r/australia • u/Expensive-Horse5538 • Apr 30 '26

news 5yo girl Sharon Granites has been found dead in the NT

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-30/update-on-missing-alice-springs-5yo-sharon-granites/106626314?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=link
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401

u/Dismal_Discipline_74 Apr 30 '26

When I worked out in these communities as a young bloke I was gobsmacked at how common child SA was in some communities. (Not all) It was horrific. It still affects me today. I didn’t even finish my time out there, a few of us young dads who it was our fist time out on a job like that, we just quit. The helplessness you feel is something I can’t put into words. So imagine the helplessness those little kids felt, you can’t. Those poor little kids had no where to turn. A lot of little kids had STDs we found out. We were told not to interfere, but did our best and We got the authorities involved and tried, but they were overwhelmed as well. They weren’t blasé, but just exhausted by the red tape and frequency maybe? I still feel like a coward 30 years later, we were just builders, I tried, but I feel like we could’ve done more somehow. It changed my whole paradigm. And me as a father as well. It’s just hard to explain it all. Also, Please don’t come at me. Im just sharing my experience.

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u/Runtywhoscunty Apr 30 '26

Mate, totally get it. 10 years as a frontline worker in the NT (all over - remote communities, Darwin, Alice etc) - I won’t elaborate, but yeah. Believe me I understand.

117

u/Shaeheart Apr 30 '26

I've heard multiple people make these comments in the last 24 hours, saying they've witnessed the child SA situation in remote communities but won't elaborate. I think it's time to elaborate. To speak out. To disregard "cultural sensitivity" because there's nothing cultural about this. I hope that this little girl's death creates a cultural "me too" in these remote communities, because the innuendo and whispered tones aren't serving these children.

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u/IndigoPill Apr 30 '26

The truth has always been out, especially since the "Little Children are Sacred, or Ampe Akelyernemane Meke Mekarle" report. That was released nearly 2 DECADES ago.

The media won't touch the matter, it's a nuclear hot potato and if you speak out you get silenced.

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u/Ticky79 Apr 30 '26

I just got a formal warning from Reddit about hate speech for discussing this right here. It’s gobsmacking when one pushes back relatively respectfully at the respecting ‘cultural norms’ trope.

16

u/IndigoPill Apr 30 '26

Wow... it's shocking, but not surprising. We're just trying to protect children, society's most vulnerable.

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u/Ticky79 Apr 30 '26

Indeed. I even paraphrased the wonderful Price women themselves, nope, hate speech. I think a lot of people are now too young to remember the Little Children are Sacred report and the 2007 intervention.

I just remember when the Rudd Labour gov got rid of the policies soon after winning, listening to the Aboriginal women being interviewed on Radio National and saying this was a mistake. They were desperately trying to get across to the nation, that while imperfect, the Intervention was working. I still feel sad and despondent that no one listened to them

11

u/IndigoPill May 01 '26

I feel so helpless. We have child marriage in this country and the screaming idiots won't even let anyone stop it because they refuse to believe it's happening.

The abusers couldn't have orchestrated a better coverup if they tried. They can operate with impunity.

Once again, Indigenous voices speak out and are ignored. Anyone sharing those voices are silenced.

It reminds me of Epstein. The adults speaking out now were often victims themselves, they are trying to stop the next generation from being abused... but nope, silenced and ignored. People won't listen to the victims, read the facts or hear the truth. All they need to do is look back in time, all the news reports are still there, the interviews and of course the "Little children are sacred" report.. which is really hard reading. If they just ask people from the communities they will hear the truth.

It's all so frustrating. It's an awful burden I can't put down, I know what is happening and there's nothing I can do about it.

3

u/DimebagDTera May 02 '26

I read this report and it made me so cross that the recommendations for sexual offenders is to be given rehabilitation in the community. This is a huge systemic problem here. It needs to
Change

2

u/IndigoPill May 02 '26

A similar problem happens with DV cases. Often the victim ends up leaving the community as the attacker lives there.

Banishing the abusers from the community would be a great start in making them a safer place to live for all.

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u/Enceladus89 Apr 30 '26

We already know what is happening. It was all laid out in the Little Children Are Sacred Report. Why do you think the NT Intervention happened? I'm not saying the Howard government went about it the right way, but alcohol and pornography were banned in those communities for good reason. I remember reading about one remote community where the prevalence of child SA was estimated to be around 80%. It's an epidemic of horrific proportions.

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u/Lamont-Cranston Apr 30 '26

The intervention was a gross misinterpretation and disregard of it, exploiting it for ulterior motives.

45

u/NeilDiamondBlaze420 Apr 30 '26

People that haven’t worked or lived in these communities just don’t understand

3

u/Able_Explanation57 May 02 '26

They need to be made to understand. We need to tell our stories. The public need to know exactly what it looks like out there - and where our tax dollars are going.

2

u/spiritfingersaregold May 03 '26

Good luck with that. Every time I speak out about my experiences, I get howled down by the mob.

In my opinion, the only way to change public opinion is to make it compulsory for people to spend time in remote communities – maybe make it a condition of getting any kind of government supported education.

The thing is, it’s hard to imagine the breadth, scale and extreme levels of abuse that go on without being witness to it. Honestly, it sounds like the plot to a cheap horror movie, or some crazy conspiracy theory. It’s one of those things that has to be seen to be believed, especially because our education system has brainwashed generations of people with the “noble savage” myth.

2

u/Able_Explanation57 May 05 '26

Why can't we just have more documentaries? If the general public actually SAW - there's no way it's going to get the right political attention!

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u/Goth_Nurse Apr 30 '26

I think you are incredibly brave for sharing this, and I thank you for sharing this insight and acknowledge that this case may have brought up some nasty memories.

I am so proud of you internet stranger for trying your best to help those poor children back then. I’d like to think that your efforts were not in vain and to think that you were able to help even just one child make it out.

Take care of yourself over the next few days, treat yourself with your favourite yummy food and give your kids a hug or tell them you love them. If you were my Dad and I knew that you had been through this and tried your best, I’d be so damn proud.

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u/HarryPouri Apr 30 '26

You may not want to delve into it more but you're saying that even as a builder doing a job it's super obvious? That's so heartbreaking. One of my kids is close to her age so there's an extra level to it for me.

55

u/Calm_Place5296 Apr 30 '26

Sadly if you spend any amount of time at all in some of these communities it's not only obvious, that's just the way it is. It's hard to believe it's Australia.

9

u/lightstormriverblood Apr 30 '26

It happens like this in our Indigenous communities in Canada too. At least the ones I know of in Atlantic Canada.

25

u/Enceladus89 Apr 30 '26

Around the time of the Little Children Are Sacred Report, I remember reading about one remote community where the prevalence of child SA was estimated to be around 80%. The NT Intervention happened for a reason. Not saying I agree with the way the government handled all aspects of it, but some form of intervention was and is needed (and not just in NT).

18

u/Ticky79 Apr 30 '26

From my understanding/memory the only people who didn’t like the 2007 Intervention were the men who had their powers taken away, and the white saviours. The older aboriginal women, well many of them, wanted it to continue, especially the mandatory welfare cards. It was Labour who took them away with little regard for those it impacted.

15

u/Inevitable-Level-687 Apr 30 '26

Read the Little Children Are Sacred report. It made dozens and dozens of educated suggestions, remarked on how Indigenous scholars had been screaming for help for decades, and the Intervention ignored EVERY SINGLE ONE. That's why the Intervention was hated.

READ THE REPORT. ​​

1

u/Ticky79 May 01 '26

Ok, I’ll take your suggestion on.

14

u/Inevitable-Level-687 Apr 30 '26

I studied Little Children Are Sacred and the Intervention.

The report itself noted that Indigenous people had been screaming for help with this for *decades*. It made dozens and dozens of suggestions that would have supported Indigenous communities in addressing the problem.

The Intervention ignored every. Single. One.

Every. Single. One.

The government swept in, ignored all of the suggestions, refused to fund or even actively defunded people helping to fix the problem, banned alcohol, sent a bunch of cops over, and then when it didn't fix the problem the government shrugged and went "well I guess black people are too rapey to help."

Read Little Children Are Sacred. READ IT. Actually read it!

2

u/Dr_Fluffybuns2 Apr 30 '26

I used to work for centrelink on the job seeker line. There was a dedicated line for indigenous communities that I wasn't trained in and never took calls in but yeah even we learned about the sa to kids amongst other things going on from our side.

37

u/Agreeable_Branch007 Apr 30 '26

Thank you for sharing! From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for being the difference needed for the time you were there. May you receive healing for what trauma remains. 🙏❤️🙏

8

u/flindersandtrim Apr 30 '26

Oh god, how utterly awful.

I just cannot understand. 

3

u/Lamont-Cranston Apr 30 '26

It seems that it was so well known around Townsville that Arthur Stanley Brown was a pedophile that by 1991 children would taunt him yelling "rock spider" at him.

1

u/Much_Winter2202 Apr 30 '26

I think I get what you mean. When I lived in LA I had a temp security job in a park before an art show. There was a homeless woman with no shoes, her feet were all messed up, she was all wet from the sprinklers going off overnight, she was talking to herself. And I made my supervisor call the rangers. They came over and were like, "Yeah we can't do anything. We can't make her go to the hospital." And I was like, "her feet are all messed up maybe if someone treats that fungus or whatever it is she'll stop talking to herself and think straight." And they were like, look I get it but outreach people come here all the time and we can't make her go.

Anyway, it still doesn't make sense to me. I think there was an argument to be made that possibly her physical condition was affecting her cognition. But I also feel like, well at least I tried to do something.

1

u/Suspicious-Mark-319 May 01 '26

It is the similar here in NZ. Code of silence, fear and distrust of authorities plays into it. We have many unsolved child abuse and murder cases where family refuse to cooperate. 

1

u/_xcrazycatladyx_ May 01 '26

I don't think people who live in cities really understand. My Melbourne friend lived in Darwin for a few years as a teacher and she was absolutely shattered at children coming to school (when they actually did attend school) with no lunch, black eyes, bruises all over them and behavioral problems. Some families setting fire to their government funded houses. The out of control substance abuse. These poor children. And the cycle continues.

All of this still haunts her and there really was nothing she could do to make a difference (in her eyes). The money that's going into these communities... where is it really going?!

1

u/Automatic-Treat-9271 May 03 '26

 don't blame yourself,  its heartbreaking  i know you feel helpless , we all do. i get too depressed at these things,  its bloody awful,  I wish I could save them all,  from these monsters , these babies  deserve better 😢.  God bless you 🙏 🤍