Addressing flood trauma in Northern Rivers children thirteen months after a catastrophic unnatural disaster

 

The Sydney Morning Herald, “Northern Rivers in youth mental health crisis”, 20 March 2023, excerpt:

A soon-to-be-published resilience survey has found levels of depression and anxiety symptoms are now higher among Northern Rivers children and young people than the national average of earlier survey participants for some student groups.

Conducted almost six months after the February 2022 disaster, the survey was taken by 6611 school students, nearly 13 per cent of all young people aged between five and 19 in the region.

It found that almost one in three Northern Rivers primary students and more than one in three secondary students were at risk of depression and anxiety.

More than 40 per cent of primary students were at risk of trauma-related stress. For secondary students, it was almost 20 per cent.

Inundated, isolated, in despair: Floodwaters around Lismore’s St Carthage’s Cathedral and Trinity Catholic College.CREDIT:GETTY

Healthy North Coast, a not-for profit organisation delivering the Australian government's Primary Health Network program in the region, commissioned the research as the first step in its Resilient Kids initiative, funded by a $10 million grant from the National Emergency Management Agency.

Healthy North Coast chief executive Monika Wheeler said that the survey established a baseline which could help to measure the mental health and wellbeing of young people in the Northern Rivers over time.

She said young people reported generally feeling supported and connected within their schools and communities. However, the survey also highlighted areas to focus on in future.

"The Resilient Kids initiative will use local insights to design tailored mental health and wellbeing supports," she said.

"We know that successful recovery is based on understanding community context and is not a one-off event.

"It's multi-year, multi-layered, and our approach to supporting our young people might change over time as we see how they respond."

Tens of millions of federal and state dollars has been promised for mental health and wellbeing programs in the region's schools and wider community.

Safe haven hubs have opened across the region to provide free mental health support. Drop-ins are encouraged and there is no need for referrals or appointments. For young people, dedicated online and phone services also are available.

The difficulty is reaching those who won't, or can't, use these services.

Children's charities Unicef Australia and Royal Far West are rolling out a $4.5 million support program covering 30 state primary schools and preschools in the Northern Rivers and south-east Queensland.

Social workers, psychologists, speech pathologists and occupational therapists will enter school communities to help staff address learning delays in children.

Unicef Australia chief advocate for children Nicole Breeze said thousands of children will need intensive support, as the effects of the disaster can potentially remain hidden for years.

"Our first engagement in this space was after the Black Summer bushfires," she said. "With children the impact can stay hidden, it can take a year or two, sometimes three. The good news is that with the right support, at the right time, they can bounce back."

The plight of Northern Rivers children garnered international attention Last April when Prince William spoke online with Jeanette Wilkins, the principal of St Joseph's Primary School Woodburn, who told him the community had lost its school and "everything in it" and the mental health of the community had taken a major blow.

The school was underwater for eight days.

"We're two months down the track and nothing has changed, those 34 families are still displaced, so there's no certainty for those children," she told the prince.

"For us, the most important thing was to make contact with our families and our children, and as fast as possible to set up a school somewhere just to get the children back to some form of normality and start dealing with their trauma."

At Christmas, 29 families of students and staff at St Joseph's (more than half the students) were still living in some form of temporary housing such as a caravan, shed, shipping container or the shell of their flood-stripped home.

Ten Catholic schools in the Lismore diocese were directly affected by the floods, including St Joseph's. Three schools are inaccessible, and 1250 students are being taught in temporary facilities.

Morning tea and lunch are provided in some schools, as are new school uniforms and shoes, to help address absenteeism. A team of 30 counsellors is working in 23 schools, and community services provider Social Futures is operating in seven of the flood-hit schools to assist families in gaining to access additional mental health social and financial support.

Thirty-seven state facilities suffered significant damage, and five schools still operate away from their original site.

Northern Rivers independent schools and tertiary institutions are considering their options during this global pandemic

The Northern Star, 19 March 2020: 

Cape Byron Rudolf Steiner School will be the first school on the Northern Rivers to effectively close due to the coronavirus (COVID-19). 

Parents of 370 children the school have been advised to keep the kids at home from Wednesday if possible. School is open, but most kids have stayed home. 

“We have a very small number of students here at school,” Principal Nerida Johnson said. 

“It’s been quiet all week, we had 34 per cent of students absent yesterday.” 

Vulnerable staff and students were advised to stay home early in the week and her directive, issued to all students on Wednesday morning, has been met with relief. .....

“Essentially, we are making decisions looking at all the reports and making sure we’re doing our bit to keep the community safe,” Ms Johnson said.

“Parents have been overwhelmingly supportive; I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many messages of support. 

“Parents were feeling frustrated at the mixed messaging, we are being told to self-isolate and at the same time to send our children to school. 

“We cannot possibly do physically distancing with the younger classes; we cannot keep classrooms of children 1.5m away from each other.

The Northern Star, 19 March 2020: 

Southern Cross University will deliver all its study programs online from Monday, March 23, but its campuses will remain open. 

This includes Lismore, Coffs Harbour and Gold Coast regional campuses, as well as metropolitan campuses in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. 

Vice Chancellor Professor Adam Shoemaker announced the move as a response to the continuing impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak. 

“We have made this move in the best interests of our students and our teaching staff,” the Vice Chancellor said. 

“While every degree that we offer will now be available online, all of our campuses remain open.” 

All teaching will convert to the online mode by Monday. “Unless otherwise advised, classes will be delivered online at the same time that face-to-face classes would have occurred. 

Students’ timetables will not change, but how they engage with classes will,” Professor Shoemaker said.

“Some activity which cannot be undertaken online — such as clinical placements in Health and Teaching practicums — will continue unless otherwise advised.

Parents with LGBTIQ children call on Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison "to do as he promised which was to govern for all of the people which surely must include the LGBTIQ people"

Media Release

10th June, 2019

Religious Freedom is not an issue - Religious Privilege is a huge concern

After Marriage Equality was achieved, the right wing of the Government decided Christian rights were at risk. A Religious Review was held due to concerns about the rights of Christians.

Mr Ruddock, a conservative and Att. General who was the architect of rewording the “marriage act” to read as “man and woman” to exclude same sex couples, was the Chairperson.

Eventually, after much delay the Review showed there was very little concern for Christians.

However, the government’s paranoia about LGBTIQ people is a great concern to LGBTIQ people and their loved ones.  

Because:

Welfare groups, aged care and hospitals are predominantly run by Religious bodies

Teachers working at Christian schools may be retrenched and students expelled

Businesses owned by Christian individuals or organisations 

May all be given the right to refuse service or care, just because their clients, customers or staff involved are LGBTIQ. 

Additionally, there is the concern of the promotion of hate speech. Christians may not believe their words are harmful, or may not care but the impact of what is said or written can be devastating for the LGBTIQ person and their loved ones. Again any freedom, including freedom of speech should never be used as a tool for abuse. 

The ratio of Christians suffering poor mental health or suicide from hate speech is minimal. However, the negative impact of hate speech, homophobia and transphobia against LGBTIQ people is extremely high.

So, as National Spokesperson for parents with LGBTIQ children, I am calling on Mr Morrison and his team to do as he promised which was to govern for all of the people which surely must include the LGBTIQ people. They pay taxes, contribute to society and vote.

           

Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays+ also made a January 2018 submission to Religious Freedoms Review.

Call to protect infants from dangerous infectious disease, whooping cough

The Daily Examiner, 27 November 2018, p3:

NSW Health is urging all pregnant women and new parents to be aware of the symptoms of whooping cough and to ensure they and their children are vaccinated on time.

Despite almost 95 per cent of infants in NSW now vaccinated against the disease, outbreaks still occur every three to four years as community immunity wanes, and recent high numbers indicate an outbreak might be on the way.

Dr Vicky Sheppeard, NSW Health’s Director of Communicable Diseases, said that in October 2018 almost 800 people in NSW were notified with whooping cough (pertussis), the highest number since October 2016.

Acting director of North Coast Public Health Greg Bell said a similar situation was emerging in Northern NSW where there have been 36 cases of whooping cough reported in the past four weeks.

While these levels of whooping cough across Northern NSW are similar to the averages of the previous five years, pertussis notifications are trending upwards.

The latest Australian Immunisation Register quarterly report shows that at September 2018 90.4 per cent of five-year-olds and 88.9 per cent of 12-month-olds in Northern NSW Local Health District were fully vaccinated.

These figures represent an increase on vaccination rates in 2010 under the-then North Coast Area Health Service, when 84.9 per cent of children aged 5 and 87 per cent of 12-month-olds were fully vaccinated.

Even in highly vaccinated populations it is not possible to eliminate whooping cough…..

 “The aim of whooping cough control is to protect infants, who are at highest risk of severe disease or death if they contract whooping cough. Whooping cough vaccination is effective in preventing severe infection.”

NSW Berejiklian Government still playing hide and seek with independent review of the out-of-home care system

In November 2015 the NSW Government gave retired senior public servant David Tune the task of conducting an independent review of the out-of-home care system in the state.

In August 2016 the then Baird Government Cabinet considered his report.

However, it took until 2018, on the heel of threats from the NSW Upper House, before this report was released by the Berejiklian Government.

Although details of this report have become available to mainstream media, as yet there is no complete copy on the NSW Government's Family & Community Services or "Their Futures Matter" websites.

So it was not surprising to see the responsible minister duck for cover.

The Guardian, 13 June 2018:

NSW minister for family services Pru Goward blamed the premier’s department for the decision to withhold a damning report into NSW’s out-of-home care system.

Goward appeared on ABC Canberra radio on Wednesday morning and when the questioning turned from local issues to the Tune report she appeared to end the interview abruptly with: “I have to go.”

Being political tzar of all one surveys does not always mean that the world will bow down before you

There is no disputing that since becoming the ministerial head of that new 'super' federal government department, the Department of Home Affairs, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Peter Craig Dutton has enjoyed a level of political power not shared by his ministerial colleagues. 

However he is obviously not happy that this power does not intimidate Australian courts and tribunals.

Perhaps this is because his Migration and Refugee Division and Character Assessments and Cancellations Branch are not always winning Dutton's war against orphans, refugees and those under threat of torture.

Administrative Appeals Tribunal decisions¹ in 2018:

1615725 (Refugee) [2018] AATA 1255

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection refused the applicant’s Protection visa. The applicant claimed he could not return to Malaysia due to his homosexuality as he would be subject to discrimination and abuse. The Tribunal set aside the decision. 

1419288 (Refugee) [2018] AATA 282

An application made by a family of three for Protection visas was refused by a delegate of the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. The applicant seeking protection claimed he was at risk of torture if returned to Pakistan. The Tribunal remitted the decision with the direction that the applicant satisfied section 36(2)(aa) of the Migration Act 1958.

Manash (Migration) [2018] AATA 180

The review applicant sought two Orphan Relative visas for his younger siblings on the basis that their only existing carer, their mother, was incapacitated and could not care for them. The applications were refused by a delegate under section 65 of the Migration Act 1958 and the Tribunal remitted the applications for reconsideration with the direction they met the criteria for the visas.

Sheikh (Migration) [2018] AATA 1056

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection refused the visa applicant's Student visa. The visa applicant was a child residing in Somalia and both of his parents were deceased. His maternal aunt, an Australian citizen, was his carer and was attempting to return home to Australia to her family with the child. The Tribunal set aside the decision. 

Footnote:

1. "The review of decisions to refuse or cancel a visa on character grounds is a small component of the broad range of decisions about visas reviewed by the AAT, and an even smaller component of the overall caseload managed by the AAT. 

To put these matters in context, in 2016–17, the Tribunal finalised 42,224 reviews, of which 168 decisions (or less than 0.4 per cent), related to visa cancellations and refusals on character grounds

In considering and deciding these matters, Tribunal members are bound to apply Ministerial Direction No. 65 which sets out three primary considerations which must be taken into account. These include protection of the Australian community; the best interests of minor children in Australia; and expectations of the Australian Community.  The Direction also sets out five ‘other considerations’ which must also be taken into account, including: international non-refoulement obligations; the strength, nature and duration of ties; impact on Australian business interests; impact on victims; and the extent of impediments if removed.  These decisions are routinely published and contain an explanation of the Members’ evaluation of each of these considerations." [AAT appearance at Senate Estimates, 25 May 2018]

Now customers can't even trust their local bank tellers

It seems schoolchildren are considered fair game by the big banks......

Junkee, 19 May 2018:

Oh boy. This is a tough one. An investigate report by Fairfax Media has found that Commonwealth Bank employees set up thousands of fraudulent children’s savings accounts in order to meet internal targets and earn bonuses.

That’s right folks. Your mates the Dollarmites? They were in it up to their neck.

According to the report by Fairfax reporter Adele Ferguson, the scam involved employees illegitimately activating Youthsaver accounts that had been set up by parents via the Commonwealth Bank’s school banking program (better known at Dollarmites) but did not contain any actual money. Since the sign-up would not count towards internal sales targets unless a deposit was made in the first 30 days, employees would deposit a small amount of money into the account themselves to ensure that it was counted.

The matter first came to the attention of senior management at the bank in 2013. An internal investigation found that at 150 branches, as many as 5347 Youthsaver accounts contained less than $1 in deposits. According to the Fairfax report, “managers were asked to look into them to see if they had been fraudulently set up using illegitimate sources of funds”, but the bank chose not to broaden the investigation to include the almost 900 other branches that were in operation at the time.

Ultimately, no disciplinary action was taken against employees. In an email obtained by Fairfax, one senior manager said “the issue is widespread, it would seem unfair to name a handful when more are involved”.

The bank did not inform any of the customers or schools involved.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 18 May 2018:

The school banking and customer referral scandals came to light inside the bank shortly after CBA's now chief executive, Matt Comyn, was appointed to run the retail operation in 2012….

“While this practice did not financially harm any of our customers, it was a breach of their trust. For that I’m deeply sorry. As CBA’s new chief executive, my number one priority is to expedite changes that will prevent any behaviour that undermines our customers' trust in us – and to remove any CBA employee who knowingly acts against our customers’ interests.”

The country’s largest consumer group, CHOICE, seized on the scandal to renew its calls to ban school banking schemes.

“It's a pretty basic expectation that bank staff will handle money honestly. Whether it involves five cents or $5 million, any mishandling of funds goes to the heart of trust in the institution,” CHOICE chief executive Alan Kirkland said.

He said if senior staff knew it was happening on a mass scale and did nothing about it, they were complicit in that fraud.

 “This raises serious questions about the culture of the entire bank,” he said

While over at the Banking and Finance Royal Commission………

ABC News, 21 May 2018:

The banking royal commission has heard an elderly, seriously ill woman faced homelessness after her daughter's business failed.

Carolyn Flanagan cannot read or write due to blindness caused by glaucoma, she has trouble speaking due to the effects of cancer surgery, suffers memory loss and has osteoporosis, among other medical problems.

The pensioner sought help from Legal Aid NSW when Westpac tried to take her home, which was used to guarantee her daughter's loan. A complaint was taken to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which found in Westpac's favour.

It was only a last-ditch effort by Ms Flanagan's Legal Aid lawyers that managed to keep her in her home.

Solicitor Dana Beiglari told the hearing her manager at the time "contacted another consumer advocate to see if he had a senior contact at Westpac who we could escalate this matter to, given our client was facing homelessness in her old age".

Ms Beiglari sent a letter to Westpac outlining Ms Flanagan's medical circumstances and managed to secure a "life interest" in the property for her, which means she can remain in the home until she dies or decides to sell.

Counsel assisting the inquiry Michael Hodge QC asked Ms Beiglari about the Westpac employee's response to the case.

"What that employee of Westpac expressed to you was surprise with the thought that Westpac would be evicting and it wasn't in line with what Westpac would normally do?" he asked.

"Yes, that's correct," Ms Beiglari answered.

Ms Flanagan maintained a sense of humour under questioning. After Mr Hodge listed off her litany of health issues, including depression, she quipped "that'd depress anybody".

She gave her evidence through a video link as she was too unwell to travel. 

Westpac's lawyers questioned her recollection of events and the amount of the loan.

Westpac executive Alastair Welsh followed Ms Flanagan and Ms Beiglari in giving evidence. He said there was nothing "technically" wrong with Ms Flanagan being allowed to act as a guarantor.

"My review of the file shows we followed the process I would want the bank to follow," Mr Welsh said.

However, he admitted there were some problems with the bank's handling of the case once the loan failed.

The inquiry heard it was Westpac policy to "exercise extreme caution" with parental guarantees.

Mr Welsh admitted there were warning signs in Ms Flanagan's case that should have been observed by the banker.

"She suffers from quite debilitating health conditions. Would that be a relevant factor?" Mr Hodge asked.

Mr Welsh agreed and said there were no comments on Ms Flanagan's file noting her condition.

The bank manager involved is no longer employed by Westpac.

Saying "Thank you"......

The Clarence Valley Independent, 2 May 2018:

A letter from mum and dad

Ed,

We will never forget certain things from this journey ever in our lives. On March 22, 2018 our lives changed forever.

Watching our baby Emerald (7 months old) go into cardiac arrest and multi organ failure one hour after arriving at our local hospital, me just taking her because I thought she was sick, then it all went downhill from there. The NETs retrieval team was called in to take us to Westmead; Emerald suffered a seizure in Grafton from low blood sugar that resulted in a brain injury and fluid on her brain, needing life support. It took NETS another six hours to stabilise her to get on the plane. Emerald was blue and lifeless and no one thought she would make it; in that moment I thought my baby had died, then the next day eight hours after arrival at the children’s hospital, we had a diagnosis of a very rare CHD called ALCAPA that Emerald had been silently fighting for seven months and was never picked up. They took her for major open heart surgery at 8am on March 23; the longest day of my life. They told me to be prepared for the worst as they expected Emerald to come back on the ECMO (the double bypass machine for lungs and heart).

3pm came and Emmy was about to come out of surgery and she wasn’t on the machine! When the head surgeon sat me down and pretty much told me no one told him about her low blood sugar and Emerald suffered another seizure creating a complication for the surgery, yet she still didn’t come back on that machine, they kept telling me that she would end up on it to give her heart a rest; the next week was very touch and go, we almost lost our girl three more times but still no ECMO; Emerald was fighting so hard
And the doctors telling me that her liver and kidneys won’t make it; she was so puffed up with fluid and so yellow from the jaundice and that they thought she had more seizures, but couldn’t tell because she was on the muscle relaxant, the only thought in my head was if she was going to be ok. I didn’t care if her brain injury resulted in her being a little more special, I just wanted to know she was ok – they couldn’t guarantee us anything and they still can’t. Emerald also contacted two blood infections, pneumonia from being on the life support and a collapsed lung.

This experience has been very trying and testing and very traumatising and we feel so out of our comfort zone being here and almost 700km away from home.

A few anxiety attacks from mum and dad over the last 5 weeks
Some very touch and go moments I will never forget.
We are slowly on the road to recovery, Emerald has astounded all her doctors with how far she has come and that she ever once stopped fighting.

Emerald is a miracle five weeks post op and she is saying mum, hi, can do high 5; eating solids again and rolling over from side to side!

I could not be standing here today beside my heart warrior if it wasn’t for the support from my family and friends and the entire community who has rallied around my daughter to help us. Thank you for all the donations and the prayers; we are truly blessed to have such caring kind hearted people in our lives and our little gem is fighting to get back to our little community so we can say thank you to everyone that has helped us.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I know this journey still has a long, long way to go and the shock has worn off finally and is only just hitting me now, but every day is a step closer to home and Emmy is improving every single day.
And I appreciate everything you all have done – Thank you.

Thank you for never leaving Emerald in the dark.

Jess and Kev – Emerald’s parents

Labor attempts to close anti-vaccination loophole

TBA

9 News, 2 April 2017:

Parents who oppose vaccinations on conscientious grounds will no longer be allowed to enrol their children at New South Wales child care centres under legislation to be introduced by the state opposition.

Labor leader Luke Foley announced the policy today and said the legislation, set to be introduced this week, would plug the loophole which had allowed specialist anti-vaccination child care centres to be set up.

The changes will not affect children who can't be vaccinated because of a medical condition such as a specialised cancer treatment.

“We need to be encouraging vaccinations not discouraging them," Mr Foley said in a statement.

"Vaccinations are the only way to protect against serious diseases like polio, mumps, whooping cough, meningococcal, diphtheria and tetanus."

Mr Foley said his plan would also cover family day care operations.

The announcement comes after an unvaccinated NSW girl was diagnosed with tetanus earlier this month.

It is believed the seven-year-old picked up the disease through an open wound on her foot while playing in the garden of her home in the state’s north.

The case prompted renewed debate in the north coast region, which has some of the lowest immunisation rates in Australia.

The Daily Telegraph, 1 April 2017:

A five-week-old baby boy is fighting for life after a catastrophic brain haemorrhage followed his parents decision to decline a routine vitamin K shot given to all newborns.

The baby, from northern NSW, presented to Lismore base hospital last week with bleeding on the brain before being transferred to Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital in Brisbane where he remains in a very serious condition. If he survives, he will likely be severely disabled.

Vitamin K is the new battleground of the anti-vaccination movement which has been scaring thousands of parents into rejecting the shot — a safe injection which has saved hundreds of children dying of Newborn Haemorrhagic Disease.

The Sunday Telegraph is today calling on the Federal Government to add the vitamin K injection to the National Immunisation Program (NIP) and tie it to Commonwealth family payments.

Failing To Meet Aspirational Health Targets: childhood immunisation rates on NSW North Coast lowest in Australia

There was only four Primary Health Network Areas in Australia which came near to meeting the aspiration health target of 95 per cent full childhood immunisation of all children by 5 years of age.

None of those areas were on the NSW North Coast. In fact North Coast Primary Health Network Areas had the lowest percentages of fully immunised children in Australia in 2014-15 – achieving only 89.2% by 5 years of age.

From the Clarence Valley to the Tweed there were 2,100 children (aged 1 to 5 years of age combined) who were not fully immunised. Only 167 of these children were Aboriginal-Torres Strait Islanders as the childhood immunisation percentage in this cohort is 95.1% by 5 years of age.

NSW Far North Coast

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/map/immunisation2014-15

NSW North Coast

Healthy Communities: Immunisation rates for children in 2014–15 - In Focus report released 18 February 2016:

In late 2014, the Australian Chief Medical Officer and all state and territory chief health officers agreed to an aspirational target for 95% of children to be fully immunised in line with the National Immunisation Program Schedule. The report shows that for 1-year-old children, rates are below 95% in all PHN areas, although this fact does not reflect on the performance of PHNs as they were set up after the period to which the data relate.

The report finds:

*90.9% of all children aged 1, 2 and 5 years were fully immunised and 9.1% (84,571) were not fully immunised, though rates vary across local areas

*89.2% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 1, 2 and 5 years were fully immunised and 10.8% (4,922) were not fully immunised, though rates vary across local areas

*Immunisation rates for all 1 year olds ranged across PHN areas from 93.6% to 87.7% with a total of 26,671 children not fully immunised nationally. None of the 31 PHNs had immunisation rates of 95% or higher for this age group

*Immunisation rates for 2 year olds ranged across PHN areas from 92.3% to 86.7% with a total of 33,681 children not fully immunised nationally. None of the 31 PHNs had immunisation rates of 95% or above for this age group, although rates for 2 year olds may have been lower due to a recent change in the number of vaccines counted in the definition for ‘fully immunised’ 2 year olds

*Immunisation rates for 5 year olds ranged across PHN areas from 95.6% to 89.2% with a total of 24,219 children not fully immunised nationally. Only two of the 31 PHN areas had immunisation rates of 95% or higher for this age group

*Across smaller local areas (SA3s), among all 1-year-old children, 39 out of 324 local areas (SA3s) recorded a significant increase in immunisation rates, while only one area showed a significant decrease. Among 5 year olds, 16 SA3s showed an increase and six a decrease

*Immunisation rates for 1-year-old Indigenous children significantly increased in seven out of 49 geographic areas (SA4s) where data were available, and decreased in none.

Immunisation helps protect individuals and the community generally against vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, polio, tetanus and whooping cough (pertussis). To be considered fully immunised, children need to have completed the immunisations appropriate for their age as set out in the National Immunisation Program Schedule by the time they turn 1, 2 and 5 years of age.

This release also includes a new interactive web tool that allows users to build their own graphs on immunisation data that interests them.

NT Attorney-General Johan (John) Wessel Elferink's incompetence and possible negligence exposed

Sometime between 8.30 pm on 25 July 2016 and the following morning the Hon Johan (John) Wessel Elferink MLA (pictured left) was removed as the Northern Territory Minister for Correctional Services and Minister for Justice.

However, according to the Dept. of the Chief Minister (2.20pm 26.07.16) to the best of its knowledge he remains NT Attorney-General. 

Elferink also remains listed on NT Government main website as Minister for Children and Families, Minister for Health, Minister for Disability Services and Minister for Mental Health Services.

Here is how this serious issue is being reported in the mainstream media…….

Crikey.com.au, 26 July 2016:

The ABC’s Four Corners program has produced another swift response from government, with Malcolm Turnbull already promising a royal commission into allegations of abuse of children in Northern Territory juvenile detention. But despite protests from authorities that they could not have known what was going on, the abuse was well documented almost a year ago.

In last night’s graphic broadcast, journalist Caro Meldrum-Hanna detailed the use of tear gas on six boys held in the Behavioural Management Unit of the Don Dale Youth Detention centre outside of Darwin in August 2014, as well as so-called spit hood head coverings and strapping children to chairs in footage reminiscent of the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay…

The Guardian, 26 July 2016:

Malcolm Turnbull has announced a royal commission following the airing of shocking footage showing the treatment of children at the old Don Dale detention facility in Berrimah, outside Darwin.

The prime minister told ABC radio that like all Australians he was “deeply shocked ... and appalled” at the graphic footage of abuse at the centre, shown by the Four Corners program on Monday.

Four Corners showed shocking vision of instances of apparent abuse of teenage detainees and examined long running issues and instances of mistreatment in the Northern Territory youth justice system. CCTV footage showed the restraint and spit-hooding of one youth, as well as another being stripped and physically held down by guards on more than one occasion.

Turnbull said there was “no question” about the mistreatment of young people as recently as 2014.

He said the Don Dale centre had to be examined specifically but the royal commission would also consider “whether there is a culture that spreads across the detention system in the Northern Territory, whether it was specific to that centre”.

“The important thing is to get to the bottom of what happened at Don Dale, and there may be other matters connected to that to be looked into.”

Asked whether the royal commission would consider the Northern Territory justice system generally, Turnbull said inquiries needed a “clear focus so you get the answers to the specific problem”.

The deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, played down the prospect of a broader inquiry, noting “the wider you make it, the longer it takes”.

“We want this to get moving as quickly as possible, to get to a conclusion as quickly as possible. We don’t want this issue to be investigated for years.”

Asked what Nigel Scullion – a Northern Territory senator and Indigenous affairs minister since September 2013 – knew about the mistreatment, Joyce replied “if Nigel Scullion had known about this he would have acted”.

“The issue we had is that we didn’t know about this.”

Turnbull said he had consulted the Northern Territory chief minister, Adam Giles, federal attorney general George Brandis, Scullion and human rights commission president Gillian Triggs, who all agreed the government needed to move swiftly.

He noted the Don Dale centre had been “controversial” in the past and the subject of previous inquiries.

“We will get to the bottom of what happened here: we want to know how this came about, what lessons can be learned from it, why there were inquiries that did not turn up this evidence,” he said.

“We need to expose the cultural problems, the administrative problems that allowed this type of mistreatment to occur,” Turnbull said.

“We need to understand how it was that there were inquiries into Don Dale, as a place where there had been allegations of abuse – there were inquiries, but did not produce the evidence that we’ve seen last night.”

Turnbull said children in detention should be treated humanely, but did not call for Don Dale to be immediately shut down – the centre was moved to the adult jail at Berrimah following the events illustrated on Four Corners. He said the royal commission, to be conducted jointly with the Northern Territory government, would be established and would report as soon as possible.

Patrick Dodson, Labor’s shadow assistant minister for Indigenous affairs, called on the government to take a broader look at the justice system and detention, not just the Don Dale centre.

He said the Northern Territory’s attorney general, John Elferink, should immediately be stood aside until the inquiry took place…..

News Hub, 26 July 2016:

At a press conference today NT Chief Minister Adam Giles announced he had taken over the portfolios of Corrections and Justice from John Elferink, the now former minister responsible for young detainees in the Northern Territory, reports Australian media.

"Can I start by saying that anybody who saw that footage on television last night on Four Corners would undoubtedly describe it as horrific footage. I sat and watched the footage and recognised horror through my eyes," Mr Giles said.

Mr Giles said the footage that aired on ABC's Four Corners had been withheld from him, Mr Elferink and other officials in what he called a "culture of cover-up within the corrections system."

"I think there's been a culture of cover up going on for many-a-long year. The footage we saw last night going back to 2010 - and I predict this has gone on for a very long time."

That said Mr Giles sympathises with the Far North Australian Territory's desire to rid the community of youth crime.

"They've had a gutful of cars getting smashed up, houses getting broken into, people being assaulted. There's no doubt. And the majority of the community is saying let's lock these kids up," he said.

ABC News, 26 July 2016:

The man formerly in charge of the NT's juvenile justice system has a complicated history, which includes making citizens arrests and public altercations.

John Elferink was today sacked as Northern Territory minister for corrections after featuring in the Four Corners report which aired on Monday night, defending the actions of guards at the Don Dale detention centre near Darwin.

"When kids arm themselves with broken glass, when kids arm themselves with metal bars, then reasonable force has to be brought to bear upon them, to subdue them," Mr Elferink said during the program…..

ABC News, 26 July 2016:

The NT Government should not be allowed to play any part in the royal commission into the mistreatment of young offenders at Territory juvenile detention facilities, former chief justice of the Family Court of Australia, Alastair Nicholson, says…..

Human Rights Commissioner Gillian Triggs called for an independent inquiry into the treatment of NT children in detention.

Mr Turnbull said the royal commission would be held in conjunction with the NT Government but Justice Nicholson said the Territory Government was part of the problem.

"The fact that it's in conjunction with the Northern Territory Government troubles me, because the Northern Territory Government is part of the problem," he said.

"I think that will act as a brake on the freedom of the commission to inquire into what it ought to be inquiring into.

ABC Four Corners program, Australia's Shame, 25 July 2016 can be viewed here.

UPDATE

Chief Minister Adam Giles has now taken over as NT Minister for Correctional Services and Minister for Justice.

This is him on his feet in parliament less than six years ago - forgetting that exclusion from society is the punishment meted out by the courts when sending people to gaol or juveniles to detention and that the correctional system is not supposed to inflict additional punishment by way of harsh treatment or abuse of human rights.

Northern Territory Parliament, Hansard, 19 October 2010:

The recidivism rate is at all-time highs in Australia. The prison system is not teaching anyone anything. People are not afraid to go to gaol. If one of us in this room was deprived of our liberties and placed in a prison system, I am sure we would not like to be there. However, for the majority of the people who go to gaol it is like going on a holiday. Going to gaol is like going to a resort. Going to gaol is like having a reprieve from society as you know it. To have the clean bed, food, meals, $25 a week, Coca-Cola and chip vending machines - why would you not want to be there? More than half the people there do not have this in their normal lives. It encourages people.

I understand there are rules which guide the prisons in Australia and the United Nations, and how we use basic human rights in the treatment of prisoners and so forth. I understand that. What I do not understand is how we are soft, flaccid, and incapable of punishing prisoners in our Corrections system. The soft and flaccid approach of the treatment of prisoners in the Northern Territory is having a detrimental effect on building the social fabric in our towns and, in particular, Alice Springs…..

I would love to be the Corrections minister. It is not the portfolio I really aspire to but, if I was the prisons minister, I would build a big concrete hole and put all the bad criminals in there: ‘Right, you are in the hole, you are not coming out. Start learning about it’. I might break every United Nations’ convention on the rights of the prisoner but, ‘Get in the hole’. The member for Nelson spoke about if you do the wrong thing, you do not go to a course, or you cannot play pool. I am sure every taxpayer in the Northern Territory would like to have a pool table, or be unhappy to know prisoners get pool tables and are paid to do menial tasks.

New Matilda, 28 July 2016:

The man who will lead the Royal Commission into the abuse of children in juvenile detention in the Northern Territory needs no introduction. At least not to Aboriginal people. Chris Graham explains.

Brian Martin, the former NT Supreme Court Chief Justice, achieved infamy among Aboriginal communities in April 2010 when he described five white youths who bashed an Aboriginal man to death in a racially charged drunken rampage as “of otherwise good character”.

The youths – Scott Doody, Timothy Hird, Anton Kloeden, Joshua Spears and Glen Swain – spent the night getting drunk at the local casino, before driving up and down the dry bed of the Todd River, where homeless Aboriginal people sleep.

They abused campers, fired a replica pistol at them, and ran over at least one swag with their vehicle.

Eventually, the boys stopped and kicked to death Kwementyaye Ryder, aged 33, after he threw a bottle at their car as they drove at him.

The killing remains infamous in Alice Springs to this day, in part for the racial motivation behind the attack…..

But the killing is most infamous for the amount of time the five young men ending up serving.

Chief Justice Martin sentenced one of the men to as little as 12 months. The longest time served was four years.

One of Justice Martin’s justifications for the light sentences was that the youths would be caused ‘additional hardship’ in prison, given the overwhelming majority of inmates are Aboriginal.

Following is a story I wrote for the ABC’s Drum site in 2010, while staying in Alice Springs for several months. It should give New Matilda readers some insight to how Brian Martin’s stewardship of the Royal Commission is likely to be greeted by black Territorians.