Former PM Says ‘Cultural Sensitivities’ Obstructing Moves to Tackle Aboriginal Disadvantage

Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has warned “cultural sensitivities” are a roadblock to dealing with the death of Kumanjayi Little Baby, a five-year-old Aboriginal girl from Alice Springs who was murdered in April.

Abbott argued that cultural “sensitivities” and non-Indigenous Australians’ reluctance to cross cultural boundaries are hindering discussion and insight on Aboriginal disadvantage.

“One of the reasons why Aboriginal disadvantage is so intractable is that ‘culture’ keeps getting in the way of addressing it,” he wrote in an online blog.

“‘Culture’ means that we can no longer refer to the five-year-old brutally murdered in an Alice Springs town camp by her real name, the name that will be recorded in the death statistics,” he said, referring to an Aboriginal custom which can mean avoiding speaking the name of the dead.

“‘Culture’ means that we can’t even identify her apparent assailant or his criminal record, even though his name and his record was plastered all over the media, prior to a … court ruling that, likewise, now can’t even be mentioned.”

But Abbott argued that niceties extended to Indigenous cultural nods like acknowledging Melbourne as Naarm do little to target the real issues causing detriment to people in Indigenous communities.

“Even to ponder the policy implications of this horrific death is frowned upon, because the victim was Aboriginal,” he said.

“From the prime minister down, officialdom has brushed away questions about how such a death could have happened on the grounds that local people need time to grieve.

“Yet when the child’s father was in gaol, and when the child’s mother seems to have been hosting a late night party when she disappeared, and when the local community seems to have been protecting the perpetrator at least initially, refusing to discuss any of this looks less like respecting the bereaved than protecting the complicit.”

Kumanjayi Little Baby went missing on April 25, triggering a large-scale search and the discovery of her body five days later.

Jefferson Lewis, 47, has been charged with the five-year-old’s murder and other offences. Vigils for the little girl have been held across Australia.

Three Child Protection Workers Sacked

Abbott’s comments come following reports three child protection workers have been stood down in the wake of Kumanjayi Little Baby’s death.

Northern Territory Child Protection Minister Robyn Cahill said when she contacted the Department of Children and Families in regards to whether there were areas of concern for Kumanjayi Little Baby, she was told there was no situation of concern.

The minister then requested a full brief on the girl’s case, led to the department standing down three members of staff.

Kumanjayi Little Baby’s file revealed six reports had been made around her welfare, coming from police, women’s shelter staff and a relative.

“There are so many children who have had repeated notifications made where zero action is taken for a number of years and those children subsequently have ended up in the criminal justice system,” Cahill said in comments obtained by AAP.

Peak Body Opposes Removal of Kumanjayi Little Baby from Family

Meanwhile, National Voice for our Children (SNAICC), a peak body for dealing with Indigenous children’s affairs in Australia, denied that Kumanjayi Little Baby should automatically have been removed from her home.

The organisation also questioned why information on the little girl’s safety was “leaked” and claimed doing so “demonised” her mother.

“In the Northern Territory, exposure to family violence is a mandatory child protection report,” SNAICC CEO Catherine Liddle said in a statement.

“This does not necessarily mean a child is at risk and should be removed from family.”

At the same time, Liddle argued the Northern Territory government bore responsibility for ongoing issues in Indigenous communities.

“Again Aboriginal families and communities are being targeted and blamed when we know this is fairly and squarely a failure of government systems such as justice, corrections and public housing,” she said.