Former NT chief minister speaks out about the 2007 Intervention

Former chief minister Clare Martin has revealed former Prime Minister John Howard didn't consult her before launching Canberra's controversial 2007 response to alleged child sex abuse in the Northern Territory.

Protest sign against NT intervention

Protest sign against NT intervention Source: NITV News

Ms Martin denounced she was given no warning before Mr Howard sent the army in and implemented its special measures emergency response, known as ‘the Intervention’, which included changes to welfare, housing and law enforcement.

"There was no consultation," the former Labor politician said from Darwin on Thursday where she joined fellow ex chief ministers Stephen Hatton, Marshall Perron and Terry Mills for the NT Governance Summit.

She says Mr Howard only called to inform her that the policies were going ahead. When she offered to fly to Canberra to discuss the issue, he brushed her off.

"He said, 'I'm too busy to talk to you'. That was seriously offensive," Ms Martin said.
Last October, Patricia Anderson, who co-wrote the Little Children Are Sacred report released in 2007, labelled the Intervention a "huge betrayal" that still disenfranchises Indigenous people 10 years on.

Ms Martin said Territorians will continue to be treated as second class citizens until relations with the Commonwealth are improved.

The former chief ministers from different eras and political persuasions gathered at Charles Darwin University on Thursday. All agreed the Territory's past four years of Country Liberals Party rule were a disgrace and an embarrassment.

The CLP's single term in office was marred by scandals, leadership spills and 18 cabinet reshuffles.


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2 min read
Published 24 February 2017 9:05am
Updated 24 February 2017 9:51am
By Lucy Hughes Jones
Source: AAP


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