CATH NEWS REPORT: Three years after the Australian Government's historic apology to the Stolen Generations, Jesuit Father Frank Brennan says Indigenous people are still being singled out by policies which deny them the opportunity to speak for themselves, reports Province Express. He singled out compulsory income management of welfare payments in Indigenous communities. While the government reduced the discriminatory effect of these provisions by extending them to all Territorians, Fr Brennan said serious objections remain. The prominent human rights advocate said in an article on Eureka Street that special measures introduced as part of the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER) are yet to be repealed, despite calls to do so. "Most of the peak national bodies in the welfare sector have expressed principled objections to compulsory income management except for proven cases of recipients failing to discharge parental obligations," said Fr Brennan. He cited Catholic Social Services: 'Adequate income support is an entitlement. It should not be a tool for governments or public sector managers to grant, withhold or modify in an effort to achieve "outcomes".' 'Special measures' taken in Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory aim to reduce alcohol-related harm, to protect children from being exposed to prohibited material, to improve the delivery of services and to promote economic and social development, and to promote food security. "I am prepared to concede the need for special measures in relation to alcohol and pornography, provided such restrictions are sought by local community leaders and are workable," said Fr Brennan. "The other special measures are more questionable, especially given the compulsory acquisition of land that is the birthright of Aboriginal people. "Let's hope that by the fourth anniversary of the Apology, our statute books are stripped of measures which single out Aborigines for special treatment except in those instances where that treatment is voluntarily sought if not by the overwhelming majority of persons affected, then at least by community leaders speaking for their communities plagued by the abuses of pornography and excessive alcohol consumption." http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=25109
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