Image Credit: SMH
Hostel facing lawsuit after telling Aboriginal women to leave
The 16 women and children had travelled 300 kilometres from Yuendumu to Alice Springs to train as lifeguards for their community’s new swimming pool.
They checked into the Haven Backpackers resort, but a short time later the manager told them that guests already staying there had complained of being scared.
The group included several young mothers and a three-month-old baby. Most were young leaders, chosen specially for their standing in the Yuendumu community.
The resort manager told Bethany Langdon from the Yuendumu Young Leaders program the group would have to leave.
“The manager came out and told me that we weren’t suitable to stay there,” she told ABC1’s Lateline program.
“They said, because you’re Aboriginal, other tourists were making complaints that they were scared of us.
“I felt like I wanted to cry, because it made me feel like I wasn’t an Australian.”
The hostel’s excuse? They cater primarily for international tourists, which the Yuendumu women were not, therefore they were inappropriate guests. Somehow I very much doubt that if my white family turned up there we’d be turned away because we were Australian rather than foreign tourists.
Now this paragraph is mostly for the search engines (H.A.T. has a high authority ranking, so I’m using it): ethical tourists please avoid the Haven Backpacker Resort on Larapinta Drive, Alice Springs: it is a racist establishment, please don’t support it by staying there.
Reader: if you have a blog, why not post something similar to the above on your site? If enough other bloggers link to the ABC story, it will stay high in the search engine rankings even after the news cycle moves on, which is the least that the Haven Hostel deserves. I also hope that the Yuendumu women sue them hard.
I’m also really happy, in retrospect, that it took me absolutely ages to find their corporate website even though they have taken out spots in all the hostel directories: someone doesn’t know how to do SEO. I’m not posting a link to it, because that will make it easier for other people to find. If you find their corporate website, please don’t link to it either.
Update: according to the SMH the Haven Backpacker Resort is owned by one of the largest NT touring companies, Adventure Tours Australia, which purports to offer tourists “the unique scenery, wildlife and Aboriginal culture of each area”. They apparently can’t be bothered to train their employees to treat Aboriginal people who aren’t performing for tourists decently, though.
Congratulations, Adventure Tours Australia: you too are now added to the keywords.
Further Update (20/03/08) for the benefit of some people in the comments who are treating this as some unfounded claim by the Yuendumu party, and furthermore want to justify pre-judging this group based on stereotypes of aboriginal behaviour, here are the facts that even Haven Backpackers Resort does not dispute:
The Royal Lifesaving Society booked the accommodation and transport for the Yuendumu trainee party, and made sure that they got to the Haven Resort. Less than an hour later they had to come and get the trainee party and find them alternate accommodation. Not even Haven claims that the trainee party actually did or said anything offensive in that half hour or so.
Pre-judging people based on stereotypes is the essence of bigotry. If you want to try and justify pre-judging all aboriginal Australians based on the known bad behaviour of some aboriginal Australians, presenting some risk analysis rationale, go right ahead – but don’t pretend that your rationalisations are not attempting to justify bigoted racism.
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Totally disgusting on the part of the Hostel.
I hope you are sued and closed down.
You have no idea what acts of discrimination like this can to do to the people they are targetted.In this case women and children who are the indigineous people of the country. SHAME
I looked up the hostel on the internet I did not see international backpackers hostel as claimed by management I saw it advertised as backpackers hostel ??
You need to stand in front of these people and publicly appologise for your small minded behavior. Had you taken the time to talk to the people you may have learned more about their culture and built a bridge.
M Walker
Good on you. Funny that the Alice Haven website says nothing about being exclusively for “international tourists”. That was a real furphy.
The kindest interpretation I can give is that the manager is inexperienced and got flustered when she had to make a decision in response to a complaint. Bad move, but perhaps someone should give those Japanese tourists a little lesson on who “Australians” are. Why go to the Alice if you are scared of the local people?
Well done on shaming the Haven Backpacker Resort on Larapinta Drive, Alice Springs.
Shocking story….
Why is it the bully’s of the world always get their way?
And the innocent ones are the sufferers.
Well shame on you ….the INTERNATIONAL Tourist what was there to be afraid of? Stay home if you don’t wish to be educated.
As far as the HAVEN BACKPACKER RESORT – get a copy of the SORRY speech because you will need it.
Bethany, you are better than all of them put together. Walk with your head held high young lady.
Whilst i understand that there is a problem with the behaviour of some Aboriginals in Alice Springs (drinking, petrol sniffing, violence etc.), this does not justify the over-the-top and racist response by the hostel to *every* Aboriginal that comes to their door
Shame on you Haven Backpacker Resort
Dissappointing regretful small minded… are you kiddin me….how about flagrantly racist.
The managers going to hell in a handbag and the actual owners will be lawyering up before you can say rabbit proof fence.
If they were smart and very very lucky they might escape the suit with an apology but there s probably more chance that Harold Holt is running a fish and chip shop in Tassie.
Bethany Langdon is the epitome of the kind of young Aboriginal leadership these isolated communities are desperate for.
She is smart,strong and committed to giving back to her
community which apparently makes her over qualified for other roles in the Alice like say….Hostel Manager
ps …bad things are done when good people do nothing
speak out…even if you disagree
why dont you find out all the facts before accusing the hostel of any wrong doing.
one reported said “it is discusting that in this day an age these things are happening. Well it is discusting in this day and age that you are only listening to one side.
SHAME ON ALL OF YOU WHO BELIEVE EVERYTHING THE ABORIGINIES ARE SAYING
wake up!
The Yuendumu women are totally backed up by the Royal Lifesaving Society, who had arranged for them to come to Alice for training and who organised the accommodation for them in the first place, Sarah Jones.
They checked in, went and put their bags in their rooms, and then were told to leave. There was no time for them to have done anything objectionable.
Are you accusing Rob Bradley, CEO of the Royal Lifesaving Society, who was with the group, of being a liar as well?
I also wonder if there really was a complaint by any international tourist. They too would hardly have had time to even see the Yuendumu group before they were asked to leave.
This is just disgusting. People have this idea in there head that all aboriginals are chroming, alcoholic bums but thats really only a minority of the aboriginal people and the media is also to blame for this stereotype as well as the government.
As for the tourists who complained because they were scared, I would like to put them in the same position and see how they like it. I believe that when you are in a country which is not your own you should respect the citizens of that country and treat them as you would like to be treated. As far as I’m concerned anyone found disrespecting a citizen of the country that they are visiting should get a huge fine and be sent back to their own country. As harsh as that may seem.
This story has really influenced me and I am hoping to write a novel about these issues.
No wonder the staff at HAVEN BACKPACKERS RESORT, ALICE SPRINGS scored only 80% by their guests!
Sorry, Women folks. Next time come with your spears, ah, then there’s a real cause for fright and flight.
Utter SILLINESS!
Ah! the irony in this line from their website.
Ah, the irony grows: according to the SMH the Haven Backpacker Resort is owned by one of the largest NT touring companies, Adventure Tours Australia, which purports to offer tourists “the unique scenery, wildlife and Aboriginal culture of each area”.
I think I’ll just go add that snippet to the original post.
No surprise – they live off the history surrounding the aboriginal people yet give preference to the wishes of a group of visitors (if that is the real story)
Backpackers = welcome to Australia but please give this joint a miss.
The Royal Lifesaving Society don’t believe that any other guest at the resort made any complaint (emphasis added):
I also blogged about this today as I was absolutely enraged! I lived in Yuendumu and funnily enough on Sunday I talked about the community on my blog as it was our wedding anniversary and that’s where I was married. I really do hope legal action is taken.
SallyO’s last blog post..Yuendumu
This is disgusting, help take haven out of business, contact travel agents and let them know about Haven’s discrimination. Simply alert them to all these stories published about this hostel on google News:
http://news.google.com.au/news?ncl=1141219493
Contact travel agents, hostel booking sites, anyone who might give business to these people.
I guess they’re stuck in that part of the twentieth century when Aboriginal people were considered wildlife.
sarah jones:
So what’s the “other side”, sarah? Do you have some facts on this incident that you’re not sharing?
This event has embarrassed ALL Australia.
Tourists come to this country to discover the deeper wisdom of Aboriginal culture, while ignorantly trampling over their sensitive sacred sites.
Sadly then it’s no big surprise that a tourist operator who makes a fortune from exploiting these treasures, should be so quick to demonize the very people they’re robbing.
I hope the gutless B goes bankrupt and ends up on the streets …
As non-Indigenous Australians we are continually disgusted at the way Indigenous people are treated in this racist country & Haven Backpacker Resort, Alice Springs, is the final straw. The proprietors should be packing their bags as this is written – if they did honestly receive a complaint/request as to the right of Indigenous people accommodated in their own country they should have asked those making the complaint to move on if they cannot accept peoples’ skin colour.
If anyone is travelling in the direction of Alice Springs maybe a blockade should be organised complete with placards and banners advising those people intending to stay there of just how racist management of that place is.
So much for the apology recently made by the PM K. Rudd to the Stolen Generation! The policies and practices in this country MUST change before it is too late. Australia has been known internationally for quite some time as being a red-neck country and even more prospective visitors, including many of our own friends & family in European countries such as Italy & Germany, will be even more reluctant to come and visit a country who was invaded and has not treatied with Indigenous people over 200 years after that invasion.
Did anyone notice the lack of coverage this story got today outside the ABC?
Imagine what would have happened if it was a group of white Australians asked to leave a hostel because tourists were afraid of them.
Interestingly travel writer Bill Bryson in his book Down Under spoke of his unease of the way the whites in and around Alice Springs talked about the Aborigines. You have to wonder if tourists were afraid of Aborigines where they got that fear from?
Clubwah’s last blog post..Beware men in turbans telling fortunes
None of their advertising says that this is only for international guests, and even if it did this would still be racial discrimination.
If you want to complain about this personally to the hostel, then their email address is:
manager@alicehaven.com.au
and their phone number is 0405 470 196
I haven’t watched the TV news, but I’m seeing articles in the SMH, news.com.au, and Age so far.
Was it the establishment of this place that stuffed up? or some simple minded employee. Yeah yeah captain goes down with the ship,… etc… but who showed their true colours??? & made the comments. That’s the stuff the media don’t speak about and the victims can’t use as leverage. Is this an individuals attitude ? I have worked along side morons before, but I didnt support their views, and told them so. If everyone was intollerant to racism all the time then the racists would lose momentum. Have you ever stayed quiet when you saw something wrong? So sue you !
OK OK! I have stayed quiet once too often !
Blogged.
Deborah’s last blog post..So! What about that racism, then?
Onya, Deborah.
I currently live a very short walk from Haven, and was there on Tuesday (I had no business with them, I was just being picked up there by an unrelated (and as it happens, Aboriginal owned)) tour company).
Race relations are very complex in Alice Springs. There is a very large and real cultural divide, as many Aboriginal inhabitants of the area retain their own language and quite distinct culture, But there is no excuse for overt racism, which is inexcusable and even more damaging in that environment.
Well done, have forwarded your link to our world wide 420 community and have finished emailing the low lifes. And will keep forwarding your link to world wide travel agents.
The power of email will be there down fall.
I’m also doubting that there was a complaint from an international tourist. Having been a tourist in Australia, I and all the other travelers I met were happy to meet Aboriginal Australians, especially in situations that WEREN’T pre-planned “look at the exotic native culture” crap.
Of course. Imagine what a positive experience it would have been for everyone involved to see dedicated youth leaders of a remote community training to gain skills to serve the community, and for them to have time to talk to a cross-section of international travellers in between training sessions.
This reminds me, the Royal Lifesaving Society haven’t had any donations from me this year, and the end of the quarter is coming up. I’ll just go put them at the top of the list.
C’mon boys and girls!
Why not also register on the Thorn Tree (at http://www.lonelyplanet.com) and paste your comments there.
That way lots more travellers are likely to read about this disgraceful episode – and steer clear of Haven Hostel!
I am very disgusted in the way Haven Resort has treated those young women. Their money is the same as anyone elses in the world.
Shame on you. Will definately be telling everyone not to stay there.
the haven backpackers are in the wrong business
I am from New zealand and it makes me ashamed to be called Australain..this was an example of blatant racism.
dave: I note that the Haven Backpackers bills itself as “stylish” and “classy”. Is that code in the Alice?
The kindest interpretation I can give is that the manager is inexperienced and got flustered when she had to make a decision in response to a complaint. Bad move,…
When the story originally broke, I read that the manager was an English woman. Was that correct? I wonder what her visa / working visa status is? and where does she get off telling the original owners of the land to leave her hostel?
Helen’s last blog post..Mugged by Mugler, Galled by Galliano
There’s a new article up in the Age with a statement from a former receptionist:
what all of you small minded people ‘commenting’ here don’t realise is that if it didn’t happen at the haven, it would of most definately happened at a different hostel. So instead of crucifying the manager & the hostel, why don’t you attact all of the hostel in the Northern Territory who do the same thing on a weekly basis. Or are you all just too narrow minded & scared.
So, sarah, what you’re saying is that the “one-sided” story in the post is pretty much exactly correct? You don’t dispute the facts in it?
I visited alice springs a couple of years ago and made the mistake of not pre booking my accomodation. I found that hotels were fully booked and had to call every place in the phonebook to find even 1 room for my partner and I. I called a motel called ‘Larapinta Lodge’ which I believe was on the site where the new hostel ‘Haven’ is now located. I was so relieved when the guy on the phone told me they had a room. He asked for my name which gave but then he hesitated. He actually asked me ‘are you white?’. I was shocked at his question but answered yes and asked why he needed to know. His reply was ‘We accomodate Aboriginals only’. I don’t think I need to say any more, my point is obvious.
whn y’r mplyd s clnr n n lc sprngs bckpckrs y wll sn chng yr pnn n whthr r nt y wld lt crtn ppl st thr. mght mphss th jb pstn “clnr” nt “fcs n th bd rm flr clnr” nc gn, lk t th bg pctr ∓ stp bng s nrrw mndd
It’s not actually. Was the manager saying that you were not allowed to stay there, or was he implying that you might not want to stay there if all the other guests were Aboriginals?
TIGTOG
can’t you read…. she said the guy said “we accommodate aboriginals only”
I think the people commenting on this site are very aggressive – I wanted to tell my story as I felt it illustrated another side to the arguement. I was told I wasn’t able to stay at the accomodation as I wasn’t aboriginal. This is such obvious racism and I can’t believe you are not astonished by it in the same way you all are about the original article.
I merely wanted clarification, Elaine, because I wasn’t entirely sure whether your report of the manager’s words was meant to be a direct quote or a paraphrase.
In principle, yes, if it was a public motel and you were told that weren’t allowed to stay there because they only cater for Aborigines, then that is racism and it’s equally unfair. If, however, you were merely advised that you might not want to stay there because they mainly cater for Aborigines, it’s still racism but it’s not directed at you, it’s catering to widespread prejudice amongst whites against Aborigines such as that expressed by Sarah Jones above.
Elaine, I’m having a little trouble believing that your story isn’t either an invention or a misunderstanding of some sort. A brief google shows that Larapinta Lodge was a three star motel (not a hostel or budget motel), pitched itself squarely at the national and international travel market, advertised airport transfers and closeness to the Ghan station, and advertised on Asian tourism sites.
Are you assuming the manager of the motel was not aboriginal?
Hard to know, Elaine, based on your report of a phone conversation that obviously, based on a bit of research, doesn’t support the facts of how the Larapinta Lodge actually operated. I don’t know why that person on the phone would have lied about the motel’s practices to you, but it appears that they did.
ETA: unless of course this conversation never actually happened.
The parent company, Adventure Tourism Australia, is claiming that the manager did not tell the Yuendumu party to leave:
That’s a fairly direct contradiction to the Yuendumu group’s claims, and it still seems highly unlikely that the manager would receive “numerous complaints” in the half hour after the group checked in. My money is on the manager making her own rules and now lying to cover up her high-handedness, and the parent company, which didn’t care about whether she was discriminating beforehand, now scrambling to cover its arse.
I found it hard to believe what happened to me myself, being the only racism I have personally encountered. During my stay in Alice Springs I did tell my story to people that I met. They sort of laughed at my ignorance and told me that yes the motel was for aboriginals although it had once been more for backpackers. It seems strange that the motel is still advertised seen as it is no longer there, maybe their change of practice was never updated on the websites either. After all, I don’t think it is something they would be proud to advertise.
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