Just a day after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urged governments to engage respectfully with Aboriginal communities and experts, Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro has dismissed concerns over proposed child protection reforms as "hysteria".
The NT Government has come under fire from Indigenous groups and child protection experts over proposed legislative changes to the Territory's child protection system, which critics say will water down the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle (ATSICPP).
The CLP government last week announced the Care and Protection of Children Act would be amended, claiming a new Universal Principle would "for the first time" list the safety of the child "as the primary consideration, placing the best interests of every child first, regardless of background".
The act, in its current form, does not disregard the rights of children based on race. Rather, the legislation states its primary objective is to "promote the wellbeing of children, including: to protect children from harm and exploitation..."
It further states: "When a decision involving a child is made, the best interests of the child are the paramount concern."
Stakeholders have been given one week to comment on the changes, and Aboriginal organisations were not consulted.
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Speaking on ABC Radio on Thursday, Ms Finocchiaro — who has routinely rejected criticism over her government's handling of issues affecting Indigenous people — denied the legislation "removes" the ATSICPP.
"I would recommend people who are interested to read it for themselves and make sure they're fully informed because the hysteria around this is completely ill-founded," she said.
"People can write letters until the cows come home.
"Our job is to make good laws that protect Territorians and deliver for the Territory, and that's exactly what we're doing."
The Chief Minister said provisions allowing children to be independently represented in court were a "positive reform being masked by all the hysteria" from critics of the changes, which have been fast-tracked since the death of five-year-old Kumanjayi Little Baby last month.
A review — undertaken by two non-Indigenous public servants — will take several months, but she argued "everyone" could see the changes could not wait.
Asked whether there was evidence the ATSICPP was placing children in danger, Ms Finocchiaro argued nobody was saying the child protection system was "amazing".
"What evidence do you have that people believe that?" she asked. "I've certainly not heard it myself and I'm on the ground a lot."
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There is no evidence or commentary from experts suggesting the system is working effectively. Data shows only 17 per cent of Indigenous children aged 0-17 in out-of-home care in the NT were placed with an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander relative or kin — the lowest rate in the country.
Labor's child protection spokesperson, Chansey Paech, told National Indigenous Times this month: "This is not an Aboriginal failure this is a systems failure, a government failure. We need to fix the system, not blame people."
SNAICC - National Voice for our Children chief executive Catherine Liddle said changes to the system were "urgently needed", arguing there had been "advocates, community-led organisations, multiple reports, and people with lived experience of the Territory's system calling for action and investment for decades".
She added: "Given the overwhelming calls for a genuine inquiry into the system, these narrow Terms of Reference could reasonably be viewed as an attempt to avoid scrutiny of a failing child protection system and a government unwilling to undertake the work, reflection, and partnership necessary to ensure the wellbeing of the children in its care."
Despite more than 90 per cent of child protection notifications in the NT involving Indigenous children, Ms Liddle said the Aboriginal Community Controlled sector, Indigenous children's commissioner Sue-Anne Hunter, her NT counterpart Shahleena Musk, as well as Indigenous community leaders and experts, had not been consulted on the inquiry's terms.
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Speaking in Darwin this week, Senator Lidia Thorpe labelled the current NT government as the "most racist government I've seen in my lifetime."
"We know the trauma our families experience from the colonial systems," she said.
After visiting the family of Kumanjayi Little Baby this week, the PM said all levels of government needed to work together to deliver systemic improvements for First Nations communities, arguing "Indigenous people need to be treated with respect at this time, particularly the family and local people".
On the NT Government's policies, he said: "I would say to the Northern Territory government, that you'll get better outcomes if you have an inclusive approach and you have buy-in to these issues, and that's why that consultation and engagement is so important.
"We want to see, though, outcomes which are appropriate. We do think that everything possible should be done, of course, to keep children safe. That's the No.1 priority."
