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The camps lease is controlled,
along with other leases won in 1979, by the Aboriginal Development Foundation
(ADF). The ADF has failed to consult with the community. Timber has written
letters to Aboriginal organisations and the government bodies seeking
clarification of plans for the area and has had no response. Timber fears
the camp will be sold off without community consultation and approval.
Timber is seeking support for the community to be allowed to remain at
the camp.
The case of Railway Dam is not
unusual. Aboriginal people have consistently been pushed to the fringes
of towns as they grow. In the past official camps have often been forced
to move further from town as the land becomes more valuable. Unofficial
camps are regularly broken up by police and the NT Department of Lands,
Planning and Environment when they are close to residential or leisure
areas.
Johnny Balaija has lived in
many of these unofficial camps. Balaija worked as a carpenter and road
worker in the 1950s. In the 1960s he worked on the failed rice experiments
near Darwin. In this period camps were tolerated because they were used
as pools of cheap labour.
Ever since, Johnny has moved
from camp to camp. He said that the government is "getting hard."
In the last three months he has been moved on from two camp areas that
are now suburban developments.
Click image for larger
view
Balaija said, I am not a bird,
not a kangaroo, I am a man should stay in one place. His current camp
is in an area that floods during the wet season and has no water sources
in the dry season. Unfortunately it is visible from a bicycle path. Two
complaints have been lodged with the Department of Lands, Planning and
Environment who have again threatened eviction if Johnny does not move
his camp in a given time period.
The recently passed Public Order
and Anti-Social Conduct Act will give police further powers to move Aboriginal
people on. There is growing concern among some in Darwin about increasing
police powers and harassment of Aboriginal people. A rally protesting
the law and order approach of the Northern Territory Government will coincide
with a senate inquiry hearing into mandatory sentencing at noon on August
3.
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