The Queensland Council for Civil Liberties (QCCL) today supported Police Commissioner Jim O'Sullivan's call for an inquiry into violence and alcoholism in remote Queensland Aboriginal communities
QCCL Vice-President Terry O'Gorman said that the recent valuable series of articles by the Courier Mail highlighted a problem which had not been appreciated by him or the Executive of the QCCL until recently.
"Only two weeks ago I spoke to Ian Davies of Victims of Crime about his trip to remote Aboriginal communities. I was disturbed by what he told me. The recent Courier Mail articles have highlighted that there is a serious problem and it needs to be addressed", Mr O'Gorman said.
Mr O'Gorman said there was now an unusual coalition of groups including the Police Commissioner, Victims of Crime, Aboriginal spokespeople such as Murrandoo Yanner and Professor Grace Smallwood, ex Queensland Governor Leneen Forde and the QCCL all supporting an inquiry.
"The fact that these deprived Aboriginal communities are remote is no reason to ignore what is apparently going on there", Mr O'Gorman said.
Mr O'Gorman said he would write later this week to Queensland Family Services Minister Anna Bligh asking that an inquiry be established to address the quite worrying problems highlighted by the Courier Mail articles.
"Such an inquiry may well need to revisit the issue of the application of Aboriginal Customary Law on remote Aboriginal communities as well as examining whether ATSIC is appropriately servicing these communities", Mr O'Gorman said.
Mr O'Gorman said that issues of special liquor or criminal laws applying to remote Aboriginal communities which would not apply to people living in other parts of Queensland raise important civil liberties implications and need to be thoroughly thought through.
The Premier, Mr Beattie, should talk to Federal Aboriginal Affairs Minister (Senator John Herron) about a joint State/Commonwealth inquiry into the severe social deprivation existing on these communities, Mr O'Gorman said.
4 November 1998