a sunset clause written into the NTER took effect. The Gillard Government has since introduced its own legislation. Entitled <a href="http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/our-responsibilities/indigenous-australians/programs-services/stronger-futures-in-the-northern-territory/stronger-futures-in-the-northern-territory-policy-statement">Stronger Futures</a>, the new legislation retains the framework of the NTER alcohol restrictions, while seeking to return decision-making power back to individual communities by encouraging and supporting them to formulate their own alcohol management plans. </p>
<p>How this policy will work in practice, and how it will articulate with NT legislation remains to be seen, but to suggest – as Mills implies – that most residents of Aboriginal communities are chafing for greater access to alcohol is misleading.</p>
<p>Further, it is difficult to imagine that he and his government do not know this. </p>
<p>So what is really at issue here? Two factors appear relevant. The election-winning strategies of both the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-03-09/aboriginal-leaders-welcome-review-of-grog-laws/3880160">LNP under Campbell Newman</a> and the <a href="http://www.news.com.au/national/pm-congratulates-nts-new-leader/story-fndo4eg9-1226457999565">CLP in the NT</a> involved forming alliances with individual Aboriginal leaders, some of whom are opposed to restrictions in communities. </p>
<p>Moreover, in both the NT and north Queensland, opposition to restrictions in communities stems in part from a belief that the restrictions aggravate levels of public drunkenness by Aboriginal drinkers in towns.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16319/original/yrg6y5d6-1349753296.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16319/original/yrg6y5d6-1349753296.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16319/original/yrg6y5d6-1349753296.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16319/original/yrg6y5d6-1349753296.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16319/original/yrg6y5d6-1349753296.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16319/original/yrg6y5d6-1349753296.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16319/original/yrg6y5d6-1349753296.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Federal and state governments have tried to combat the problem of alcohol in remote Aboriginal communities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Terry Trewin</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the NT, successive governments have grappled with this by endlessly refining law enforcement measures such as the <a href="http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/previous%20series/proceedings/1-27/%7E/media/publications/proceedings/01/dabbs.pdf">Two Kilometre Law</a>, which legally bans drinking in public just about anywhere in towns. </p>
<p>But in the absence of any willingness to impose serious limitations on the retailers who profit from serving the appetites of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal drinkers alike, these measures have generally had limited effect.</p>
<p>Another favoured policy response has been to urge remote communities to establish licensed clubs (as the Bjelke-Petersen government did in Cape York in the 1980s), in the belief that communities with clubs will export fewer drinkers to towns. The limited evidence available to test this proposition does not support it, but its plausibility to urban voters is obvious. The real problem for NT governments, however, has been that most communities have repeatedly made it clear that they do not want clubs. Out of more than 100 Aboriginal communities in the NT, just seven currently operate licensed clubs, and one has a licensed store. All of these are located in the Top End. </p>
<p>A few other communities have run clubs in the past, only to abandon them as too much trouble. In two or three other communities, discussions are currently under way that may or may not lead to those communities applying to the NT Licensing Commission for club licenses.</p>
<h2>More is not less. It is more and more</h2>
<p>Aboriginal public drunkenness in towns is – at least to many non-Aboriginal people – the most visible manifestation of a complex and distressing problem that needs to be addressed at multiple levels, including law enforcement, supply reduction and the creation of opportunities and incentives for less self-destructive lifestyles.</p>
<p>To suggest that it can be addressed by opening up availability of alcohol in Aboriginal communities, particularly in communities that have indicated that they do not want alcohol, is a cruel hoax.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/10051/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter d'Abbs has received funding via the Menzies Institute from the Northern Territory Department of Justice to evaluate alcohol management programs.</span></em></p>The newly elected conservative governments in Queensland and the Northern Territory have opened the way to relaxing laws restricting access to alcohol in Aboriginal communities. In Queensland, a number…Peter d'Abbs, Professor of Substance Misuse Studies, Menzies School of Health Research, Menzies School of Health ResearchLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/80052012-07-02T20:44:01Z2012-07-02T20:44:01ZNorthern Territory Intervention extended … but is it working?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/12464/original/bh6fskyv-1341192764.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Alcohol restrictions will stay in place until 2022.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">librarianidol</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The last sitting week of parliament before the winter recess may well be remembered for the historic senate vote made late into the night. </p>
<p>This legislation, with bipartisan support, agreed to the extension and modification of a contentious set of policies that are likely to have a profound impact on some of the world’s most vulnerable people. </p>
<p>No, I’m not living in a parallel universe where legislation was passed on the vexed issue of asylum seekers. Rather, I am referring to the passage of the <a href="http://www.indigenous.gov.au/stronger-futures-legislation/">Stronger Futures legislation</a>. The three related bills will, in essence, extend many of the provisions of the Northern Territory Intervention (also known as the Northern Territory Emergency Response) until 2022.</p>
<p>Key parts of the legislation include:</p>
<p>Continuation of alcohol restrictions; the potential for income support payments to be suspended due to poor school attendance; and voluntary (as opposed to compulsory) leases of Aboriginal land.</p>
<p>Unlike the original NTER legislation, the Stronger Futures bills were designed to comply with the <a href="http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2012C00236">Racial Discrimination Act 1975</a>. </p>
<p>This does not mean, of course, that the legislation was welcomed by all or even most Indigenous or human rights organisations. According to [reports on Friday](http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-29/stronger-futures-laws-rushed-through-senate/4100288](http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-29/stronger-futures-laws-rushed-through-senate/4100288), Amnesty International Australia labelled the legislation a “travesty”. </p>
<p>The co-chairs of the National Congress of Australia’s First People (Jody Broun and Les Malezer) put out a [statement](http://nationalcongress.com.au/congress-statement-passage-of-the-stronger-futures-bills/](http://nationalcongress.com.au/congress-statement-passage-of-the-stronger-futures-bills/) saying that, despite the assurances of the government that the laws meet Australia’s relevant obligations, they should still be examined by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights.</p>
<p>Much of the resistance to the bills relates to what many see as being a flawed consultation process. </p>
<p>There is no doubt that the government went to great expense to discuss the legislation with Indigenous communities across the NT. According to documentation <a href="http://www.indigenous.gov.au/no-category/stronger-futures-in-the-northern-territory/">supporting the legislation</a> there were more than 450 meetings across 100 communities in mid-2011. </p>
<p>However, it is not the breadth, but rather the depth of consultation that many have taken issue with. For example, Jacqueline Philips from Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation was [quoted](http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1664374/Stronger-Futures-bills-too-short-notice:-Greens](http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1664374/Stronger-Futures-bills-too-short-notice:-Greens) as saying the consultations were “grossly inadequate”, and that there were “high levels of distress, of anxiety, of confusion and opposition to these bills in communities”.</p>
<p>One difference between the current legislation and that which was passed in the dying days of the Howard Government is the reference to an independent review of the legislation after three years. One could argue though that, in order for this review to have credibility, it should commence now so that changes in outcomes and attitudes can be properly tested, rather than being reliant on individual recall.</p>
<p>Another major difference is the explicit focus on “Closing the Gap” in outcomes between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous population. For example, at the time of the May budget when the $3.4 billion for the Stronger Futures legislation was announced, the <a href="http://www.jennymacklin.fahcsia.gov.au/node/1873">media release</a> was titled “Investing to close the gap on Indigenous disadvantage”.</p>
<p>So how has the Intervention changed life in the Northern Territory? There are some data available that can provide answers. </p>
<p>We won’t have data on life expectancy for a while. However, it is worth considering how a few other socioeconomic outcomes have been tracking since the original intervention.</p>
<p>Even after adjusting for inflation, median household income for Indigenous households in the NT <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-census-indigenous-australia-improves-but-closing-the-gap-is-a-long-way-off-7678">increased</a> by about 12.7% between the 2006 and 2011 censuses. However, there were even more rapid gains for non-Indigenous households meaning that the gap actually widened over the period.</p>
<p>Employment data from the 2011 census isn’t available yet. However, looking at estimates from the <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/c311215.nsf/0/BF6068ABC64802DECA256BD500169F18?Open">Labour Force Survey</a> (which for the NT has quite large sampling error) the best one can say is that there has probably been a small improvement in the proportion of the Indigenous population employed since the intervention, but that the gap between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous percentage still remains more or less the same.</p>
<p>Census data, however, <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/communityprofiles?opendocument&navpos=230">shows</a> that there has been both relative and absolute gains in terms of Indigenous education outcomes over the past 5 years or so. In 2006, 16.6% of Indigenous Australians in the NT aged 15 to 24 years were participating in some form of education. By 2011, this had risen to 22.4%. There was a slight decline in the same percentage for the non-Indigenous NT population (38.0% to 37.8%) meaning that the gap narrowed over the period. </p>
<p>The way 2011 census data is currently available makes it difficult to look at changes in early childhood education. However, using a rather crude proxy (the number of children participating in preschool as a percentage of the population aged three to five years), we can see some considerable gains. </p>
<p>In 2006, 22.5% of Indigenous children aged three to five in the Northern Territory were participating in preschool, compared to 36.3% of non-Indigenous children. By 2011, the Indigenous percentage had risen to 30.2% compared to 37.1% for the non-Indigenous population.</p>
<p>Support for and opposition to the Stronger Futures legislation and the original Intervention is about much more than socioeconomic status. However, in the long term, that is what these policies will be judged upon. At the moment the results are mixed.</p>
<p>Few would argue that the government should step away from remote Indigenous communities and historic underinvestment is in many ways what got us to the current state. However, if a week is a long time in politics, then a decade is an age. A 15 year intervention (of which we are five years into) should be based on the best available evidence.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/8005/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicholas Biddle receives funding from the Commonwealth Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) as well as the respective State/Territory Indigenous/Aboriginal Affairs departments.</span></em></p>The last sitting week of parliament before the winter recess may well be remembered for the historic senate vote made late into the night. This legislation, with bipartisan support, agreed to the extension…Nicholas Biddle, Fellow, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.