Latest news with #YingiyaGuyula
ABC News
22-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
NT minister quotes Nazi propagandist, references theory of evolution in racism debate
The Northern Territory's anti-discrimination commissioner has criticised comments by the territory's multicultural affairs minister appearing to link race with Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. Jinson Charls made the comments after Independent MLA Yingiya Guyula moved a motion in parliament on Wednesday urging the government to commit to eradicating racism through the Aboriginal Justice Agreement and National Anti-Racism Framework. The Country Liberal Party (CLP) frontbencher began his speech by saying "I do not support racism in any form". "I'm not afraid to name it, call it out and challenge it no matter where it hides or how it's dressed up," he told the chamber. Mr Charls went on to highlight the insidious ways racism can hurt minority groups and shared some of his personal experiences as a migrant in Australia before explaining how "science" had "shaped my thinking". "Charles Darwin's survival of the fittest theory, the well-known theory from long ago, still rings true in many ways," he said. "People are born with different strengths, different talents and not all parts are equal, not all people can do the same things. NT Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Jeswynn Yogaratnam said "trying to ground anti-racism in Darwin's theory misses the point entirely". "When we look at the context of who is the fittest, it's always the person with power and privilege," he said. "That's not what we should be achieving by using the theory of evolution." In a statement issued on Thursday, Independent MLA Justine Davis said Mr Charls' comments were "deeply concerning". "It is well-documented that Darwin's theory was used to justify atrocities committed against Aboriginal people here in Australia, and informed incredibly harmful government policies such as the Stolen Generation," she said. In his speech, Mr Charls also quoted notorious Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels, while accusing the Labor opposition of adopting his "method" as a "political strategy". "There is an old saying — tell a lie often enough and it becomes the truth," he said. "It is not my line, it was a method used by Joseph Goebbels, a propaganda architect in dark days of history." In her statement, Ms Davis said speaking as a Jewish woman, the reference was "deeply concerning" and called into question Mr Charls' fitness for the multicultural affairs portfolio. "The casual invocation of one of history's most notorious figures, responsible for enabling genocide, is not only inappropriate, it is offensive to multicultural communities, Holocaust survivors and all Australians who value respectful discourse and historical truth," she said. After the ABC requested further clarification from Mr Charls over his comments on Thursday, he released a statement reiterating that he did "not condone racism in any form". "Context is important when speaking on such an important topic," he said. "My contribution yesterday is on the Hansard record and I'll let people read it for themselves, however will reinforce the words from my speech — all members of this house are equal. "No one is above another and my contribution was clear to the amended motion which was about racism affecting everyone." The CLP made amendments removing references to the government's obligations under the Aboriginal Justice Agreement and anti-racism framework before ultimately supporting Mr Guyula's motion. In a statement, the Arnhem Land politician said he was "surprised" by the removal of any reference to Aboriginal people's specific experiences of systemic racism. Aboriginal people make up the vast majority of the NT's overflowing prison population and experience significantly poorer health and education outcomes. Mr Guyula said while it "may not have been intentional", the amended motion "removed my voice and the First Nations experience that I was trying to highlight".
ABC News
12-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Kava smuggling to NT Indigenous communities spikes after import controls lifted, leaders say
Kava smuggling into the Northern Territory's remote Indigenous communities is on the rise, with local leaders fearing the black market price of the drink is draining family finances and fuelling social problems. Police and Indigenous leaders say the amount of kava being smuggled into communities has surged in the years since the Morrison government relaxed import restrictions on the beverage. Commercial imports of kava, a drink with sedative effects widely used in Pacific Islands, resumed in 2021 as part of a diplomatic push to strengthen Australia's relations in the region. But it remains banned in the NT due to its past misuse in some parts of Arnhem Land. Kava has been smuggled into the region's communities since the 1990s, but the illicit trade slowed following a federal government ban on commercial imports in 2007, before import restrictions were subsequently watered down. Now, local community leaders say smuggling is on the rise again — and there are fears the trade is draining family finances, with illicit powdered kava costing up to $1,000 per kilogram. "Those people who smuggle kava find there's a bit of pocket money that they create, but it doesn't help the people out here," Yingiya Guyula, who represents the Arnhem Land electorate of Mulka in the NT's legislative assembly, said. Mr Guyula said there had been an increase in social problems caused by excessive use of the exorbitantly priced, black market kava. Acting Sergeant Nicholas Mitchell, from the NT Police Force dog operations unit, said police were intercepting more kava bound for remote communities, with "an uptick" in seizures over the past six months. Five busts during that time involved quantities ranging from 120 to 250 kilograms of kava. With kava being sold for up to $1,000 per kilogram on the black market — 20 times what it costs outside the NT — criminals were trying to chase big profits, Acting Sergeant Mitchell said. Kava is sold commercially in Australia as a soluble powder — made from the roots of kava plants found throughout Pacific Islands — and importers require a permit. The drink, which has huge traditional significance in Pacific Islands, has now become a commercial product, with kava bars appearing as far away as New York. For more than a decade, the only way to bring kava into Australia was on a flight from a Pacific country where it was grown, with a limit of two kilograms for personal use. That changed in 2019 when then-prime minister Scott Morrison, during a visit to Vanuatu, announced a dramatic relaxation of the rules as part of his so-called "Pacific Step-up" policy to strengthen relations with Pacific nations. The personal limit was increased to four kilograms, and then in 2021, commercial imports of kava were allowed. Between 2021 and 2024, more than 400 tonnes of kava were imported from Tonga, Fiji and Vanuatu, according to Food Standards Australia New Zealand. But experts say it is unclear whether the increase in supply is driving the rise in smuggling to the NT. Alan Clough, professor of public health at James Cook University, said it was too early to determine a definitive link. "Just the synchronicity of it makes it highly suspicious, but it would take some really good data and some really good data analysis to draw a conclusion about that," he said. Professor Clough, who has spent decades researching the impacts of kava on communities in Arnhem Land, said the social and economic impact of the illicit kava trade was clear. "I estimated at one stage, in the Arnhem Land communities, that probably one dollar out of every six dollars that the community had available as cash was going to the illegal kava dealers," he said. Locals and experts say the ban on kava in the Northern Territory has never worked — and that smugglers have continued to bring it into remote communities. They say with commercial imports likely to continue, it's time to rethink how kava is regulated in the territory. Mr Guyula said despite the harm, many people saw drinking kava — with its relaxing, slightly euphoric effects — as a less harmful alternative to alcohol and other drugs. And they want it legalised under community-driven controls. "For a cost that would keep the family going, still have pocket money for their children and families and food." A pilot of the new kava import controls introduced by the Morrison government ended in late 2023. The relaxed restrictions will continue until the federal government makes a decision on future arrangements, according to the Office of Drug Control. An evaluation of the pilot found there had been "positive cultural, social and economic outcomes" for Pacific Islander communities but there was "limited evidence available to assess impacts on Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait communities" and noted further monitoring was required.
