Thread by @lukeae88

Don't know who will see this, but as I've got plenty of time on my hands I thought I might as well counterbalance all the misinformation out there

I'm indigenous, currently covid positive and am currently staying at the Howard springs quarantine facility.

#aboriginal #covid #nt

The camp is not used to drag away black mob. In fact this camp has been used for months and has had hundreds of non indigenous people come through it in the exact same process for months. Indigenous people had been lucky so far but our luck ran out.

The camp facilities are pretty good. The food is amazing (but I've lost taste now). WiFi is free. Everyone has access to their phones and can are in constant contact with family on the outside. I'm sure my family is sick of me calling all the time.

I came up on Thursday night. When I was transported I was taken to the airport in an ambulance and taken up in a small plane. It was obvious to me at the time that this process wouldn't work as case numbers increased, that help would be needed

Katherine (and Binjari & Rockhole) are 15kms from raaf base Tindal. The Raaf always helps out in crisis times, including floods and cyclones. The 'army' isn't going into communities with soldiers and guns, the air force is helping out with trucks, drivers and freeing up the

Police in checkpoints and shit.

The reason that people are being moved from binjari is that overcrowding is a huge issue in binjari and rockhole. Isolating at home is not feasible when 20-30 people live in one home

It's also hard to lockdown a single community. It's not unknown for people from binjari and rockhole to walk into Katherine. Binjari and rockhole are separated by an easily cross able part of the Katherine river

I was a part of the health team that did vaccination drives at rockhole and binjari in the past. I've walked to every house in rockhole fighting camp dogs along the way to talk to people about the vaccine. In the past people have been hesitant about getting the vaccine

People have been hesitant because of misinformation. But in all my time doing vaccines in the community, not a single person was 'forced' to have it. We respected people's wishes to decline even though we knew that this could potentially bring disaster.
What we have found

Though is that the people who declined in the past often want the vaccine once the discover covid is in their community. We have had an increase in vax rates amongst all people in the community during past lockdowns.
Once covid becomes 'real' and tangible it changes people

Perception of the vaccine.

Not everything is perfect. There are legit issues and causes for concerns about the way things are unfolding. But they are being drowned out by the crazies who are using this situation to fuel their own agenda

If their were soldiers with guns holding people down and forcing jabs we would have seen pics or vids of it now. There's millions of vids of heaps of stuff that happen in indigenous communities, both the good and bad. I've seen a hundred communities brawls on cell phone footage

For example. To think no one would film all these soldiers and guns holding down people is pure fantasy.

Comparing it to genocide and shit is disgusting. There's thousands of indigenous people in Katherine alone. Only 200 odd are In howard springs. If it's a 'genoicide' then

It's a pretty shit planned one. My grandmother was stolen generation. To compare what I'm going through in this camp to what she and her generation went through us disgusting. I'm in a nice room with my own aircon. I'm sitting back watching netflix on free WiFi. I had barra

With garlic butter and broccolinni for dinner. I'm in constant contact with loved ones. Any comparison to stolen generation is spitting on what those poor souls went through in those days.

I've caught covid being on the front line helping my people, to see them call the ppl on

Ground evil is disgusting. People on the ground are working themselves to standstill, in 40 degree heat in ppe that multiplies that heat. I've worked in that ppe in that heat for an hour and you collect about a litre of sweat in it. These people are working multiple hour shifts

To see so much bullshit being shared around, especially by people that have no love for indigenous people suddenly jump on the 'genocide' bandwagon when it suits them is fucked. Indigenous people on the ground have continually tried to raise awareness of things affecting our

People including long term systemic racism. To try use us as props now is disgusting.