NT intervention 'in need of reform'

The decision to suspend the Racial Discrimination Act in the wake of the federal
intervention into the Northern Territory should be overturned, a report has
recommended.
The report by the Northern Territory Emergency Response Review Board says that the
intervention into indigenous communities in the territory should continue, but with
a number of reforms.
The intervention had yielded definite gains such as more police stations, as well as
improvements in housing and community health, the report said.
However, it has also recommended compulsory income management be stopped except in
cases where it needed to be imposed as part of child protection measures.
The Racial Discrimination Act must be reinstated, the report said.
"In many communities there is a deep belief that the measures introduced by the
Australian government under the NTER (Northern Territory Emergency Response) were a
collective imposition based on race," it said.
Under the intervention, launched by the Howard government in 2007 in a bid to tackle
child sexual abuse, the commonwealth also took control of township leases, abolished
the permit system, boosted police numbers and imposed alcohol and pornography bans.
The report released on Monday said laws banning the use of alcohol on prescribed
lands should stay in place and alcohol management plans must be finalised.