Volume 2   Number 3

Email: waa@womensactionalliance.com.au

Website: www.womensactionalliance.com.au

July 2006

 

 

 

 

THE WOMEN OF CHERBOURG

 

We have yet again been deeply appalled at recent media stories depicting violence and abuse in aboriginal communities. This is a long standing problem.

 

The violence that we see in aboriginal Australia is a consequence of dispossession and neglect over many generations. It is replicated in many communities around the world which find themselves in a similar position.

 

The Prime Minister’s declaration that “we’ll decide who comes onto Aboriginal country, and the circumstances under which they come” is an arrogant approach which undermines land rights and adds to the problem. Amendments have been made to the Aboriginal Land Rights Act in the Northern Territory which a respected authority, Professor Jon Altman, sees as flawed.

 

Governments have a habit of giving with one hand and taking back with the other. This creates disillusionment and hopelessness among the communities and causes many to give up and turn to the white fella’s demon of substance abuse.  Many once strong elders are so badly damaged that they cannot go back in order to go forward and are unable to help the young. It is the men who have lost their pride and the dignity that they formerly had as stockmen. The equal pay legislation played a major role in this. Many measures such as this,  that were undertaken in good will, have proved to be destructive.

 

Women, who are the child bearers and nurturers of life are the hope for

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the future.  The following story is one of many that are starting to emerge.  It was more than two years ago when the nation heard the cries of the women of Cherbourg in Queensland who were sick to the stomach of children being sexually abused and some as young as two years old contracting syphilis. Today Cherbourg has a different story. The community is stronger and no longer in crisis. Lilian Gray, one of the women from the Cherbourg Critical Incident Group, who spoke out against the violence said, “We meet once a month with each other as well as continuing to meet with various government agencies.”  When the women first spoke out against the violence fifty eight recommendations were handed to the Queensland Government. They have nearly all been met and many are ongoing.

 

The women of Cherbourg know how hard it has been for those in the Northern Territory to speak out and to initiate solutions. People in the communities have to become strong. Many initiatives have been tried and much money has been committed to these most serious social problems. Now there is widespread uncertainty as to what needs to be done.

 

 Policies need to be built around the views and experiences of the people who live and work there. But it would seem to make sense to examine strategies that have succeeded and the Cherbourg experience is but one of these. Women are at the forefront of the communities.

 

By Elizabeth Pike  -  a descendant of the Minang people from WA. and the elder at the Aboriginal Catholic Ministry in Melbourne. 

In May I spoke at the National Organisers Conference of the retail union, the SDA, which faces great challenges protecting working conditions of some of Australia’s most vulnerable workers. Women comprise a large proportion of the retail industry. The new industrial relations reforms hold many concerns for these women who often find themselves in part-time and/or casual work, which make it difficult to negotiate equitable workplace agreements.

 

In my address I made the point that half of all women with children under four are not in any form of paid work. Even among mothers with school age children women prefer part-time work. According to the ABS only 20% of women in couple families with children under 15 are in full-time paid work. Women are doing their best to balance paid work and family and for most this involves cutting back on paid work.

 

In this context, it is interesting to note the results of the survey conducted by the Victorian Office for Women where women indicated that the most beneficial entitlement employers could offer mothers returning to paid work was flexible working arrangements. This is in keeping with results of other surveys which indicate that, given a choice, mothers prefer to care for their own young children. Flexible working arrangements and the availability of part-time work are more important to many women than increased availability of long-day care.

 

This is interesting in the light of recent publicity regarding ‘non-working’ mothers using formal childcare. In reality  women’s lives are a complex balance of many conflicting demands. Instead of dividing mothers into ‘working’ and ‘non-working’ Government needs to provide support for all mothers who strive to provide the best life they can for their children.

Maureen McCarthy

SA President