5 February 1992
Dr. C. Lawrence
Premier
Parliament House
Perth WA 6000
Dear Dr Lawrence,
JAILS, GENOCIDE AND RECONCILIATION.
The proposals of the Western Australian Governement to introduce
increased imprisonment for young Aboriginal people, as part of the
process of protecting property, heads entirely in the wrong
direction.
The proposed actions of your government, especially at a time when
the corporate giants of crime against property remain unthreatened
by the legal system, must stand condemned.
The Royal Commission into Aboriginal deaths in police custody has
demonstrated that the imprisonment of Aboriginal people for minor
offences is not an acceptable practice. The known high death rate
which results can only be viewed as part of a process of genocide
directed towards Australia's First People.
New ways of dealing with social problems must be found. Instead of
bigger and 'better' jails, the underlying issues need to be
identified and addressed.
In terms of getting the messages across regarding the protection
of property, governments such as your own must become involved in
a process of reconciliation with the Aboriginal people. This may
involve providing real social and economic compensation for the
Anglo-Australian expropriation of Aboriginal peoples living
countries and resource base.
It is time to recognise the place of Aboriginal people in
Australian life, not to lock them away in the death traps of the
whitemans prisons.
Please think again - all life is related.
Yours truly,
Bruce Reyburn
Lionel Murphy Scholar 1990.