Australian media uses Aurukun Aboriginal child rape case to push right-wing agenda

On December 10, just two weeks after Labor’s election victory, the Australian newspaper, which has long advocated the elimination of welfare entitlements in Aboriginal communities, began a series of front-page lead articles belatedly highlighting the case of a 10-year-old girl who had been raped by nine young men and boys in April 2006. Six of the nine were under 16, while the other three were aged 17, 18 and 26. All pleaded guilty to the rape charge. In October, the six juveniles were sentenced to 12 months probation, with no criminal conviction recorded. In November, the three young men were given six-month suspended sentences.

In the subsequent sensationalised media outcry about the alleged inadequacy of the sentences, none of the obvious questions was posed: Why was a 10-year-old child sexually abused in her own community? What conditions of life lead young people to behave in such a manner? Why is sexual activity among little children apparently considered the norm?

In his sentencing submissions to District Court judge Sarah Bradley, Crown prosecutor Steve Carter argued that the nine should not be given custodial sentences. He described the rape as “childish experimentation” involving “generally consensual sex”—a comment that was roundly condemned by the Australian and other media. Not reported, however, were other aspects of the sentencing submissions that provided some insight into the appalling poverty and social deprivation that lay behind the rape.

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