Comments on: Alice camps injunction is down to Macklin

By: Liz45

Liz45 — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 07:52:02 +0000

jungarrayi - Yes, sadly you’re right! I’ve always believed, that if what was happening to indigenous people in the NT was happening in the middle of Sydney, or even the suburbs, there’d be screams of protest and demand for change. I suppose it’s all very well to suggest that aboriginal people stop being so ‘law abiding’ but then, they’d need the media to cover it, and most of them support their oppression!

I also find it strange that Geoffrey on the other site thinks we support what Labor isn’t doing? I thought we on the left were being critical of the Rudd govt, in particular, Jenny Macklin’s incompetence?

By: Gail Tuft

Gail Tuft — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 12:59:40 +0000

There seems to be a number of ministers accepting only the advice they want to hear and whose positions relate to their factional standing rather than competence in the area for which they are responsible. Seat warmers. There is more than one portfolio where competence would be a better qualification than whatever selection criteria was actually used.

By: Mr Squid

Mr Squid — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 09:31:38 +0000

jungarrayi, that intervention: it’s like one of your yuendumu toyotas; anyone can go along for a ride.

By: jungarrayi

jungarrayi — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 09:23:54 +0000

On the way from Alice Springs to Yuendumu one of those “No Alcohol, No Pornography” signs bears the only bit of local graffiti to have been sprouted by the Intervention…. “KEVIN RUDD KUNA RRURPA” it says.
Liz I wish I could share your belief that replacing the queen of spin with the king of spin will make any difference to us out here on the Prescribed Areas.
Fools we! When John Howard lost his seat we were happy, when Mal Brough lost his, we were ecstatic. At a public meeting here in Yuendumu a local Warlpiri man (that starred in “Bush Mechanics”) put it thus: ” Why is Rudd using John Howard’s shoes and piggybacking his policies?”
Why indeed?

By: Liz45

Liz45 — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 08:11:00 +0000

The situation of the sewerage situation is three weeks old. Are they waiting for a little child or an elderly person to die of gastro?(a bit like years ago, waiting for at least 5 kids to be knocked down before there’d even be talk of traffic lights at some intersection?) The decision from the Court re town camps was only made a couple of days ago. What a load of rubbish Jenny Macklin speaks, and as has been said she hadn’t shown any intention of starting to build/repair any houses - it’s just BS! It’s time someone demanded that PM Rudd take charge!NOW!

By: Chris Graham

Chris Graham — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 07:51:06 +0000

Mr Squid: We actually have a column in the National Indigenous Times called, ‘A Jenny is an Ass’… it’s basically a fortnightly compendium of really inane things Macklin says… we don’t have to look very hard for material.

By: Mr Squid

Mr Squid — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 07:20:37 +0000

jenny - isn’t that what you call a female donkey? - hasn’t had an original idea since she got the gig. she’s comfortable blindly following john howard and noel pearson down a dead end, which hopefully will bring about her demise . it’s overdue already.

By: Jon Hunt

Jon Hunt — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 06:29:59 +0000

There is I admit a bit of a theme to all this. Ms Macklin seems to feel she is entitled to do whatever she wishes and appears to be indifferent to any consequences. There is no hint of concern for Aboriginal people, only concern when she doesn’t get her own way. The only positive aspect to this is that it makes her look decidedly stupid. But then again, I suppose the last thing we need is a stupid Indigenous affairs minister who has no concern for Aboriginal people. There has gotta be someone out there who isn’t stupid and who cares, doesn’t there?

By: jungarrayi

jungarrayi — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 06:04:45 +0000

At the beginning of the Intervention the Aboriginal company I manage was approached to apply for a Licence as a community store to be able to accept Income Managed money. This was presented as an opportunity which we rejected as the poisoned chalice that it was. We are opposed to compulsory Income Management and are not prepared to face angry customers when it is introduced, is what we told them. Their response?…. “Where are the people of Yuendumu going to shop? They’ll have to drive all the way to Alice Springs!” Our reply?…. “And whose f****** fault is that? ” Sound familiar?
Its like trying to blame a person being tortured for the continuing torture “because they refuse to confess”.
Macklin the queen of spin is now trying to blame Barbara Shaw for the delay in fixing the houses. So where were these alleged contractors two years ago at the start of the Intervention? Where were they for that matter during the last decades of underfunding and neglect? I suppose that was Barbara’s fault too!

By: Chris Graham

Chris Graham — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 03:38:55 +0000

NOTE TO ALL: After Crikey went to press, the Minister’s office furnished me with the following reply to my question about the contractor for the town camps:

“The contractor is Territory Alliance, a consortium which includes the Northern Territory based company Sitzler. Sitzler has an office in Alice Springs.”