Plummer, Karen --- "Toomelah" [1988] AboriginalLawB 40; (1988) 1(33) Aboriginal Law Bulletin 11

• Toomelah
• The Facts
• Human Rights And Equal Opportunity Commission Inquiry-Finding 1987-88
• Housing:
• Water And Sewerage:
• Roads:
• Education:
• Health:
• Aboriginal Heritage:

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Toomelah

by Karen Plummer

The extreme deprivation and poverty of Aborigines living in Toomelah is the direct result of bureaucratic mismanagement, buckpassing and governmental discrimination. What is remarkable about the people of Toomelah is their ongoing struggle in the face of such racism and ineptitude.

The Facts

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Inquiry - Finding 1987-88

Housing:

• 40 Dwellings averaging 12 people each.
• 1 dwelling housed 30 people.
• 83% of dwellings are not connected to electricity.

Water and Sewerage:

• 95% of houses are without septic sewerage.
• Water is rationed to twice a day for 15 minutes.
• Raw sewerage covers the children's play area.

Roads:

• Pot-holed dirt tracks without drainage, guttering, street lights or provision for pedestrian safety.

Education:

• Very few adults in Toomelah have been educated beyond 6th grade.
• The pre-school operates in a dangerous disused machine shed.

Health:

Residents suffer from chest infections, chronic ear disease, skin disease, skin infections, trachoma, head lice, diabetes, alcoholism and sexually transmitted disease.

Aboriginal Heritage:

The people of Toomelah have a sacred site to which they are not granted access.

"No Australian citizen should be living in such conditions in 1988, especially when the conditions are determined and provided by organs of the government" (Toomelah Report pl3")

Toomelah has 500 residents all of whom are Aboriginal. It is situated on the NSW-Qld border. The closest towns are Boggabilla and Goondiwindi.

The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission held a public inquiry into the social and material needs of Toomelah residents following violent outbreaks in Goondiwindi in January 1987. This violence was the result of longstanding racial tensions between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in the regions and was exacerbated by the appalling conditions to which the Toomelah residents have been subjected.

Despite state and federal inquires into the needs of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders, these communities are still suffering great deprivation. The inquiry indicates that government departments have failed to provide essential services. Toomelah illustrates this neglect: The houses were found to be substandard; they failed to provide basic shelter and are inadequate for the needs of Aboriginal extended families. Ironically funding for houses is subject to the community meeting financial management standards and being able to pay for services.

• The Inquiry recommends that theAboriginal Development Commission bring all houses up to a reasonable standard before charging rent on them.

Under the present Greiner government the Toomelah residents have suffered a further assault. The Homes for Aborigines Program has been suspended. This was to provide 200 houses on Aboriginal land in NSW, 10 of these in Toomelah.

• The Inquiry recommends that theNSW govemment restore this program as a matter of urgency.

In NSW local government is responsible for the provision of water and sewerage. However, the Mores Plains Shire Council disclaims any responsibility for Toomelah on the grounds that it is a "private settlement". This term has no legal meaning - it is a fabrication of the Council's. Further, the Council accepts funds assessed for the population and needs of the area, including the residents of Toomelah. The residents are also expected to pay council rates. At the time of the inquiry the council did not fund services in Toomelah.

The failure by the Council to provide adequate water is not only a health hazard but prohibits the development of emergency services and other community facilities. The Shire Council rejected an application to build a pre-school on the grounds that a water supply could not be secured. Following Inquiry hearings, this rejection was rescinded. Moreover the Council successfully petitioned for Toomelah to be labelled a "rural zone" without consulting with the community. This means that entrepreneurial enterprise is prohibited and there is barely enough water for private, let alone commercial use. The irony of the situation and the frustration experienced by the Toomelah residents is clearly expressed by M. M. Duncan, Chairperson of the Land Council:

"We were told to run things but not given the power or resources to do so. We are held responsible for results but usually have had no say in government decision making ... people atToomelah still feel the influence of having lived for so many years under white management." (Toomelah Report p4)

The findings and recommendations of the Commission arc clear; they suggest that the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders "right to self-determination within the Australian nation will require a thorough re-examination of relationships between Aboriginal communities and institutions of our society; government at all levels, bureaucracies, courts and police, educational and other systems." (Toomelah Report p58)

The Greiner government has not only failed to address this recommendation, but (as highlighted by recent media reports) has continued the legacy of discrimination through their misrepresentation of theToomelah Report. To hold Aboriginal communities responsible for the appalling conditions in which they live, and to use this as an excuse to cut off funding to the Aboriginal Land Council is a transparent denial of responsibility.

The Inquiry clearly states:

"Aborigines have not chosen this depressed lifestyle. It has been imposed on them." (Toomelah Report p14)