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| Northern Territory youth detention: chief minister Adam Giles takes over corrections portfolio | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 3.09am BST | |
| 03:09 | |
| Adam Giles, NT chief minister, takes over corrections portfolio | |
| Adam Giles, the NT chief minister, confirms a full investigation will be undertaken over the “horrific” revelations of Four Corners’ investigation last night. | |
| He has acknowledged a “culture of cover-up” within the system. | |
| The royal commission confirmed by the PM earlier today will be jointly managed and funded by federal and state authorities. A final report will be published early next year, after an interim report is due in September. | |
| The NT government will also build a new detention facility, planning for which will begin immediately. | |
| More to come. | |
| 3.02am BST | |
| 03:02 | |
| 3.00am BST | |
| 03:00 | |
| The solicitor representing Dylan Voller, the teenager photographed strapped to a chair on Four Corners, has expanded on his suit against the NT government. | |
| Peter O’Brien is representing Voller and Jake Roper, 16, against the NT government “for assault, battery and false imprisonment arising from their treatment within the NT youth detention system”. | |
| Voller is currently in “a form of segregated imprisonment” in an adult prison. | |
| “He must be released immediately,” says O’Brien. “The impact of these years of brutalisation must be immediately measured and he needs immediate assistance.” | |
| The territory’s defence is that the state is not vicariously liable for the actions of the guards, he says. “That is their defence, a matter we dispute, and to be determined by the court.” | |
| 2.57am BST | |
| 02:57 | |
| The NT chief minister, Adam Giles, is expected to hold a press conference any minute now. It will be broadcast on ABC News 24 and I’ll update you here as well. | |
| Updated | |
| at 3.00am BST | |
| 2.56am BST | |
| 02:56 | |
| Calls for John Elferink to resign | |
| Scott Morrison, the treasurer, insists the government’s response isn’t limited to a royal commission. | |
| “It will also require immediate responses and I have no doubt they’re the details that will be worked through with the Northern Territory government, the prime minister and the attorney-general,” he told 2GB radio. | |
| “I think you’ve got to deal with what is clearly a broader systemic issue.” | |
| Meanwhile, There seems to be growing momentum for John Elferink, the NT corrections minister – who also serves as the state’s attorney-general and its justice minister and its children and families minister and its health minister and its disability services minister and its mental health services minister – to resign. | |
| Sarah Henderson, the Liberal MP, tweeted saying he “must go”. | |
| @TurnbullMalcolm acts quickly to announce Royal Comm into horrific treatment of children in NT juvenile detention Minister Elferink must go. | |
| The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice commissioner, Mick Gooda, believes the same. | |
| The NT’s Opposition leader, Michael Gunner, said he had previously called for Elferink to be sacked, “over this and other failings”: “It would only be the decent and right thing.” | |
| Ruth Barson, director of legal advocacy at the Human Rights Law Centre, which has been involved in advocating for the Don Dale detainees, told ABC News 24 it was “implausible” that Elferink did not know about this abuse. | |
| “The NT Government has known about this abuse for a number of years and it has done nothing and that inaction has allowed the abuse to continue.I think both for the young peoples’s sake and for the broader community’s sake, there need to be accountability from the top down.” | |
| She stopped short of saying that Elferink should resign, but she did note that there was a state election slated for the end of August: “Te electorate will no doubt take this issue to the polls but I would have grave concerns if minister Elferink was to continue as attorney-general after the election.” | |
| Meanwhile, police were photographed visiting Elferink’s office this morning, reportedly over death threats he has received in the wake of the Four Corners report. | |
| Cops visit @JohnElferink123 office, death threats allegedly made over revelations of abuse at Don Dale @9NewsDarwin pic.twitter.com/oaTMkWcd4X | |
| 2.43am BST | |
| 02:43 | |
| The Law Council is calling for the immediate closure of the Don Dale youth detention centre, which it said should have happened when the children’s commissioner report was first handed down in October last year. | |
| To clarify, the Don Dale facility outside Darwin where the six youths were teargassed two years ago was closed down immediately after the incident. Detainees were moved to a former adult prison in December 2014, which was repurposed as the new Don Dale: same name, same street, but a different facility. | |
| At the time the adults were transferred out of it to a new jail outside of Darwin, then-corrections commissioner Ken Middlebrook said the facility was “only fit for a bulldozer. | |
| Justice agencies and lawyers have repeatedly called for it to be closed in favour of building a new facility or fixing up the old Don Dale. But the state government has refused for reasons of cost. | |
| (You can read about this period in this wide-ranging feature by my colleague, Darwin correspondent Helen Davidson.) | |
| Arthur Moses, the director of the council, said the treatment of youth in detention was “a national crisis”. | |
| “We need to get to the bottom of what appears to be a deeply ingrained culture of accepting the abuse of children in detention.” | |
| The Law Council has also called for action to be taken against detention centre staff engaging in abuse and the Northern Territory government to ensure the complete compliance with the recommendations of the children’s commissioner report. | |
| Those included proper recruitment and training of youth justice officers, best practice standards around the use of restraints, and support programs for juveniles in detention. | |
| Updated | |
| at 3.02am BST | |
| 2.32am BST | 2.32am BST |
| 02:32 | 02:32 |
| Professor Hickie’s warning of the consequences of incarceration of troubled youth is echoed by Elaine Pearson, the director of Human Rights Watch Australia. | Professor Hickie’s warning of the consequences of incarceration of troubled youth is echoed by Elaine Pearson, the director of Human Rights Watch Australia. |
| “What happened at Don Dale and Berrimah is a classic example of how not to deal with troubled youth. Excessive use of force, isolation and shackling of children is barbaric and inhumane. What makes it even more appalling is that the NT’s children’s commissioner exposed some of these issues last year, and yet the abusive practices persist.” | “What happened at Don Dale and Berrimah is a classic example of how not to deal with troubled youth. Excessive use of force, isolation and shackling of children is barbaric and inhumane. What makes it even more appalling is that the NT’s children’s commissioner exposed some of these issues last year, and yet the abusive practices persist.” |
| The inadequate training of the officers involved in the teargassing incident at Don Dale isn’t the only issue at hand, she says – the perpetrators of abuse, such as individual officers who used excessive force, must be held to account. | The inadequate training of the officers involved in the teargassing incident at Don Dale isn’t the only issue at hand, she says – the perpetrators of abuse, such as individual officers who used excessive force, must be held to account. |
| And, more broadly: “Better alternatives to locking kids up for prolonged periods must be found.” | And, more broadly: “Better alternatives to locking kids up for prolonged periods must be found.” |
| Human Rights Watch Australia urged Malcolm Turnbull to act on abuse in juvenile detention in the wake of that report into the incident at the Don Dale facility, put out by the children’s commissioner in October last year. | Human Rights Watch Australia urged Malcolm Turnbull to act on abuse in juvenile detention in the wake of that report into the incident at the Don Dale facility, put out by the children’s commissioner in October last year. |
| Rereading its account now, it’s a reminder that several key details of the Four Corners report have been in the public record for some months. | Rereading its account now, it’s a reminder that several key details of the Four Corners report have been in the public record for some months. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 2.35am BST | at 2.35am BST |
| 2.24am BST | 2.24am BST |
| 02:24 | 02:24 |
| Professor Ian Hickie, co-director of the Brain and Mind Centre at Sydney University, says the young victims of abuse in juvenile detention are likely to suffer from “profound” long-term psychological impacts. | Professor Ian Hickie, co-director of the Brain and Mind Centre at Sydney University, says the young victims of abuse in juvenile detention are likely to suffer from “profound” long-term psychological impacts. |
| Many young people in detention already have major behaviour problems, which are only compounded by institutional settings. The “physical and emotional mistreatment” is never justified, he says. | Many young people in detention already have major behaviour problems, which are only compounded by institutional settings. The “physical and emotional mistreatment” is never justified, he says. |
| “What is clear is that these officers lack a systemic or informed set of behavioural responses to young people in trouble. This type of behaviour is common in institutional environments: particularly those not subject to external scrutiny. | “What is clear is that these officers lack a systemic or informed set of behavioural responses to young people in trouble. This type of behaviour is common in institutional environments: particularly those not subject to external scrutiny. |
| “What is clear is that we should not be relying on institutional settings to deal with young people with major behavioural problems. The long-term psychological impacts of such abuse are likely to be profound.” | “What is clear is that we should not be relying on institutional settings to deal with young people with major behavioural problems. The long-term psychological impacts of such abuse are likely to be profound.” |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 2.36am BST | at 2.36am BST |
| 2.20am BST | 2.20am BST |
| 02:20 | 02:20 |
| Stan Grant gives voice to what many Australians will be feeling today: | Stan Grant gives voice to what many Australians will be feeling today: |
| I could call this anger. I could tell of rage. I could describe a suffocating, nauseating hopelessness. I feel all of that, my mood swinging between despair and resignation. | I could call this anger. I could tell of rage. I could describe a suffocating, nauseating hopelessness. I feel all of that, my mood swinging between despair and resignation. |
| The images of those boys on my television screen – tear-gassed, beaten, held down, locked up, hooded. These boys that look like my boys. | The images of those boys on my television screen – tear-gassed, beaten, held down, locked up, hooded. These boys that look like my boys. |
| I didn’t want to watch Four Corners last night. I knew what was to come. I couldn’t watch all of it. I got up, I walked around and every time I came back there was another boy talking about loneliness and depression and fear. | I didn’t want to watch Four Corners last night. I knew what was to come. I couldn’t watch all of it. I got up, I walked around and every time I came back there was another boy talking about loneliness and depression and fear. |
| Things once seen cannot be unseen. | Things once seen cannot be unseen. |
| Related: Four Corners: I can't see reason, I can only feel anger. And sometimes that's better | Stan Grant | Related: Four Corners: I can't see reason, I can only feel anger. And sometimes that's better | Stan Grant |
| In a typically powerful opinion piece, Grant also remarked on the contrast in the conversation on the ABC’s Q&A, on after Four Corners: | In a typically powerful opinion piece, Grant also remarked on the contrast in the conversation on the ABC’s Q&A, on after Four Corners: |
| After Four Corners I watched a little of the Q&A panel discuss the horrors of what they had seen. They discussed Indigenous incarceration, black deaths in custody. They answered questions about constitutional recognition. | After Four Corners I watched a little of the Q&A panel discuss the horrors of what they had seen. They discussed Indigenous incarceration, black deaths in custody. They answered questions about constitutional recognition. |
| They talked about the first peoples of this country and there wasn’t even an Indigenous person on the panel. Not one of them even mentioned how utterly inappropriate it is to be talking about us and not including us. | They talked about the first peoples of this country and there wasn’t even an Indigenous person on the panel. Not one of them even mentioned how utterly inappropriate it is to be talking about us and not including us. |
| I just wanted to yell at the screen, get out of our lives! | I just wanted to yell at the screen, get out of our lives! |
| The ignorant, the racist, the well-intentioned, whoever: just stop. Just for that moment I wanted them to stop. | The ignorant, the racist, the well-intentioned, whoever: just stop. Just for that moment I wanted them to stop. |
| For that moment recognition meant nothing to me. | For that moment recognition meant nothing to me. |
| Guardian Australia’s weekly write-up of Q&A is here. | Guardian Australia’s weekly write-up of Q&A is here. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 2.25am BST | at 2.25am BST |
| 2.11am BST | 2.11am BST |
| 02:11 | 02:11 |
| Teenagers to sue the Northern Territory government – reports | Teenagers to sue the Northern Territory government – reports |
| Dylan Voller and Ethan Astral, the teenagers who appeared on the Four Corners report, are going to sue the NT government, the ABC reports. | Dylan Voller and Ethan Astral, the teenagers who appeared on the Four Corners report, are going to sue the NT government, the ABC reports. |
| #BREAKING: Dylan Voller, Ethan Astral, who featured on @caromeldrum @4corners #dondale report to sue NT Govt | #BREAKING: Dylan Voller, Ethan Astral, who featured on @caromeldrum @4corners #dondale report to sue NT Govt |
| Voller was the boy shown victimised by guards, assaulted, stripped naked, tear-gassed and eventually strapped to a chair for two hours on the program. | Voller was the boy shown victimised by guards, assaulted, stripped naked, tear-gassed and eventually strapped to a chair for two hours on the program. |
| His sister Kira told ABC local radio earlier today that their family had authorised the release of the footage in a bid to achieve justice for her brother. | His sister Kira told ABC local radio earlier today that their family had authorised the release of the footage in a bid to achieve justice for her brother. |
| “He deserves his life back, he’s been in and out of jail from the age of 11, 10, and he’s 19 this year, that’s half of his whole life; he’s lost everything,” she said. | “He deserves his life back, he’s been in and out of jail from the age of 11, 10, and he’s 19 this year, that’s half of his whole life; he’s lost everything,” she said. |
| “What I’d really like to see is ... for them to take accountability for the fact that they damaged him a lot more than helped.” | “What I’d really like to see is ... for them to take accountability for the fact that they damaged him a lot more than helped.” |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 2.26am BST | at 2.26am BST |
| 2.07am BST | 2.07am BST |
| 02:07 | 02:07 |
| Dr Stephen Gray, an associate of Monash University’s Castan Centre for Human Rights Law, says the revelations over the past 24 hours are an unsurprising outcome of the NT’s “strong law and order agenda and its culture of incarceration”. | Dr Stephen Gray, an associate of Monash University’s Castan Centre for Human Rights Law, says the revelations over the past 24 hours are an unsurprising outcome of the NT’s “strong law and order agenda and its culture of incarceration”. |
| “The detention centre images will damage Australia’s international standing, not to mention the Northern Territory’s position as a place that has supposedly emerged from the old cowboy culture.” | “The detention centre images will damage Australia’s international standing, not to mention the Northern Territory’s position as a place that has supposedly emerged from the old cowboy culture.” |
| He says a royal commission alone is insufficient – what’s needed is a legislated target for reducing the NT’s “catastrophic” rates of incarceration of Indigenous people. | He says a royal commission alone is insufficient – what’s needed is a legislated target for reducing the NT’s “catastrophic” rates of incarceration of Indigenous people. |
| That figure rose by 41% after 2007, when it was already far higher than elsewhere in the country – even before the NT National Emergency Response (“the intervention”) was announced. As Gillian Triggs pointed out on ABC News 24, Indigenous people are 96% of the state’s juvenile detention population. | That figure rose by 41% after 2007, when it was already far higher than elsewhere in the country – even before the NT National Emergency Response (“the intervention”) was announced. As Gillian Triggs pointed out on ABC News 24, Indigenous people are 96% of the state’s juvenile detention population. |
| Like Triggs, Gray also believes the commission must look at conditions of detention right across the NT – even the rest of Australia (“the problems do not end at the border”) – instead of focusing on this particular incident two years ago at Don Dale. | Like Triggs, Gray also believes the commission must look at conditions of detention right across the NT – even the rest of Australia (“the problems do not end at the border”) – instead of focusing on this particular incident two years ago at Don Dale. |
| 1.59am BST | 1.59am BST |
| 01:59 | 01:59 |
| This, also from Four Corners Sally Neighbour. | This, also from Four Corners Sally Neighbour. |
| In case anyone needs reminding, this was the Corrections Commissioner authorising the teargas #4Corners pic.twitter.com/np0TdM05AC | In case anyone needs reminding, this was the Corrections Commissioner authorising the teargas #4Corners pic.twitter.com/np0TdM05AC |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 2.13am BST | at 2.13am BST |
| 1.58am BST | 1.58am BST |
| 01:58 | 01:58 |
| Sally Neighbour, the executive producer of Four Corners, has tweeted that Facebook has removed the clip from last night’s program. | Sally Neighbour, the executive producer of Four Corners, has tweeted that Facebook has removed the clip from last night’s program. |
| Facebook has removed the videos of abuse of child detainees. Flabbergasted. #4Corners | Facebook has removed the videos of abuse of child detainees. Flabbergasted. #4Corners |
| I’ve contacted Facebook for comment. | I’ve contacted Facebook for comment. |
| From what I know of how Facebook handles disturbing content of this kind, it takes a fairly broad-brush approach in attempt to account for the differences in opinion among its 1.65 billion users. | From what I know of how Facebook handles disturbing content of this kind, it takes a fairly broad-brush approach in attempt to account for the differences in opinion among its 1.65 billion users. |
| Any content that is perceived to be in violation of its community standards risks being removed. Those do allow for “graphic images of public interest or concern, such as human rights abuses or acts of terrorism”, so this clip may have been removed in error. | Any content that is perceived to be in violation of its community standards risks being removed. Those do allow for “graphic images of public interest or concern, such as human rights abuses or acts of terrorism”, so this clip may have been removed in error. |
| That does happen, as Facebook acknowledges: “We review millions of reports each day and occasionally make mistakes.” | That does happen, as Facebook acknowledges: “We review millions of reports each day and occasionally make mistakes.” |
| But if that’s the case here, the original post by Four Corners won’t be able to be restored: it will have to be uploaded again, meaning that reach and those shares – pretty key for “raising awareness”, insofar as whatever that will achieve – will be lost. | But if that’s the case here, the original post by Four Corners won’t be able to be restored: it will have to be uploaded again, meaning that reach and those shares – pretty key for “raising awareness”, insofar as whatever that will achieve – will be lost. |
| Here’s the relevant section of Facebook’s community standards: | Here’s the relevant section of Facebook’s community standards: |
| Violence and Graphic Content | Violence and Graphic Content |
| Facebook has long been a place where people share their experiences and raise awareness about important issues. Sometimes, those experiences and issues involve violence and graphic images of public interest or concern, such as human rights abuses or acts of terrorism. In many instances, when people share this type of content, they are condemning it or raising awareness about it. We remove graphic images when they are shared for sadistic pleasure or to celebrate or glorify violence. | Facebook has long been a place where people share their experiences and raise awareness about important issues. Sometimes, those experiences and issues involve violence and graphic images of public interest or concern, such as human rights abuses or acts of terrorism. In many instances, when people share this type of content, they are condemning it or raising awareness about it. We remove graphic images when they are shared for sadistic pleasure or to celebrate or glorify violence. |
| When people share anything on Facebook, we expect that they will share it responsibly, including carefully choosing who will see that content. We also ask that people warn their audience about what they are about to see if it includes graphic violence. | When people share anything on Facebook, we expect that they will share it responsibly, including carefully choosing who will see that content. We also ask that people warn their audience about what they are about to see if it includes graphic violence. |