TW: distressing content
As the country grapples with the distressing scenes from Alice Springs, and alcohol restrictions return to the Territory, First Nations politicians have shared their personal stories of the impact of alcohol on communities.
Northern Territory Senators Malarndirri McCarthy and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price spoke of the horrors of alcohol abuse and domestic violence while the Senate debated the returning restrictions.
Senator Price, who presented a private members bill calling for a blanket ban on alcohol in Central Aboriginal communities, shared an emotional story of her cousin, who passed away after Christmas.
The 42-year-old had lived her entire life in a town camp, something Ms Price believed contributed to her "bad" health.
"It is my firm belief that her life lived in a hellhole contributed to her bad health," she said.
"But it was the last few months when alcohol was reintroduced in her town camp that her health took a steep decline, ending in her early death.
"She was no drinker, nor did she smoke."
She left behind a daughter.
Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price addresses the senate, sharing her experiences of violence.
She spoke of another family member who died of alcohol abuse at 28, and another who was killed in an alcohol-related car crash as a passenger.
"The driver crashed the car after her drunk husband punched her in the back of the head," she said.
"My cousin was the only one to die in that crash. My husband accompanied me while I identified her body in the morgue."
Holding back tears, Ms Price said her family remember "all too clearly the horrific conditions of town camps before alcohol restrictions".
"My cousin is now at peace, and my family is heartbroken. But my family is not the only family."
Senator McCarthy's story
The Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australians spoke about a time in her early 20s when the women in her family organised a meeting to lobby for an alcohol management plan in Borroloola.
“The next night, when alcohol did begin to flow again, we got eaten alive. There’s no doubt the abuse we experienced is one that I’ve never forgotten,” she said.
“The alcohol didn’t stop, but the abuse continued.”
Ms McCarthy supported many women in her family who were victim-survivors of domestic violence, including her mother, and her sister.
While working at ABC Darwin in her early 30s, she took on the care of her sister’s four children.
Her sister was experiencing "domestic violence and alcohol issues" she explained.
Ms McCarthy raised the children alongside her own two.
“That’s what you do, because you know alcohol is a scourge and that domestic violence is rife. I still had a job as well to put food on the table and care for the kids.”
Senator McCarthy speaking to Senate about the struggle of raising six children, and caring for her family whilst working in Darwin.
She was admitted to ICU, where the family stood by her bedside for six months.
“I firmly believed she would come through, despite what the doctors said,” Ms McCarthy said.
“She and I were born at the same time, she was only a few days older than me. But I was determined to stand by that bed to make sure she got through. And she did.”
Today, her Aunty lives in Borroloola. Her feet were amputated as a result of the violence and her elbow is paralysed.
“We talk every day. I’m incredibly grateful she survived.”
Now, Ms McCarthy and her husband are caring for three of her cousin-sister’s children.
“She struggled with alcohol so her six kids have been taken off her... we are raising an eight-year-old and nine-year-old twins,” she said.
“We know they need a bed, to be fed, to be loved.”
No intention to introduce another intervention
The Senator ended her speech reiterating the importance of the democratic process, and emphasising the pressure that has been and continues to be put on the NT Government.
She confirmed bans would be in place in the Territory on Wednesday but ensured that the government was not interested in a second intervention.
“To step in over the Northern Territory government another time with a major intervention? Not after what we’ve gone through, not after what we’ve gone through after 15 years," she said.
“There is no way I or Marion Scrymgour want to be setting an intervention like occurred in 2007."
