Town inured to Aboriginal violence: lawyer

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p2220-Russell-GoldflamBy ERWIN CHLANDA
 
The public of Alice Springs is both inured to violence in Aboriginal society, because of its frequency, and afraid of speaking out about it, lest this is interpreted as being racist.
 
So says Russell Goldflam (pictured), president of the Criminal Lawyers Association, in a comment on the current debate, involving Chief Minister Adam Giles, about the alleged rape of an Aboriginal nine year old girl in an Alice Springs town camp.
 
“I agree that there has been a worrying lack of public outcry when it comes to violence perpetrated upon Aboriginal people compared to violence against members of the general community,” says Mr Goldflam.
 
He says he can understand the point made by Mr Giles, that if it had been a white girl there would have been a “huge national outcry”.
 
Instead, this story “hardly surfaced before it sank again”. One reason the media did not give the story much prominence was that “police have been miserly in their release of information”.
 
He says that in the past, extensive coverage was given to cases of sexual abuse of Aboriginal children, leading to the “Little Children are Sacred” report and the Federal intervention it triggered.  These days, when more such cases come to light, many people in the community just “switch off”.
 
Mr Goldflam says the community is experiencing “horror fatigue. There is a sense of inhibition about drawing attention to problems in Aboriginal communities which could lead to accusations of being racist.
 
“People don’t want to be part of criticising a community which is collectively a huge victim.”
 
 

7 COMMENTS

  1. One only needs to see the “outrage” on social media regarding the PM’s out of context “lifestyle” comments and the resultant cries of racism from some of our very own “leaders” who are just really telling us all to shut up.
    Meanwhile – you have the socialist alternative protesting in Melbourne and other cities showing their “moral superiority” in relation to conditions in Indigenous communities, but it seems that some have had enough.
    Marcia Langton’s comments in the Australian today (27/3 “Greens prefer us Drunk and Stupid”) is on the money.

  2. Most Australian communities, including Alice Springs, are not being inured to violence.
    Being afraid to speak out about such violence is not racist.
    Fears in community inhibiting preparedness to speak out are direct result of Commonwealth racist policy.
    Racism is Commonwealth policy.
    All the issues exist within wider Australian community, with most regularly dealt with and resolved, without racial tag participation required.
    Commonwealth obstructs addressing these issues, as to address them requires challenges to Commonwealth racism in legislation, regulation, policy and practice.
    Commonwealth policy permits and defends racist behavior which suits Commonwealth.
    Commonwealth policy segregates Australian families.
    Commonwealth policy segregates Australian communities.
    Commonwealth segregation policy divides rights and responsibilities of Australians using racist filters.
    Commonwealth thus obstructs processes to resolve problems. Commonwealth thus fails to address problems and issues.
    Commonwealth thus obstructs access to judicial determinations.
    Commonwealth directly, and indirectly, funds those implementing these Commonwealth racist policies.
    Commonwealth’s ongoing support for racism is our national disgrace.
    Racial tagging has long been a basic tool for racists.
    To seriously resolve the real problems must start by addressing Australians problems without racial tags.

  3. I agree with Russell. The issue extends well beyond Alice Springs.
    I have experienced the most horrific violence and tragic events, often vicarious, and have internalised these events over the past two decades to the extent that I now either ignore them, pay scant attention, or intervene and feel totally flattened by the experience.
    The most recent being in Darwin two nights ago. I wish I knew the answer, I actually don’t.

  4. We are all outraged, saddened and made lesser by the sexual assault of anyone, let alone a child. Expressing that outrage unfortunately doesn’t provide a solution, especially after the fact.
    The solution is for parents to look after their children, to make sure they are safe and not in the hands of those who would assault them. Where were this child’s parents or carer?

  5. Re: Robinoz Posted March 28, 2015 at 7:30 am
    Parents looking after their children will certainly help.
    However “traditional lifestyles” frequently involved little parental discipline of children, and changing lifestyles takes time.
    When I was much younger I was shown around several cemeteries, each with records showing so many deaths from previously common illnesses, infections, and injuries were often fatal.
    Now most survive.
    Previously magic, blame evil on others, chants, various procedures, natural drugs – useless or useful, with little of today’s understanding of health, contributed.
    Many if not most children living “traditional lifestyles” in most countries failed reach their teens.
    In Australian “traditional lifestyle” means the absence of child discipline with most early learning by informal observation and discussion.
    Within Australian “traditional lifestyle” communities impose strict discipline mostly upon survivors who reached puberty, mostly with rote learning methods.
    Rote learning needs be applied upon adults to ensure their children attend school on time regularly.
    Rote learning for literacy, numeracy and language, remains both appropriate and effective for early learning, even in formal schools.
    Infants and Primary teaching needs the use of any successful method for basic reading, writing, mathematics and other.
    As reading, writing and mathematics develop, students capability to learn using more complicated, structured, and presented work is possible.
    Most in prison failed achieve average for age education levels, that largely is the direct result of government and political neglect.
    To reduce prison numbers is important prison “social fitness clubs” be severely restricted, replaced with structured training to raise their reading, writing, mathematics and other capabilities.
    Significant self-improvement needs to be a major measure when considering whether parole be granted.
    As condition of parole needs be the requirement to continue learning, except where in full time paid employment.
    A community service condition for parole of parents can be ensuring their children also attend school on time.

  6. Hey Russell Goldflam: As a person of Scottish heritage I feel racially harassed by do gooders claiming any valid criticism I make about anything Aboriginal (unless it fits 100% with THEIR view) is racist.
    That’s cool, I just don’t involve myself anymore in issues such as rape, bashings and knifings as it’s illegal to actually have an opinion.
    And the real joy is this – I don’t live anywhere near Alice Springs anymore so cannot be responsible for anything that stuffs up for Aboriginals and their “friends”.
    As Rhett Butler said: “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a DAMN!”

  7. He says he can understand the point made by Mr Giles, that if it had been a white girl there would have been a “huge national outcry”.
    Possibly. More likely, if the perpetrator is white, we see outcry, especially where the perpetrator has authority and most especially where the victim is black. You’ll never hear the end of that.
    Given the dwindling examples of authentic raw white on black violence, now anything will do.
    As we have seen in the USA with blatant criminality by blacks, where the police officer is white (Michael Brown) or merely a person defending themselves (eg Zimmerman, half Jewish, half Hispanic) is white enough for the “racist” narrative, the media will batter us half to death with it.
    For now the leftist, communist, cultural Marxist fangs are well hooked into the the levers of power.
    That is why we never see much of black on black violence see the light of day in the news. It does not fit the Green-Left agenda.
    Similarly, rarely will black on white violence make the news, unless extreme.
    Aboriginal community violence seems to be a product of Aboriginal culture (yes, shock horror!) and its developmental effects on the individual.
    Race is also associated with intelligence. This is something leftists really hate but it is scientifically validated. The discoverer of DNA himself was crucified in the media for asserting it.
    Violence as a form of communication or domestic dispute resolution is much more common in less intelligent people, at least 1:1, race or no race.
    A more mature approach would be to examine things as they are not as leftists want us to see in the infernally wrong-headed narrative of “equality”.
    We’re all different and can’t be “made” the same.
    The tragedy is that more intelligent members of the Aboriginal community are held down and violated by the less capable. This is the inverse of the usual situation. The inter-generational nature of this is very damaging.
    Marcia Langton has it right.
    But white-shaming the caviar communists won’t fix it.

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