My name is Sidney Watts and I am a Blitner and a proud Alawa and Marra man from Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory and I got something to say. I am reading all these things that black people are saying about the intervention: How it’s a conspiracy, it’s a police state, it’s discrimination, it’s wrong and how it took us back 40 years. We are saying all these things so that the finger is pointed away from us. When are we strong Aboriginal men going to say, you mob who drink too much and then bash your wives and treat your kids badly, well your time is up and we are coming after you, because we cannot afford to let you be the ones who dictate our children’s future. I am not ashamed to say that this intervention is worth it, because our children have more food and they have to go to school, giving them an opportunity to change their lives. I don’t care about a hidden government agenda, I don’t care about assimilation and I don’t care about being discriminated against. I care about protecting our women and children and I am tired of Aboriginal men fighting against a system that is trying to help them. All white people are not evil and there are a lot of good white and black people helping us create a better home and future. It is time to stand and fight, but the fight is not against white people, it is against ourselves and it is against those in our community, who want to destroy our rich cultural heritage and give us all a bad name. It’s all about these kids, their health, their safety, their care, their education, their need to be loved and nurtured and placed back at the front of the tribe. If is takes a white man’s intervention to make you see that our children are special and deserve strong men to stand up and protect them, then it is time to open your eyes and see that children need us. It is time to stop this passive-suicide and that is why I am proudly standing right alongside that white man and woman and saying “enough is enough”. It is time to return to our country, time to heal our collective spirit by staying strong in our culture and protecting our women and children. We should be ashamed of ourselves. If our ancestors were looking down on us, what would they think? I am calling on all those new proud black leaders, where are you? Where is he, where she? Stop sitting back and start talking up, because we all have to be leaders and everyone takes the weight. Sidney Watts (Yitija/Ngarritj)
