THE South Australian Government intervened in remote Aboriginal communities three years before the Howard government's much-publicised move into the Northern Territory. The decision to intervene in the vast Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands in our state's northwest was difficult, particularly for me as a former minister of Aboriginal affairs who had championed and passed land rights legislation. Our intervention drew condemnation for being a step back towards paternalism and for removing the Anangu's rights of self-determination, even though this wasn't true. I was condemned as a racist, for being "like Robert Mugabe", and for denying my former boss Don Dunstan's land rights vision. It was also suggested that the Government was motivated by protection or promotion of mining interests. But our intervention was simply about one thing: saving the lives of young Anangu. We were concerned about a spate of suicides and an epidemic of petrol sniffing robbing young people of any hope for a better and brighter future.
Aust 15 Jan 2008
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