I'm gonna be in the NT around the 20th with school, anything I can do while
I'm there? I've written letters/emails/etc...I figure while I'm there I
might as well get some work done, eh? I'm not sure how far north I'm
going...probably only as far as Alice Springs..
is Bruce Reyburn running this campaign?
peace
>Below is an article on the front page of the SMH. If any recoznetter has
not yet
>written the letter to the NTTC <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> urging them to warn
tourists of
>the laws in the NT and to urge the government to repeal the law, now is the
time
>to do it!
>
>Trudy
>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>SMH
>The boy condemned to jail for stealing $3.50 biscuits
>
>Date: 25/08/99
>
>By BERNARD LAGAN
>
>An Aboriginal youth charged with stealing a $3.50 packet of biscuits is
doomed
>to be jailed next week for a year - too soon to be saved
>by a Federal push to overturn the Northern Territory's mandatory sentencing
>laws.
>
>Darwin legal sources confirmed last night that the 17-year-old would have
to be
>sentenced to a minimum one year's jail when his case
>came before a court because the theft was his third minor property offence.
In
>the Territory, 17-year-olds are classed as adults - and it
>has mandatory jail terms for all adult property offences, beginning with a
>two-week term for a first offence.
>
>Yesterday, Federal politicians announced a campaign to end the right of
States
>and Territories to impose mandatory terms on juveniles.
>Supported by Labor, the Democrats and Independent MP Mr Peter Andren,
Tasmanian
>Green Senator Bob Brown will introduce a bill
>that would overturn existing laws in the Territory and Western Australia.
>
>It would also raise the adult age to 18 - in line with most States - to
protect
>young offenders like the youth facing jail in Darwin. Juveniles
>in the Territory - those aged either 15 or 16 years - receive a warning for
>their first property offence and a minimum one-month term in
>an institution for a second offence. Scores of juvenile Aborigines have
received
>mandatory terms since the laws were passed last year,
>including one who stole a $2.50 cigarette lighter and four jointly charged
with
>the theft of $1.60 worth of petrol.
>
>There have been confidential expressions of support for Senator Brown's
bill
>from some Government MPs, according to the Human
>Rights Commissioner, Mr Chris Sidoti, who appeared at a Canberra press
>conference with the senator yesterday. "It is an initiative of the
>Commonwealth Parliament to exercise its ultimate responsibility to protect
the
>rights of all Australians and, in this instance, among the
>most vulnerable Australians, children," Mr Sidoti said.
>
>Senator Brown said the legislation would be debated in the new year. He
said
>Aborigines, with a high incidence of minor property
>offences, were six to eight times more likely to be jailed than
non-Aborigines
>under the laws.
>
>It has forced the transportation of Aboriginal prisoners for 1,500
kilometres to
>jail in Alice Springs because Darwin jails are full.
>
>But the laws affect not only juveniles. A 29-year-old homeless Aborigine
who
>stole a $15 towel - his third minor property offence - was
>jailed for a year. Jailed for two weeks were a 24-year-old mother who stole
a
>$2.50 can of beer, and a 27-year-old white teacher who
>disputed the quality of a hotdog and poured water over a shop till.
>
>This material is subject to copyright and any unauthorised use, copying or
>mirroring is prohibited.
>
>
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To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body
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This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission
from the
copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under
the "fair
use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further
without
permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use."
RecOzNet2 is archived for members @ http://www.mail-archive.com/
