When Senator Nampijinpa Price, a Warlpiri-Celtic woman, was pressed if she accepted there has been generations of trauma as a result of colonial history, she replied, "I guess that would mean those of us whose ancestors were dispossessed of their own country and brought here in chains as convicts are also suffering from general trauma. So I should be doubly suffering from intergenerational trauma," as some in the room laughed and applauded.
Dr King linked Yarrabah's high rates of diabetes, heart disease, and suicides to "policies of the past and the future", rather than the choices of Yarrabah residents.Gamilaraay woman Mary Kennedy lives in the small town of Walgett in north-west New South Wales,Gamilaraay woman Mary Kennedy lives in the small town of Walgett in north-west NSW where water insecurity is a big issue.
The AIHW analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics health survey data found "the restriction of Aboriginal people to 'reserves' disrupted their ability to support themselves," and that the mission system and the Stolen Generations meant that "Indigenous Australians have suffered ongoing inter-generational trauma. These factors are recognised as having a fundamental impact on the disadvantage and poor physical and mental health of Indigenous peoples worldwide".
"If we keep telling Aboriginal people that they are victims, we are effectively removing their agency, and giving them the expectation somebody else is responsible for their lives," she said. "It takes all sorts of forms, from the hyper incarceration to ill health, to the lack of provision of things, to the lack of services.""She's a brave Indigenous woman and we either accept that people have views – a broad range of views, or we don't."Minister for Indigenous Affairs Linda Burney condemned Senator Nampijinpa Price's comments as "shocking".