Meeting for the first time outside of a capital city, the 9th National Local Government Community Development Conference was staged in Townsville from 27–30 July. A biennial event, the theme selected for this conference was ‘Just and Vibrant Communities’. In her address, President of the Local Government Community Services Association of Australia (LGCSAA), Jenny Merkus, referred delegates to the 2001 conference theme, ‘Riding the Rapids of Change’. She said that the last two years have certainly been exactly that, with Tampa and, the so called ‘Pacific Solution’, September 11, Bali bombings and war in Iraq.
“The result is fearful and divided communities,” Jenny Merkus said. “It has created a dangerous and unpredictable environment, producing changes we have not yet come to grips with.” She said that the actions of the USA, UK and Australian Governments, in shutting out the international community, missed the opportunity to unite the western world and moderate Islamic states to stamp out terrorism.
“In Australia, there has been an increase of racism in our local communities, through the absence of clear leadership at the national level,” she said. “Mandatory detention of refugees, including many children, is in clear breach of our international obligations in regard to human rights.”
Australia’s Human Rights Commissioner, Sev Ozdowski, provided a telling indictment of our failure as a nation to uphold the most basic of human rights – liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The detention of children has seen one child being held for a total of five and a half years.
The human face of the situation, and the people held in detention, has been obscured by Government restrictions placed both on the media and others visiting the various centres. However, in his official capacity as Human Rights Commissioner, Sev Ozdowski told delegates he has been able to visit all detention centres. He painted a chilling picture of what he encountered. On his initial visit, he said that detainees accepted that processing needed to take place and they were very hopeful of soon being able to start a new life in Australia. The second time, he witnessed heightened despair, self harm and increasing violence. The last time, there was clear evidence of mental health problems.
“Those centres now look more like poorly resourced mental health institutions,” our Human Rights Commissioner said. “The Federal Government’s immigration and detention policies have cost $1 billion in their handling of some 10,000 people who risked everything to get here in leaky boats.”
In spite of Government branding of the refugees as ‘queue jumpers’, Sev Ozdowski said that there has been a major change in public opinion, with the latest survey showing 75 per cent of Australians believe that children should not be held in detention. He complimented Local Government on the work it has been doing to increase community concern about this situation.
In her keynote address, Kirsty Sword Gusmao, Director of the Alola Foundation in East Timor, also thanked various Local Governments that have established friendship relations with towns in East Timor. As the world’s newest nation, and the poorest country in South East Asia, she said their assistance with materials and technical advice is an enormous help. East Timor’s First Lady urged other Local Governments to join in this program.
“This is assisting local communities in Australia to understand the difficulties of the rebuilding process,” Kirsty Sword Gusmao said. “But I would encourage people to send delegations to East Timor to work with the local people and establish their key needs.”
Kirsty Sword Gusmao also highlighted the key role that women in East Timor are playing in the complex task of nation building.
“Women are the glue in the life of families and local communities,” she said. “However, too often they are denied the opportunity to participate in decision making.” She said although women held a quarter of the seats in the new National Parliament, patriarchy still prevails, and women have difficulties balancing their family responsibilities. With the establishing of Local Government, she believes more women will become involved in decision making and shaping just and vibrant communities in East Timor.
Growing up in 1960s, Lillian Holt, whose mother was part of the stolen generation, was one of the first Aboriginal students in Queensland to complete her secondary education and go to university. Currently the Director of the Centre for Indigenous Education at Melbourne University, her keynote address was titled ‘Dreams, Dilemmas and Dialogue’.
She said that story telling is an ancient art, common to all societies. It enables people to share their thoughts, hopes and spirits to build a better future in what she describes as “our rich, abundant but racist nation”.
“Words can be a risky business,” Lillian Holt said. “Labelling creates mischief, misunderstanding and malice.
“Yet the inability to say ‘sorry’ is stopping us from moving forward. By sharing our courage, hope and indignation we are able to tell each other who we really are. Making mistakes is part of human nature but the only real mistakes are those we don’t learn from.”
She told delegates all Australians need to start seeing each other through different eyes. “We need more research and interrogation of whiteness rather than blackness. Too many white people still wrongly believe ‘I don’t have to look – it is you the Aboriginal that is the problem’,” Lillian Holt said. “What diminishes me as an Aboriginal woman also diminishes you.”
