Comments on: Toilet Culture

By: Jangari

Jangari — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 06:01:10 +0000

Great comments. I agree, volition or not, the whole thing is symptomatic of an anglo culture that allows such brazen ignorance and disrespect, and the fact that the whole intervention is built upon this lack of respect only confounds the problem.

Claire, I was tempted to say something to that effect, very tempted.

And in keeping with the overlap to Abu Ghraib, we’re about to have an inquiry, so watch this space as this story fades into the bureaucratic æther.

By: alex

alex — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 05:08:14 +0000

I don’t think Chalmers’ breezy classification of this as “thoughless” is at all adequate, and the fact that he can still apply that word whilst admitting the correlation with a similar desecration of a christian church or churchyard is absurd. The outrage that would be generated by any comparable incident in a mainstream religious site would obviously elevate the level of criminality associated with the action far above that of simple thoughtlessness. It merely speaks to the fact that white Australia continues to operate within a mindset that Aboriginal peoples’ use of land is invalid or immaterial, and may be ignored at will.

By: Frank Baarda

Frank Baarda — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 23:25:45 +0000

So true, Kim. Its the “rogue elements in the U.S. Army” defence for torture in Iraq all over again.
If only it were the “just one bad apple”. When we at Yuendumu got our demountable accomodation for the “intervention manager”, they destroyed someone’s camp, that they’d been living in for a long time. When Major-General Chalmers was asked about this at a press conference in Alice Springs he dismissed the question with something like: “get your facts straight lady, we don’t do such things” (this was prior to our story, complete with photographic evidence, being posted on several web sites).
I’m sure there are very many stories like this out there, including many preceding the intervention.
The dunny episode again illustrates that they haven’t a clue, and unfortunately their ethnocentric outlook has them believing that we haven’t either.

By: Claire

Claire — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 18:13:05 +0000

It’s an appropriate metaphor for the intervention as a whole…

By: Kim

Kim — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 14:35:01 +0000

The problem with the “it’s just one bad apple” type of excuse for anything is that is ascribes intention to the individual and erases the setting in which the incident took place. That is, it ignores the structural problems that allow individuals to act comfortably in their arrogance and ignorance.

In this case, it dismisses the premise of the whole intervention which is based on dismissing Aboriginal people’s ideas, the role and function of Aboriginal organizations, and advise from people who may actually know something about living in remote areas and the issues at hand. You give more credit to Brough and the toilet diggers than I would given the arrogance and thougtlessness with which this whole pathetic intervention has been carried out.