The " Poisoned Chalice " !

The people who work in the Department of Community Services ( Docs ) take criticism when tragedy strikes a child on their referral list.   They have the power to remove a child from the care of parents when that child is being neglected.   It is a constant battle to convince parents to provide food and clothing and maintain a basic hygiene that meets a minimum standard.    It is only as a last resort that Docs moves in and takes the victim into foster care.

Unfortunately, it seems that we live in a divided country.   What happens to a neglected child depends heavily on the colour of it's skin !    Always lurking in the background is the memory of " the Stolen Generation " - as a failed mission of good intent from a distant age has been labelled.

What happens in predominantly white southern Australia is entirely different from what happens in predominantly black Northern Territory and northern Western Australia.    The children of alcoholic white parents come under Docs scrutiny.  The children of alcoholic black parents - are usually ignored !

The bogey hanging over the heads of care workers is the threat of being accused of creating a new " Stolen Generation ".   It would be very easy for critics to label any removal of neglected indigenous kids as an attempt to achieve the same aims as that earlier age.    Then - some people thought that children of mixed blood could be best served by an upbringing by white foster parents who would instruct the child in white values, replace an Aboriginal language with English - and prepare that child for life in a " white society ".

Thankfully, the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory is an indigenous citizen with the courage to tackle this problem without bias.   Black.  White - or somewhere in between -  parents who have lost control of their lives by alcoholism or dependency on drugs, or who live in communities wracked by violence and sexual predation - need intervention to give their kids a chance in life.

Adam Giles is prepared to grasp the nettle and seek a solution.   He is not afraid of that " Stolen Generation " tag and he will look to indigenous people of good intent to provide the bridge between neglected children and a normal life - right there where they feel comfortable and not in a distant part of Australia.

He faces an enormous task and he will undoubtedly get harsh criticism from some quarters.   He takes on a task that many will regard as a " poisoned chalice " !