It’s hard to work out where Brough and Howard are going with their strategy in the Northern Territory. The feds appear desperate to lock in parts of the occupation, especially the bit that will see the abolition of the Community Development Employment Program and the effective sacking of Aboriginal people from the workforce.
Northern Territory 
Howard signals the end of a distinct Aboriginal identity
Since federation there have been four major landmarks in Indigenous affairs. Howard has now reversed them all, writes Alan Austin.
Aboriginal assets to be seized, then rented back for profit
In moves seemingly impossible to reconcile with the protection of Aboriginal children on remote towns and communities in the Northern Territory, a document has come into the hands of Crikey that presages a federal government takeover of millions of dollars worth of assets owned by Aboriginal organisations.
The Content Makers: Graeme Samuel on quality, credibility, bias and conflict
In the third of five extracts from her new book The Content Makers, Crikey media commentator Margaret Simons meets Graeme Samuel and wonders at the ACCC’s role in media regulation.
Interest rate rises? CDEP workers face ruin
The Reserve Bank’s interest rate announcement was not just widely predicted, it was factored into the share market weeks ago. The media will no doubt rake the coals of families doing it tough with—what?—the ninth interest rate hike in a row. But you can bet no journalist—especially those of the Canberra press gallery—will take time out to talk to anyone in the Northern Territory who works for a Community Development Employment Program (CDEP) wage.
Is there a shock-jock in the house?
Former Alice Springs ‘radio announcer’ Matt Conlan is the latest addition to a Northern Territory parliament which is rarely accused of harbouring an overabundance of talent. Sadly, the track record of the Country Liberal Party’s newest parliamentarian offers no great cause for optimism, writes Graham Ring.
Crikey sources say: no winter sitting on the NT plan
Crikey understands that it’s extremely unlikely that Parliament will return during the winter break, despite the Prime Minister promising a special session if necessary to debate and pass the legislation for the NT intervention.
NT Aboriginal organisations respond to government plans
Yesterday, Crikey attended a press conference in Alice Springs, where the Combined Aboriginal Organisations of the Northern Territory released a formal response to the Federal Government’s proposals for intervention in the NT, writes Graham Ring.
Stabilise, normalise and exit = $4billion. Cheap at the price?
On Monday, I was asked by the mainstream media to cost the new Howard/Brough approach in the Northern Territory: Would it cost the tens of millions that the Prime Minister indicated he was willing to commit to this new state project to fix the “national emergency”? I came up with $4 billion, which turns out, was too conservative, writes Jon Altman.
COAG and Aborigines. They knew
When the Prime Minister, Premiers, the Chief Ministers of the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory and the President of the Australian Local Government Association sat down in Canberra back on 13 April for “detailed discussions on significant areas of national interest” child abuse in indigenous communities was on the agenda but there was no hint of crisis.
As white Australia saw it
How commentators, pundits and talking heads saw Howard’s Aboriginal emergency.
As black Australia saw it
A wrap of commentary and reaction to Prime Minister John Howard’s announcement of sweeping changes to indigenous welfare and health policies in the Northern Territory.
Alcohol bans: the job’s almost done
Banning alcohol is a key element of the prime Minister’s Northern Territory emergency plan. This is a list of areas and communities in the territory in which alcohol bans already apply.
