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Q&A: ‘The last thing Aboriginal people want is another commission’

Celeste Liddle has no faith in the royal commission process.

Celeste Liddle has no faith in the royal commission process. Photo: ABC

An Aboriginal commentator has told Monday night’s Q&A audience she has “no faith” a royal commission into juvenile detention in the Northern Territory will clean up the broken system.

The comments came on the same day commission head and former Northern Territory chief justice Brian Martin, only in the job for four days, stepped down after admitting he did not have the “full confidence” of the indigenous community.

Yet the subsequent appointment of high-profile indigenous figure Mick Gooda, did nothing to boost the confidence of Monday night’s Q&A panellists, who questioned the likelihood the commission’s recommendations would be implemented.

‘I have no faith’

Celeste Liddle, Daily Life columnist and author of the blog ‘Rantings of an Aboriginal Feminist’, said the commission was unlikely to make a difference.

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Liddle said the commission was not want the indigenous community would want. Photo: ABC

“I have no faith that any of the recommendations will be implemented,” she told the Q&A audience.

“The last thing that Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people want is yet another royal commission, which hands down yet another bunch of recommendations, which mainly gather dust on the shelves of Parliament House.”

Ms Liddle noted that since the royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in prison 25 years ago, Aboriginal incarceration had actually increased.

https://twitter.com/MsLou27/status/760079381356130305

National Party Senator Matthew Canavan said he understood why the Aboriginal community had little confidence in the royal commission process – which produces only non-binding recommendations – but believed it was well-equipped to deliver results.

“I think we have eminent people to lead it,” he said.

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Mick Gooda has been involved in indigenous advocacy for 25 years. Photo: ABC

“We’ve now added an indigenous commissioner as well.”

Who is Mick Gooda?

Mick Gooda is the Sydney-based Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner.

“I’ve been fairly vocal about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people needing to have confidence in the process, to have confidence in the outcomes,” Mr Gooda said after his appointment on Monday.

In the wake of last week’s ABC Four Corners story on the abuse of juvenile inmates in the Don Dale detention centre, Mr Gooda called for Malcolm Turnbull to sack the Northern Territory Country Liberal Party government.

https://twitter.com/MickGooda/status/757538814168477697?lang=en

He has since retreated a little from that demand.

“Tuesday, you know, was a day of emotions and people had all sorts of emotional responses,” he said.

“In the clear light of day I probably wouldn’t think that.”

Mr Shorten also defended the comments, saying: “There are a lot tougher things being said about the [Adam] Giles government than what Mr Gooda said.”

Singer pushed on ‘infanticide’ comments

A heated moment in Monday night’s episode came when panellist and prominent Australian philosopher Peter Singer was questioned about his controversial comments on disabled infants.

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Peter Singer is best known for his theories on animal rights. Photo: ABC

Mr Singer has made waves internationally in calling for parents of severely disabled infants to be allowed to selectively euthanise them.

A disabled woman in the crowd compared Mr Singer’s views to those of the disturbed Japanese man who recently murdered 19 disabled people outside of Tokyo.

“Aren’t your views dog-whistling to people who commit violence against us?” demanded the viewer.

Mr Singer denied the claim.

“What I’m doing is trying to give parents a say in questions where they’re the ones who are going to be forced to look after this child, whether they want to or not,” he said.

-with ABC

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