The Voice, Imprisonment and the Movement

Dan Kelly

14/04/2023

Any document of fine sentiments which does not have underpinning it a conscious awareness of history and a willingness to ensure that history does not repeat itself will be a meaningless, empty historical gesture.

~ Gary Foley, Reconciliation: Fact or Fiction?

Image by Michael Coghlan

You cannot make a dead tree grow new flowers. While this metaphor is simple, it speaks volumes when applied to analysing the issues of prison and law enforcement reform under the current Australia status quo. For example, if you have a towering, dead gum tree that has been poisoned, it is not going to start growing wattle flowers just because you wish it to. That is because fundamentally, that tree is incapable of making this change. You can tape some wattle branches to it, or paint flowers on it all you like and try to pretty it up. However, it is still going to be a desiccated carcass that will not grow what you want, and any attempts to try and make it do so will be in vain.

Likewise, you cannot find true, lasting justice for Indigenous peoples, amongst many others, under the current Australian system as it exists. As a capitalist state built on the ongoing process of colonialism, Australia, with its legal systems and institutions, is incapable of giving justice to Indigenous people. This is because it is a system fundamentally built upon the exploitation and expropriation of Indigenous peoples and their lands.

As we approach the referendum for the vague Voice put forward by the Australian Labor Party and its hand-picked propagandists, there is an accelerated effort to gloss over the sufferings and cruelty currently being unleashed against Indigenous people. Rather, the proponents of the Voice would seek to push a narrative that frames ‘reconciliation’ and the settling of the Aboriginal ‘issue’ as just around the corner. However, many are aware of just how false this shamefully crafted narrative is.

The Voice, aside from the fact that it would be legally powerless, would not bring the changes to the Australian system necessary to achieve justice for Indigenous people and workers for the very reasons noted above - the system itself is incapable of making this change. This is because the Australian capitalist system always has, and always will, thrive from destroying Indigenous communities and their lands. We have already noted how this is linked to the extraction of natural resources and the destruction of land. But this is also inherently connected to the destruction of Indigenous communities through imprisonment and removal from mob, specifically that which is targeted at the youth.

This is shown in the heavy handed pursuit of youth imprisonment and child removal through shameful legislation that is condemned domestically and globally by human rights watchdogs. New youth criminal laws in Queensland highlight this as the Labor government has implemented heavy penalties against young offenders despite advice and reports from advocates and analysts specialising in the area. The Labor government has funnelled funds into building two new youth detention centres, opening up track records to influence sentencing and funding more police patrols and increased surveillance, including electronic monitoring of children.

Similarly, in Western Australia, these issues are perfectly captured in the disgraceful events that seem to occur on an hourly basis at the Banksia Hill Youth Detention Centre. Last year, the Labor government there approved the transfer of children into the notorious maximum security Casuarina Prison for adults due to overcrowding. Recently, it also came to light that staff had been feeding an autistic teenage female inmate through grilles and repeatedly subjected her to forced strip searches in addition to 7 months of solitary confinement. This was paired with preventing her from accessing education during the length of her incarceration, in part as punishment for her refusing to wear period-stained clothing provided to her.

On the last day of 2022, youth inmates responded to these shameful conditions by rioting and setting buildings alight. They chose to express their anger at the injustices inflicted upon them by the capitalist state, as did the more than 100 juveniles at the gaol that have attempted suicide in the last two years alone. Indeed, they are not alone in their anger, with more than 560 plaintiffs joining a class action against the notorious facility. We know that they will not receive the justice they deserve under the capitalist system.

For this is the same system that in the Northern Territory only in October last year banned spit hoods for children, years after the Royal Commission that was meant to address these injustices. But these injustices only grow, with the juvenile inmate population in the Territory increasing by over 200% last year. Alongside this also grew the amount of self-harm incidents at the notorious Don Dale facility, jumping by 500% over 2021.

Not content with maintaining these shameful policies, the capitalist state seeks to strengthen them and undo previous reforms. Just recently, the NT government implemented mandatory refusal of youth bail amongst other heavy-handed powers that severely punish Indigenous youth offenders, rather than reforming them and integrating them back into their communities. There has been a drastic increase in funding to prisons, as well as a boost in their holding capacity and the incarcerated youth population itself.

This all amounts to what is essentially an accelerated, modernised Stolen Generations program that is being used to undermine Indigenous people. The motivation behind all this is so that the capitalist state of Australia can maintain its rule. Indeed, this is the continuation of policy that has been maintained and adapted to destroy movements and communities, developed here over 250 years.

These policies seek to target the basis of community by striking at the young generation that could challenge its hegemony. It does this by attacking and degrading culture, making it but a hollow shell of what it should be. It does this by isolating the individual to the point that they are either locked up physically or locked up mentally due to years of abuse, trauma and attempts at escapism. It does this by fostering disunity and division, instilling the capitalist trait of individualism and pursuit of profit. And finally, it offers a way out to a select few, so that others are placated and shown that they too can grow wealthy if they resign in defeat and agree to buy into this corrupt system.

For this issue is not a throwaway, kneejerk reaction to populist sentiments as it may appear at times. It is a calculated attack against those who can undermine the narrative of capitalist hegemony in Australia. A strong Indigenous community that refuses to buy into the lies of the neoliberal capitalist order is one of the gravest threats to the class interests of the wealthy landowners and their political allies. They are invested in suppressing any real attempts at self-determination, and any attempts of workers and the exploited uniting together for justice. Thus, we must recognise that these are not issues that will be solved by an advisory board. A hollow voice of a tokenistic, declawed crew selected by the capitalist state will do nothing to address the root of the issue.

To tie back to my opening metaphor, the fact remains that if one wants wattle flowers, then one needs a wattle tree. Justice will not bloom out of the rotting carcass that is the capitalist and colonialist project called Australia. Indeed, those who seek justice must take upon ourselves the far more difficult task of growing a new tree. We must grow in hostile soil that seeks to exterminate us. We must nurture and water the seed in this desert of injustice, and we must protect the sapling so that it can strengthen its roots and grow properly. It is true that this is not as easy or simple as merely engaging in tokenistic activities that have little value below their surface, such as the Voice. But this task is necessary to achieve the justice that is required for Indigenous people, workers and all the exploited of this land.

We must come to grips with the reality that we cannot reform a system that is so fundamentally built upon the ongoing exploitation and expropriation of Indigenous peoples and their lands. In doing so, we must take up the struggle and push forward without succumbing to the temptations of the easy road - whether its paid board positions, a new house for only your family, or the clout that comes with being a self-appointed leader.

We must not give in to divisive, racist rhetoric, nor the dangers on the other end of the spectrum that come from the submissive liberal idealists who frame any opposition to their tokenistic activities as racist or extremist. We must be objective in our analysis, and truthful in our criticisms. As communists, it is our duty to fight for the exploited and to rally them to fight against those who seek to oppress and mislead them. This is why we must unite these issues and campaign against the Voice and constitutional recognition.

Let us foster the growth of a tree that reaches the sky and blossoms with life. Let us plant the seeds of victory and organise in our communities. Let us establish and maintain sustained campaigns and resistance efforts that bring together our youth and elderly, those inside and outside of prison, the rural and urban. Let us strengthen our networks and grow towards victory, because it is long overdue and our time is growing shorter with each passing day. Let the hopes of the people unite in action to bring them the justice they have been waiting for these last 200 odd years.