Democrats Indigenous Affairs Spokesperson, Senator Andrew Bartlett has criticised Minister Mal Brough's excessively aggressive approach towards critics of the federal government's intervention in Northern Territory Aboriginal communities.
The Minister has even made the absurd call for the Territory Families Minister, Marion Scrymgour, to resign for daring to raise concerns about the effectiveness of the intervention.
"Mr Brough seems to believe that everybody except himself is out of touch with what is happening on the ground, even Aboriginal people who have lived in the Territory their whole lives," Senator Bartlett said.
"No one doubts Mr Brough's concern for the wellbeing of children, but he must balance his passion with some reason, and recognise the fact that people other than him also have expertise as well as passion.
"The fact that Mr Brough so viciously attacks anyone daring to question any aspect of the government's intervention is just another example that this government has stopped listening to anyone, especially since they gained control of the Senate.
"We have had this bully boy tactic for months now - anyone who disagrees even in part with what the government is doing is smeared as aiding and abetting paedophiles.
"It is completely offensive and is an example of the culture of extremism that has permeated the Howard government since seizing control of the Senate. The Prime Minister should show leadership on this issue since he is reaching out to Indigenous people and pull his Minister into line.
"This is precisely why we need to return to an independent, common sense approach in the Senate - to guard against extremist, blinkered attitudes, and to force proper scrutiny of the facts, rather than resorting to intimidation and brute force of numbers to push through actions without proper planning and examination.
"While the Democrats support some intervention measures, we remain concerned that inadequate resourcing and planning risks creating a wasted opportunity. The latest reports show a new surge in the number of children attending school in the NT, but schools are not equipped with adequate classrooms, proper equipment and teacher numbers to handle this influx.
"The Democrats made recommendations during the Senate inquiry into the intervention bill recommending urgent funding for the building of community infrastructure in order to adequately deal with the measures in the legislation in the long term. This has not been done. There cannot be meaningful and sustainable change if you do not first provide the necessities," Senator Bartlett concluded.
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