Editorial: Our children deserve better

A TWO-YEAR-OLD girl has allegedly become the victim of an unimaginable crime that has shocked the Territory

A TWO-YEAR-OLD girl has allegedly become the victim of an unimaginable crime that has shocked the Territory.

The fact that an innocent young girl was exposed to such a threat is a sad indictment on the very systems designed to protect our most vulnerable.

The shocking incident triggered an emergency meeting by indigenous leaders, in the hope of preventing something like this ever happening again.

It’s a good start but the conditions which created this crime fester all through the Territory.

While Canberra debates ministerial sex bans, it ignores the national crisis engulfing the Territory.

The latest Closing The Gap report reveals our failures.

Apart from lifting high school completion rates, all other targets including child mortality, life expectancy, education and employment are not on track.

Meanwhile many of our indigenous and remote communities live in poverty and remain in the grip of violence and disease.

But our governments provide no leadership, mud map or solutions to our national shame.

Before this young, innocent girl was allegedly assaulted, she had already been a victim many times over.

Yes, she is a victim of the man who allegedly committed the heinous act.

But she is also a victim of numerous policy failures and the lip service attitude of politicians over decades.

Most disturbingly, she is a victim of our apathy and the acceptance that the Territory’s communities somehow do not matter.

Imagine for a moment if this crime took place in inner Sydney.

We would be waking up today with hard-nosed politicians holding organisations like Territory Families to account.

There would be immediate policy changes and promises this would never be allowed to happen again.

Territory Police did not report the incident publicly.

Only today, six days after the incident, are Territory Families flying to Tennant Creek to address the issue.

Even though a man has been charged, he has the presumption of innocence.

There has been no police warning of a potential predator on the loose, no public call for witnesses to ensure justice at trial.

This would be unheard of in any other Australian state or jurisdiction.

But things work differently for remote NT, it appears.

We, the Territory, must now stand up and be heard so that no other child ever has to suffer through what this young girl did.

Speak loud, be heard by your politicians and let her suffering be the catalyst for enduring change.

She matters.