After hundreds of hours of testimony to the Yoorrook Justice Commission from experts, survivors and those with lived experience, Victoria’s premier, Jacinta Allan, the state’s attorney general, Jaclyn Symes, and the police commissioner, Shane Patton, presented before the cameras on Tuesday to renege on the government’s commitment to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 12 to 14, despite years of lobbying from and dialogue with the First Nations community and a commitment from government to act.
Apart from being yet another broken promise from yet another government – common sense, let alone the weight of evidence, shows locking up children doesn’t work, hasn’t worked and won’t work.
The grainy footage of aggravated burglaries, car thefts and car chases pumped into the eyeballs of viewers every night has reduced what is a complex problem into a fear campaign, promulgated by sections of the media.
As the vision of aggravated crimes hits our screens, the visceral and understandable reaction demands something is done about what we just saw. Pressure then falls upon the government to address youth crime. So loud are the calls for action that appeals to reason and nuance fall aside because these things are spoken and not shouted – therefore never heard. It is the government’s responsibility to move through the noise.
In the end what has resulted is a slap-dash legislative response to a complex issue by a government that seems to see its relationship with the most vulnerable and maligned section of society as no more than transactional.
The decision will calm the nightly news cycle, the government can now point to what it is doing to tackle youth crime, but it has forever damaged the relationship with Victoria’s First Nations communities.
In its contorting, the government has tried to appease Indigenous and human rights advocates by establishing a new council code named Cobra (eye roll), comprising justice experts, police, schools and youth justice representatives to monitor offenders and address the root causes of their behaviour. One would have thought that this type of work should already have been happening – if it hasn’t, is it any wonder we have a youth crime problem?
In a broader sense, the about-face from the Allan government is another blow to the First Nations community of Victoria, and it comes at a critical time. For in the coming days and weeks Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people residing in Victoria, including traditional owner groups, are expected to enter into treaty negotiations with the state of Victoria. The decision not to raise the age of criminal responsibility, despite a myriad of statements to the opposite, further erodes any good faith that still exists.
Victoria used to pride itself on being the most progressive state in the country, but with each day that passes it seems to be reducing into your regular run-of-the-mill ex-colony captured by vested interests and headed by a political class without the courage or vision required to move beyond the shackles of the 24-hour news cycle, let alone our own history.
In the wake of the referendum result, the Aboriginal community resolved and recommitted to taking care of our own because the stark numbers of the electoral map told us that, beyond the welcomes and acknowledgements, we are ostensibly alone in the fight to improve outcomes for our people. To have an impact we must push hard on matters that affect us, such as justice reform. Not only would we as a community benefit, but any improvements made would enrich the broader community as well. This betrayal has left us, particularly those on the frontline, reeling.
Whether there are now Aboriginal children locked up is beside the point. In a state in which First Nations young people are ten times more likely than non-Indigenous young people to be in detention, there will be plenty more Aboriginal children used as fodder for the prison system in the years ahead. After the government’s betrayal, the cycle continues to spiral beyond the depths of empathy and understanding.
Once again it will be the First Peoples who have more to lose than anyone else. Once again, a solution was presented in good faith only to be shouted down.
• Daniel James is a Yorta Yorta writer and broadcaster. He hosts The Mission on 3RRR FM and co-hosts the 7AM podcast
