Aboriginal politician backs child dorms March 27, 2008 - 5:35PM "Barbara Shaw from Tangentyere Town Council in Alice Springs said removing children from their parents would be "going backwards" and she was surprised such a proposal would surface so soon after the apology to the Stolen Generation." The most senior Aboriginal politician in Australia has cautiously backed plans for child dormitories but warned against taking children "lock, stock and barrel" out of remote communities. Northern Territory Deputy Chief Minister Marion Scrymgour has also cautioned against "returning to the days of the past". Her comments follow calls by former Australian of the Year Galarrwuy Yunupingu for government authorities to urgently build boarding accommodation in remote Aboriginal communities. He says the system would ensure children were fed, clothed, bathed and attended school. "The missionary days were good. The missionaries looked after the kids much better than the government does today," he said. The prominent Aboriginal leader's stance has been greeted with scepticism by some who feel parents should be taught to take responsibility for their own children. Ms Scrymgour on Thursday said he was not suggesting a return to a missionary-style education dominated by religion. "It's not about going back to the past, but looking at what worked in the past and let's try and put it into the future," she said. Asked if she backed community-run dormitories, Ms Scrymgour told reporters in Darwin: "I am not against it." Brough's secret meeting with Yunupingu Intervention call for all churches ________________________________________________________________________________ |
"Parents have the right if they want to send their kids away for schooling," she said. "(But) I think taking children lock, stock and barrel out of communities and putting them in boarding doesn't go towards trying to work with parents to try and take more responsibility." Ms Scrymgour said plans for a boarding school on her home country of the Tiwi Islands, north of Darwin, was seen as a way of increasing student attendance. But she dismissed the suggestion Aboriginal children received a better education in missionary days, saying her parents had only basic skills after growing up in the system. "They did provide a lot of love and attention, and maybe that's what's missing in some of our communities," she said. The former principal of Yirrkala School in Nhulunbuy, Leon White, said the proposal would disempower parents. "Dormitories, I believe, don't have a place in most communities," he said. "Finding another way of removing parental responsibility for the upkeep of kids is not a step forward." Barbara Shaw from Tangentyere Town Council in Alice Springs said removing children from their parents would be "going backwards" and she was surprised such a proposal would surface so soon after the apology to the Stolen Generation. "This is talking about taking the kids, moving them out of their home environment and away from their families," said Ms Shaw, who is also a member of the Intervention Rollback Working Group. "Everybody knows that missionaries did not work well for people ... I wouldn't want them days to come back... "I support helping the mothers become more responsible ... not chuck the kids into homes again."
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