A New Perspective

I met the mother of a friend of mine on Saturday night, L, who lives in a very remote part of the Northern Territory with her husband. The husband is a doctor there, and L is a high school teacher. She was fascinating to talk to, and really gave a different perspective on the government's new measures to address the problems Indigenous people are facing. The federal government here has recently introduced measures, such as banning all pornography and alcohol, and increasing the police presence in the area, designed to improve conditions for Indigenous people, and supposedly to address the issue of alleged violence and abuse perpetrated against Indigenous children and infants by elders. L and her husband have been working out there for a long time, and are in the rather privileged position of being trusted members of the community. Apparently, women in these communities are often forbidden to speak against the actions of elders, either publicly or within the kinship groups. However, they do speak to L and her husband, as they are well-regarded and will keep everything confidential. The government's new policies have been hotly debated in the media, as being too heavy-handed, and certainly as coming too late. According to L, though, women in the area where she lives are secretly very happy with the new measures, although the media will never hear of this. It's such a complex issue, and we very rarely hear in the media how Indigenous people feel or what they think. Unfortunately most of the commentary comes from politicians or newspaper editors, who obviously will have a very different perspective.

L seemed to get quite excited when I told her I was hoping to be studying medicine next year. Her husband specialised in emergency medicine before going into rural practice. They take students from the U Syd program who are at the end of their 2nd year on an elective placement, and they spend four weeks there. Apparently they get quite a shock, which is hardly surprising! By the second half, though, she says they're right in there, side-by-side with her husband, making decisions and doing minor procedures. It all sounds very exciting! Maybe if I don't get in next year, I can just go and live with them for a while to volunteer or something? Hmmm, good contact to have, anyway.