Aborigines in the News! - "racism or genetics?"

Boong invents new game

A girl lost part of her tongue when she and four other teenagers were attacked by a man with a wooden broom handle at an Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory, police allege.

A 33-year-old man has been charged with multiple offences following the attacks on the children, aged 12 and 13, at the community near Katherine.

All five teenagers suffered welts and grazes to their arms, backs and shins and one girl was struck in the face.

The blow caused her to bite down on her tongue and sever a portion of it, police said.

The man has been charged with five counts of aggravated assault and was remanded in custody to appear in the Katherine Court on Wednesday.
 
Aboriginal art mafia 'ordered' NT minister's bashing

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23361101-2,00.html
0,,5933015,00.jpg

Attacked ... former NT Attorney-General Peter Toyne, who was bashed and stabbed in front of his wife last month


Aboriginal art mafia 'ordered' NT minister's bashing

By Nigel Adlam

March 12, 2008 07:38am




Violent attack over counterfeit Aboriginal art
Peter Toyne stabbed, bashed in front of wife
Says he 'won't bow to intimidation'

BIG-TIME criminals behind a $250 million-a-year counterfeit and sweatshop Aboriginal art industry are alleged to have ordered the bashing of a former Northern Territory attorney-general.

Peter Toyne, 62, who was stabbed in the leg with a sharpened nulla nulla and clubbed across the head several times by a professional thug in front of his wife, made the stunning allegations yesterday.

The retired politician is spearheading a campaign to put counterfeiters of Aboriginal art out of business and close artist sweatshops.

"I won't bow to intimidation,'' he told the Northern Territory News exclusively last night.

"We can't allow strong-arm tactics to dictate what we do.

"There are a hell of a lot of shonky operators out there - and some of them are ruthless.''

Dr Toyne was attacked at his home in Alice Springs last month.

He said his attacker beat him to the ground "without showing any emotion or saying a word'' and then calmly walked to his waiting car.

"The attack was very much in cold blood - the bloke was a professional.''

Dr Toyne is part of a company called Identiart, which is developing a way to use latest technology to "`bar code'' indigenous art as a guarantee of its authenticity.

An increasing amount of Aboriginal art - particularly didgeridoos - is made in China and Indonesia, depriving indigenous Territorians of a living.

"If we allow this to continue the product - Aboriginal art - will lose all credibility,'' Dr Toyne said. "And art is one of the good things going on in communities.''

Dr Toyne said he was also trying to shut down what he called "artist sweatshops'' in the Alice Springs area.

"There are several of them,'' he said. "The people who run them get Aboriginal artists into debt _ often for relatively little amounts - and get them to paint to pay back the money.

"It's virtual slavery.''

Police are still hunting for Dr Toyne's attacker.
 
Shocking child sex-for-petrol abuse exposed

SHOCKING details of child sex abuse in South Australia's traditional Aboriginal lands will be exposed next week in a report to State Parliament.

Child sex abuse commissioner Ted Mullighan, QC, has been told children in remote communities are having sex with adults in return for alcohol and petrol, which causes extensive brain damage when inhaled.

Mr Mullighan will detail the extent of child sex abuse, neglect and poverty in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in his second report, to be delivered by Wednesday to the Governor, Rear Admiral Kevin Scarce. Mr Scarce then will forward it to Families and Communities Minister Jay Weatherill.

By law, he must have it tabled in State Parliament within three sitting days.

The report follows a 10-month inquiry by Mr Mullighan and a team of investigators into allegations of widespread child sex abuse within various communities within the APY Lands.

The allegations emerged during a separate inquiry by Mr Mullighan into child sex abuse against wards of the state over the past 40 years. The inquiry heard Aboriginal children, removed from traditional lands, featured prominently among those abused.

Special legislation was passed last June to enable Mr Mullighan and his team to take evidence from child sex abuse victims, social workers and community leaders within the APY Lands, which require permits for entry. While the inquiry legally was restricted to child sex abuse, it examined the underlying social and economic factors contributing to appalling living conditions in remote Aboriginal communities. One source close to the inquiry said it had unearthed a "national disgrace" on the extent of child sex abuse and the magnitude of the task confronting social workers, medical specialists and police.

Mr Weatherill said the inquiry was a trial of a "new approach to allow people to come forward to speak to someone in a position of authority about matters of sexual abuse". "We look forward to receiving Mr Mullighan's report because we have had disturbing reports of abuse from other remote communities and we fear we are not immune," he said.

Mr Weatherill said there would be a government response to Mr Mullighan's report within three months which would be coordinated by the Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation Division.

Mr Mullighan declined to comment before his report was handed to Mr Scarce.
 
Child abuse in tribal lands

Child abuse rife in SA (South Australia) tribal lands


6/05/2008 2:44:00 PM.
Child sexual abuse is widespread in Australia's oldest self-governing tribal lands, an inquiry has found, with as many as 1 in 10 children abused.

The inquiry, headed by former Supreme Court judge Ted Mullighan, spent 10 months examining the extent of child sex abuse in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in South Australia's far north.

Mr Mullighan made 46 recommendations in his final report, tabled in SA parliament today.

Parliament was told as many as one in 10 children on the lands had been sexually abused.

SA Premier Mike Rann said the findings were "harrowing".

He said the government would immediately act on some of the recommendations, including posting eight more police officers and two more child protection officers to the lands.

The APY Lands, Australia's oldest self-governing tribal lands, were returned to a form of formal governance when the Rann Labor state government intervened in May 2004 in a bid to stop alarmingly high rates of petrol sniffing.

Mr Mullighan's APY inquiry was performed concurrently with his Children in State Care Commission of Inquiry, which uncovered what the former judge described as a "foul undercurrent" of sexual abuse of state wards in SA.

http://www.livenews.com.au/Articles/2008/05/06/Child_abuse_rife_in_Australian_tribal_lands
 
Indigenous babies in 'home shuffle'

http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,23776533-2761,00.html
0,,6063895,00.jpg

STATE CARE NOMADS: Almost a third of the 501 Aboriginal babies and toddlers in state care had been moved at least four times in their short lives, and often much more frequently.

Indigenous babies in 'home shuffle'

Amanda O'Brien

May 29, 2008 06:32am

A ONE-YEAR-OLD Aboriginal girl was shunted between 16 different homes under state care in WA, depriving her of any chance to bond.

A four-year-old racked up 17 different homes and was still in temporary care.

In a damning indictment of the state's child protection system, the Carpenter Government yesterday admitted that almost a third of the 501 Aboriginal babies and toddlers in state care had been moved at least four times in their short lives, and often much more frequently.

Opposition child protection spokeswoman Robyn McSweeney, who uncovered the situation, said children were "passed like parcels" from one home to the next with potentially devastating impacts on their development.

"I don't think anything has upset me as much, because you know what the outcomes will be," Ms McSweeney said.

Child Protection Minister Sue Ellery agreed it was unacceptable and said a review was under way.

"We know that multiple placements mean that those children can't bond and that those children's lives are disrupted," she said. "It's absolutely got to stop."

The minister admitted the desire for culturally sensitive foster homes could be a factor, leading to children being placed in unworkable situations to maintain cultural links. She signalled that more indigenous children might have to be fostered to non-Aboriginal families.

"The priority is a safe environment," Ms Ellery said. "If you can do a safe environment and it's culturally appropriate, that's great. But the No 1 priority is the safety of the child. I want to be convinced that we've got the balance in that right."

It is understood most Aboriginal children were placed with Aboriginal families.

Aboriginal Legal Service chief executive Dennis Eggington said he was deeply saddened that indigenous children were "shuffled like a pack of cards".

The system created more troubled kids, he said. "If this is the start they are getting, no wonder they're not finding any connection out there and they're ending up in trouble," Mr Eggington said. He urged the Government to address the cause of family dysfunction rather than simply taking children away.

"I have no doubt there are currently some children who need to be removed for their own protection and self-interest," he said.

"But if by doing that it results in all these other problems, it's not a solution."

Ms Ellery said 19 one-year-old Aborigines were shifted between four and 16 times each in the past year. In total, 152 Aboriginal babies and toddlers changed homes. Most had at least five placements. Seven had a dozen or more.

Ms McSweeney said she discovered the problem via an item in the budget papers, which referred to the appointment of a project manager to review multiple placements of Aboriginal children. She said she was stunned by what she found.

Ms Ellery said the review was examining department practices, including the assessment of the balance between culture and safety in making placements; the real capacity of some families to take children in; and the number of foster families available.

The total number of children removed from their homes in Western Australia jumped 20per cent, from 2220 in June 2005-06, to 2655 last year. By April this year, it was 2987.
 
Choosing Welfare Over Work Is Part Of The Nigger Psychy.
If They Were All Back In Africa They,de Starve Waiting For The Cheese Handout.
Hey Do You Think Spicaricans Have Spook Blood In There Somewere?



If You Cross A Gorilla With A Nigger All You,ll Get Is A Stupid Gorilla
 
Abo witchdoctors set fire in art museum

Aboriginal dance causes evacuation of museum

Aboriginal elders caused a British museum to be evacuated when a ceremony to reclaim ancient bones set off the fire alarm.

The delegation had travelled from Australia to the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter, Devon to recover four skulls which were plundered by explorers 140 years ago.

But as they carried out a cleansing ritual over the remains, ceremonial incense set off the smoke alarms and everyone in the building was evacuated into the pouring rain.
 
Mourners farewell 'loving, caring' Quinton Humes - 'You steal you die'

http://www.news.com.au:80/perthnow/story/0,21598,24002937-948,00.html
0,,6141386,00.jpg

TOWN MOURNS: Pallbearers - including a prisoner on release (blurred) - walk carry the body of Quinton Humes, the driver of a stolen car who died with three relatives in a crash at Pinjarra.

Mourners farewell 'loving, caring' Quinton Humes

Jim Kelly and Nicole Cox, police reporters

July 11, 2008 01:00pm


MORE than 200 mourners have farewelled Quinton Humes - the oldest of four boys killed in a stolen car crash in Ravenswood - at a sombre Pinjarra funeral service.

The crowd packed the picturesque St John's Anglican Church, with about 60 people spilling out into the historic gardens on the banks of the Murray River, in Pinjarra.

Reverend Sealin Garlett, who
conducted the funeral service, read out a series of tributes to 17-year-old Quinton from family members.

The teenager was described by his loved ones as "a caring and loving child'' who had many friends, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quinton Humes funeral pictures

http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/large-gallery/0,25537,5033036-5013959,00.html

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rev Garlett read a tribute from Quinton's oldest sister, Annabel, saying: "You blossomed from a loving, caring little boy to a loving, caring young man who loved his nephews and nieces.''

The mourners, including a pallbearer in handcuffs, escorted by prison guards, also heard about the young Aboriginal man who was involved in sport, inlcuding boxing and football in the local community.

A message from his brothers Jon and Bronson said:
"Love you with all my heart, always have done and always will, true man. It's not going to be the same without you.

"It feels like a piece of me is missing and can never be replaced.

"You had everything, you had the intelligence, you had the girls, you had the younger boys looking up to you and idolising you.

"True man, that's why it is so hard to believe that you have gone.

"You were only young.

"Life is hard and not fair and yes it sucks, but in life you learn to deal with it.

"I will be thinking of you every day for the rest of my life and I will see you on the other side. "

And from Brandon, his nephew: "It feels like yesterday we were together. You was like a older brother to me and my sisters.

"Uncle, you left a big hole in my heart that no one can replace. It's hard for me to say how much I love you and how much I'm going to miss your smile and your laugh but most of all I'm going to miss you. "

The gathering was also told
how he had not lost touch with his Aboriginal culture, and could expertly skin a kangaroo.

There were emotional scenes as Quinton's coffin was carried out of the church, with family members and friends breaking down in tears and hugging as the coffin was placed in the back of the hearse.

The mourners included a large number of teenagers and youngsters dressed in white T-shirts with a picture of their friend Quinton emblazoned on their backs.

Earlier, Reverend Garlett said: "This has had a deep impact on the community.

"It is like it has opened a wound again in the Aboriginal community.

"It is like we are saying, 'Here we are going to see again the neglectful way that Aboriginal people have with their children'.''

The funeral service leaflet, bearing a photograph of Quinton carried the words: "Born on the 14th of June 1991, Released into the arms of your mother June 27, 2008.''

Meanwhile, a low-key contingent of more than 60 police, including officers f
rom Pinjarra, Mandurah and the Traffic Enforcement Group, had been deployed to the funeral, amid fears of a possible grief-stricken backlash at Quinton's family.

However the sombre service was conducted without incident.

Quinton was behind the wheel of a stolen Holden Commodore when it slammed into a lamp post on Pinjarra Rd last month, killing himself and his three cousins.

Brothers Matthew Indich, 15, Benjamin Nannup, 11, and Jeremy Nannup, 10, died in the crash.

Another cousin, 17-year-old Beau Pickett, who was the front-seat passenger, survived.

After Quinton's funeral at St John's Anglican Church in Pinjarra, a burial service will be at Pinjarra Cemetery.

Pinjarra officer-in-charge Sergeant Darrell Phillips-Jones said police would monitor the funeral to ensure any tensions did not boil over.

``We have contingencies in place in regards to possible repercussions,'' he told PerthNow.

``Funerals are not generally a problem, but we need to be
there as a matter of course.''

Another police source told PerthNow the large police contingent was being sent as a precaution.

``We will flood the Pinjarra and Mandurah areas so there is a big police presence,'' the officer said.
``It's about keeping a lid on things before it gets out of control.''

Last weekend, The Sunday Times revealed that the only survivor from the crash - Beau Pickett - had fled to a small town near Albany for his own safety after threats were made against him.

Quinton's family said they had selected the song Choices by American country singer George Jones for the funeral in the hope the lyrics would send a strong message to other young people in the community.

``We want it to be a lesson to young teenagers -- black and white -- to look at the grief stealing cars can have on their families,'' Quinton's brother Jon, 20, said. ``We certainly don't want other families to go through this.''

The deaths of the four boys divided t
he state, with an outpouring of comments from Perthnow and Sunday Times readers, critical of the family for allowing their young children out unsupervised late at night to steal cars.

However, the tragedy also hit hard in the local community, where the boys were well-liked and were talented young footballers.

It is believed the three brothers, Matthew, Benjamin and Jeremy will be buried next Thursday.

Thank you for your comments on this story. The comment line is now closed.
 
Riots in two Aboriginal communities

Riots have broken out in two separate Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory today

Darwin's Tactical Response Team was called into the remote Arnhem community of Milingimbi after a riot broke out involving 60 people.

Police said the group was armed with weapons and started fighting late last night.


Calm was restored, but reignited again about 11:00am.

Also this morning, a riot involved about 200 people broke out on the Tiwi Islands.

That incident started in the main street if Nguiu and five people have been arrested.

Extra police were called in from the neighbouring Melville Island.

Police said peace has now been restored and about 30 people are expected to be summonsed.
 
NT intervention failing to curb sexual abuse

Transcript
This is a transcript from AM. The program is broadcast around Australia at 08:00 on ABC Local Radio.

You can also listen to the story in REAL AUDIO and WINDOWS MEDIA and MP3 formats.

TONY EASTLEY: Now to AM's look at how the Federal Government intervention in Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory is getting along.

The intervention was supposed to tackle the problems of men having sex with underage girls but it doesn't seem to have had much effect.

The Federal Government's review has found what many people in the Territory's policing and legal circles already know, and that is, there's been no increase in prosecutions.

Recently in Maningrida in Arnhem Land, a 26-year-old man from another Aboriginal community, did appear in court charged with having sex with a 14-year-old girl.

Zoie Jones reports from Maningrida.

ZOIE JONES: When the Magistrates Court sat in Maningrida recently, a 26-year-old man dressed in a t-shirt, shorts and bare feet appeared, charged with assault and unlawful sex with a person aged under 16.

The illegal sex was uncovered when the 14-year-old girl's family reported the man to the police after he allegedly hit her in the head.

The girl told police the man was her boyfriend.

The young man is now in custody and his case resumes in December.

Sitting outside the court is Horace Wala Wala, one of the court translators, who explains the cultural practice of young women being promised to an older husband.

HORACE WALA WALA: When she comes up to 12 that's the time when she moves into the promised husband, 12 is a womanhood.

ZOIE JONES: Can she then have sex with her husband?

HORACE WALA WALA: (Laughs) All depends. It's up to both of those two to decide.

ZOIE JONES: In white law though that is against the law? Do people understand the difference?

HORACE WALA WALA: Yeah, white law is the difference, white society they gonna have to wait until when they age of 20 or 30.

LAURIE MAGALDARGI: I know it's the Aboriginal culture way. I just worry for young girls like that. These men come along and ruin her life, you know.

ZOIE JONES: Community leader Laurie Magaldargi is worried about the sexualisation of young girls.

She says she tells her teenaged grandchildren to always use a condom.

LAURIE MAGALDARGI: I tell them, if you meet a man don't be frightened, condom to protect you.

ZOIE JONES: But you can't buy condoms in Maningrida. People have to get them from the health clinic.

LAURIE MAGALDARGI: Sometimes they're embarrassed. They have to sell at the shop, they'll buy, it's easy for them.

ZOIE JONES: At night in Maningrida young girls walk the streets and hang around the school, listening to music on their mobile phones and looking for boyfriends.

Night patrol worker Marcyenne Wala Wala says often the girls are too tired to go to school the next day.

MARCYENNE WALA WALA: Walking around, underage, getting married up, making babies, not going to school.

ZOIE JONES: How old do you think girls are when they first starting having sex?

MARCYENNE WALA WALA: Thirteen start having sex, which is not right. Some of the girls they've got maybe three or two or four kids now, underage.

ZOIE JONES: Marcyenne Wala Wala has started taking the girls who walk around the community at night to a bush camp to talk about safe sex and condoms.

She says the young girls are at risk of repeating the mistakes of their parents.

MARCYENNE WALA WALA: These parents they never look after their kids, and give them discipline. These kids, they just grow up and just get married, and make children. They don't have any knowledge and discipline for their children.

TONY EASTLEY: Marcyenne Wala Wala ending that report from Zoie Jones, reporting out of Maningrida in Arnhem Land.
 
Suicide spate linked to racism
Andrea Hayward

October 15, 2008 06:39pm

RACISM, discrimination and unemployment have contributed to a spate of suicides in the Wheatbelt town of Narrogin, grief-stricken Aborigines say.
Narrogin, 200km southeast of Perth, has a population of more than 4000 people, about 300 of whom are Aboriginal. This year the town's indigenous community suffered six suicides within six months.

They were all Aboriginal men aged between 20 and 31. There has been several other attempted suicides.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice and race discrimination commissioner Tom Calma today visited the town amid calls for a coronial inquest into the suicides.

Mr Calma was joined by state equal opportunity commissioner Yvonne Henderson and met with more than 200 community members in a private meeting.

Lifetime Narrogin resident Francis Bolton today said the suicide problem was difficult for his community to understand.

Unemployment was a big issue, he said.

``One minute you are talking to them and they seem normal and the next half-an-hour you find out they have committed suicide and that's the really sad part about it.

``We need strong Aboriginal leaders in this community. When I talk about leaders, it's not just men, it's the ladies too,'' Mr Bolton said.

Discrimination against Aborigines included being told there were no jobs at the council, only to see jobs offered to white people, Mr Bolton said.

More indigenous police aides would go some way to help domestic violence problems, he said.

``If we had the police to just quieten down the domestic violence and that, then that would probably help,'' he said.

Mr Calma said after the meeting that racism was a major issue alongside the need to encourage indigenous students to complete high school, health concerns and interactions with police.

``I think the racism is probably the issue people felt most concerned about and that stemmed from basic perceptions of racism at the school and delivery of the health service ... they are serious concerns.

``Racism can lead to negative impacts to people's mental and physical health and that was a concern expressed by a number of people.''

Aboriginal health services were needed to deal with the indigenous population in a culturally sensitive way, as was an Aboriginal legal service, Mr Calma said.

Locals had outlined perceptions that they were treated differently by police, he said.

``There's a perception out there there's differential treatment the way police handle responses to indigenous people compared to non-indigenous people.

``That's how people feel about it - it has to be tested to see how accurate that is.''

Mr Calma said he would meet with WA Indigenous Affairs Minister Kim Hames in Perth tomorrow to discuss the need for state agencies to work more closely together.

WA Coroner Alastair Hope has conducted two coronial inquiries in the last 12 months in the Kimberley region, investigating the link between Aboriginal suicides and cannabis use.

http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,24503793-948,00.html
 
Indigenous students falling further behind

NIGEL ADLAM

October 21st, 2008

A BREAKDOWN of the NT's national benchmark school results is expected to show that Aboriginal students are falling even further behind.

The Federal Education Council will separate the marks on Aboriginality, gender and location when it publishes the detailed results in December.

The breakdown is tipped to reveal that indigenous standards have dropped but non-indigenous students are holding their own against their southern counterparts.

An Education Department source said yesterday that "indigenous results are going backwards."

A summary of the results, which was issued last month, showed the NT did worse than every other jurisdiction by between 19 and 35 percentage points.

The results led to the forced resignation of Education Department chief executive Margaret Banks.

http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2008/10/21/10765_ntnews.html
 
AAP General News (Australia)

08-12-2002

WA: Five teens, two adults charged with pack rape

By Selina Day

PERTH, Aug 12 AAP - Five teenagers as young as 13, and two men have been charged with
the pack rape of a 25-year-old woman during an almost five-hour ordeal in remote Western
Australia.

The woman was flown to hospital at Derby after suffering life-threatening injuries
in the attack two weeks ago at Halls Creek - which a senior WA police officer has described
as the worst he had seen in more than 20 years.

Police said the woman left the Kimberley Hotel at Halls Creek, after drinking there,
about 10.30pm on July 30.

As she walked towards the hotel carpark she was approached by two men, who pushed her
to the ground before sexually assaulting her, Kununurra police said today.

The men, and a gr
oup of youths who appeared, then forced the woman into vacant bushland
a few hundred metres from the hotel where she was gang raped over several hours.

She managed to get to a women's refuge, about 400 metres away, about 3.30am on July 31.

A night nurse found her with severe injuries and took her to Halls Creek District Hospital,
from where she was taken by the Royal Flying Doctor Service to Derby Regional Hospital.

Police said today the juveniles were aged between 13 and 15 and the two men were 21 and 22.

Kununurra officer in charge, Ashley Goy, a police officer for 20 years, said: "It's
the most vicious and degrading case of rape I've encountered in all my years of service".

One juvenile has been charged with aggravated sexual penetration, deprivation of liberty,
aggravated indecent assault and grievous bodily harm.

The four other youths have been charged with aggravated indecent assault and grievous
bodily harm, and the adults have been charged wi
th aggravated sexual penetration and deprivation
of liberty.

All will appear in courts at Halls Creek tomorrow.

Police inquiries are continuing.
 
AAP General News (Australia)

12-21-2002

Qld: Four charged with rape in rural town

Four men have been charged with rape and deprivation of liberty after the alleged sexual
assault of a woman in western Queensland.

They are due to appear in Charleville Magistrates Court today.

Police say the 29-year-old woman was assaulted at an address in Riverview St at Charleville
about 11pm (AEST) on Thursday.

Meanwhile in Brisbane, a 33-year-old man has also been charged with sexual assault
and deprivation of liberty.

He is due to appear in Brisbane Magistrate's Court today.

Police say a 30-year-old woman was sexually assaulted at her home in the Brisbane suburb
of Everton Hills about 10pm (AEST) last night.
 
AAP General News (Australia)

03-13-2005

SA: Car thieves attack owner with baseball bat

ADELAIDE, March 13 AAP - A man was attacked with a baseball bat as he unsuccessfully
tried to stop two men stealing his car in the inner Adelaide suburb of Norwood this morning.

SA police said the man was alerted by sounds in his driveway in William Street about
4am (CDT), and saw two men trying to steal the car.

He was punched in the head and struck in the arm with the baseball bat before the two
men escaped in an early model Magna Sedan.

The victim, aged in his 30s, was taken to Royal Adelaide Hospital and treated for a
broken arm and a cut to the head.

Police have described the two attackers as of Aboriginal appearance and in their early
20s, with shaved heads.

Anyone with information is asked to contact
police.
 
April 2007 Aboriginal bash and rapes tourists

AAP General News (Australia)

04-24-2007

WA: Man blames curse for brutal rapes

By Nicolas Perpitch

PERTH, April 24 AAP - An Aboriginal man says he believes he had been "sung", or cursed,
when he brutally beat and raped two foreign tourists in Broome and did not have full control
over his actions.

David Gundari, 32, also told a court today he would be speared in the leg as traditional
punishment for shaming his Northern Territory community when he is released.

Gundari, from Port Keats, east of Kununurra, was sentenced to 12 years jail in the
West Australian District Court today for seven charges of sexual assault, sexual penetration,
threatening to kill and causing grievous bodily harm.

In two separate incidents, Gundari attacked and then raped a 24-year-old French woman
and a 32-year-old Japanese woman after dragging the
m into secluded areas of the old Broome
town late at night in September 2006.

The French woman lost four front teeth during her battering and the Japanese woman
was knocked unconscious and raped while still out cold.

Chief Judge Antoinette Kennedy said Gundari had shown a complete disregard for the
women's welfare and dignity.

"You behaved with great violence to subdue these women and drag them to more secluded
areas," Chief Judge Kennedy said.

A psychological report showed Gundari had "demonstrated an alarming lack of victim
empathy", she said.

Gundari's lawyer Mara Barone conceded there were very few mitigating circumstances.

He had been drinking for 20 hours on the night of the first attack and was angry about
losing contact with his three children following a previous prison term for assault, Ms
Barone said.

She said Gundari, a Ngarringman-Moolybutta man, attributed his conduct to being "sung"

over the death of a woman in a rem
ote community.

"He is a traditional man and in that regard, his thoughts and beliefs to being sung
are genuinely held," Ms Barone said.

Gundari had not accepted responsibility for his crimes but knew he had brought great
shame on his family, she said.

He expected to be speared and beaten by three different NT communities, with which
he is linked, when he was released, she said.

Chief Judge Kennedy said there was a nexus between his background as a traditional
Aboriginal man, a life of disadvantage and alcohol abuse which made it inevitable he would
end up before the criminal justice system.

Gundari will be eligible for parole after 10 years, backdated to September 28, 2006,
when he was arrested.

AAP np/lk/ks/mn

KEYWORD: GUNDARI NIGHTLEAD

Ԛ© 2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.
 
AAP General News (Australia)

06-21-2001

WA: Police describe rape of five year old

A five-year-old girl in Western Australia, who suffered severe internal injuries and
a fractured skull in a sexual assault, remains in a critical condition.

Police at Kununurra, in Western Australia's far north, have described it as one of
the most vicious sexual assaults they've ever seen.

Police allege a man took the girl into bushland where he sexually assaulted her and
tried to strangle her with a length of rope.

They say he fractured her skull with a rock before taking her to hospital, claiming
she fell over.

Detective Senior Sergeant ASHLEY GOY says the girl was flown to Royal Darwin Hospital
for emergency surgery, where she remains in a critical condition.

The assault happened on Monday night.

Senior Serg
eant GOY says the Northern Territory police sexual assault unit is collating
forensic evidence from the site of the assault.





A man appeared in a Kununurra court on Tuesday, charged with causing grievous bodily
harm, attempted murder and two charges of sexual penetration of a child under 13 years.

He was not required to enter a plea and was remanded in custody to appear in Broome
Magistrates Court on July 2.

AAP RTV lk/wz/hn

KEYWORD: GIRL (PERTH)
 
Back
Top