Two of the central figures in a major media and government scandal that erupted in the lead-up to the launch of the Northern Territory intervention will speak in Sydney on September 3, in their first public engagement together.
Tjanara Goreng Goreng, a former Howard Coalition government official-turned-whistleblower, and Chris Graham, the founding editor of the National Indigenous Times, will speak address a public forum, at the University of Technology, Sydney, hosted by the Stop the Intervention Collective Sydney (STICS).
Goreng Goreng and Graham will talk on 鈥淩acism in the media: the Lie that Built the Northern Territory intervention鈥, an expose about a fraudulent ABC Lateline program that aired in the lead-up to the intervention, called 鈥淪exual slavery reported in Indigenous communities鈥.
The Lateline story helped the federal government mount the case for the NT intervention. But, as the pair will reveal, the story was built on a gigantic fraud. The scandal surrounding this story has already destroyed several careers, sparked a series of parliamentary brawls and an apology to federal parliament 鈥 not to mention police raids on homes in Canberra and Central Australia.
Goreng Goreng will provide her first-person experience as one of the whistleblowers who helped expose the government fraud leading up to the intervention. She鈥檒l also discuss the personal cost of taking a stand 鈥 Goreng Goreng鈥檚 home was one of those raided by police, but it was far from the highest price she would pay for speaking out.
It was Graham鈥檚 reporting that led to the raid on Goreng Goreng鈥檚 home, and several others. He鈥檒l provide an insight into the ABC story, and detail a series of startling frauds perpetrated on Lateline viewers.
The spotlight on 尝补迟别濒颈苍别鈥檚 reporting has already seen an 鈥渁nonymous youth worker鈥 unmasked as a ministerial adviser, and a doctor caught prescribing Viagra to an alleged paedophile. Graham promises new information at the upcoming forum.
鈥淭he scale of the fraud perpetrated by Lateline, and the determination of the ABC to whitewash this scandal and avoid any further scrutiny, will leave your head spinning鈥 said Graham.
鈥淚f you think you know what media behaving badly looks like, then you need to think again.
鈥Lateline鈥檚 reporting led directly to the greatest human rights abuse against Aboriginal people certainly of my time, and probably in the last half century.
鈥淭he Northern Territory intervention has harmed Aboriginal people; it鈥檚 caused starvation; it鈥檚 seen a dramatic rise in reports of self-harm incidents; it鈥檚 driven children away from school; it鈥檚 wasted hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.
鈥淚n short鈥, Graham said, 鈥渋t鈥檚 been a disaster for the nation鈥檚 most disadvantaged citizens, the people who could least afford it.
鈥淭he media has always played a crucial role in creating an environment where governments can get away with race politics during election campaigns. In this case, the government couldn鈥檛 have done it without Lateline.鈥
Jean Parker from STICS said: 鈥淭he Aboriginal communities in Central Australia have sent a clear message to Canberra. With up to 40% swings towards a clearly anti-intervention candidate, they are calling for the intervention to be abolished. The Labor government鈥檚 expansion of income management has been sold as an end to discrimination, but for Aboriginal communities who have had their land and self-determination stripped away under the intervention, these amendments offer nothing."
The Australian Human Rights Commissioner Graeme Innes has recently called for the Racial Discrimination Act to be fully restored in relation Aboriginal communities in the NT. Shamefully, the Labor government continued the discrimination inherent in intervention laws.
鈥淭he intervention is an outright return to assimilation, but many well-meaning people have believed the government鈥檚 claims that the policies are designed to help鈥, continued Parker.
鈥淎nd ABC Lateline鈥檚 dishonest reporting formed the basis of that myth鈥, continued Graham.
鈥淚鈥檝e worked in the media for more than 20 years, almost half of that in Indigenous affairs, so I already had a pretty mixed view about the conduct of many of my colleagues.
鈥淓ven so, I鈥檝e always had a very positive image of ABC news and current affairs. It was one news source I felt I could really trust.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 feel that way anymore.鈥
The forum, 鈥淩acism and the Media: The lie that built the Northern Territory Intervention鈥, will take place at 6pm on Friday September 3 at University Hall, UTS, entrance in Harris St, opposite the ABC at Ultimo.
[This statement was by Stop the Intervention Collective, Sydney. For more information about the forum, or for an excerpt from Chris Graham's expose, visit www.stoptheintervention.org .]