Northern Territory
+ Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney
7 Jun 2009
In the Northern Territory the lessons of life are writ large and publicly.
Last week I was there to launch the appeal for the renovation of the Darwin Catholic Cathedral and the centenary history of St. Mary's primary school.
Darwin has now changed to become a fast developing capital city with many beautiful homes and elegant boulevards. Rents and land prices there rank with Sydney and the economy is racing ahead.
By southern standards the Northern Territory is larger than life, an immense area of 1.5 million square kilometres. Kakadu National Park is one third of the size of Tasmania, where the ancient stones of the Atherton escarpment are 1.8 billion years old and look every minute of their age. In the wet they can receive 60 to 80 mms. of rain in an hour. On the South Alligator river we saw about twenty crocodiles in a few kilometres.
I visited Wadeye and Bathurst Island aboriginal settlements. St. John's College in Darwin (an excellent Catholic secondary school) and the headquarters of the Catholic Education Office and Catholicare.
The Northern Territory has more than its share of problems, but these are balanced by the good hearts and resolve of many hard working people. During the official Cathedral Mass a couple of drunks wandered unsteadily to the front of the Church, a man and a woman. People quietly found them a place in the pews. Life went on.
We all know that the previous Federal Government intervened in the indigenous communities, with military help, in response to the Little Children are Sacred Report. It hasn't been a complete success, but something needed to be done. The grog shops remain shut and the children are better fed.
Slow progress has begun in the right direction after the disasters of the past thirty years. I admire the Catholic teachers and social workers I met for their efforts. It is not easy.
One elderly woman told me that fifty years ago the young aboriginal men went to sleep with a hunting spear by their bed. Today they have a bong. A seven course meal is a six-pack and chips!
When social constraints vanish among adults the youngsters become uncontrollable. It is not that they are difficult at school, but they either won't attend or they are immune to teachers' discipline. It is reflected in the rubbish and untidiness of the community and teenage gangs moving around unchecked.
Wadeye came close to this grim extreme, but progress is being made there. Attendance percentages at school are improving and the students receive two good meals a day. In many other aboriginal centres, especially the small ones, life is better.
Even the best of teachers and social workers cannot turn these situations around quickly. Indigenous leaders are vital; more Noel Pearsons, Warren Mundines, Charlie Kings. It will take years. I wish them well.
