WSWS reporters interview Northern Territory residents in 2008
These video interviews with Northern Territory residents were conducted by a World Socialist Web Site reporting team in 2008. The team reported on the social and political impact of the 2007 Northern Territory Emergency Response.
Launched by the Howard Liberal-National government, with bipartisan support from Labor, the “intervention” was necessary, the government claimed, to protect Aboriginal children from alleged sexual abuse and other criminal behaviour in Aboriginal communities.
The unprecedented territory-wide operation instituted a raft of anti-democratic measures and mobilised hundreds of military and federal police and government bureaucrats into Aboriginal communities.
The intervention, which had nothing do with overcoming endemic poverty and social horrors, was to slash welfare and shut down “uneconomic” remote communities. It was endorsed by leading members of Aboriginal elite, including those such as Noel Pearson and Marcia Langton from Yes camp and Warren Mundine from No campaign and then president of the Australian Labor Party.
The WSWS reportage in 2008 provided the only independent platform for Aboriginal people to speak about social conditions, the “intervention” and the decades of government lies and false promises.
Read more: https://wsws.org/en/articles/2023/10/...