In an address given at the Australian National University 7th December 2005 the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Senator Amanda Vanstone, declared (inter alia) that remote communities with a small population would not be viable in the future. Some points made by the Minister were acceptable but others had to be rejected as insulting to Aboriginal people.
I wrote the following letter to the Minister following the release of the text of her address and subsequent media coverage:
Senator Amanda Vanstone
Minister for Indigenous Affairs
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
12th December 2005
Dear Minister
Re: Aboriginal Affairs and your address “Beyond Conspicuous Compassion”
I want to bring to your attention some thoughts I have had since reading your address delivered at the ANU on 7th December 2005.
Firstly, I commend you on bringing forward the following points in your address:
That life for too many First Australians continues to be unhealthy, unhappy, violent and short.
Indigenous people have to accept responsibility and play their part (in opportunity to change).
We must back Indigenous Australians in their aspirations and in building their future.
Greater transparency in how money is spent by State/Territory Governments from GST revenue which is meant to be providing improved outcomes but may not be reaching where the people live. You say that you want to ensure this money is not being spent to bloat bureaucracies, both government and non-government, or being used for other things.
The fact that many Aboriginal people live in a feudal system at the pleasure of traditional owners who are but a subset of the people who live on Aboriginal land
The extraordinary opportunity for change and the need to grasp this and have a robust debate on the merits of different approaches. I would like to be a contributor to the debate.
Secondly, I must challenge you on some aspects of your address which I believe are “off the mark”. These are:
The notion of a “cultural museum” – as stated by Marion Scrymgour MLA for Arafura this is “insulting and ignorant[1]”. I am not sure of Marion’s reasons but for me a museum is a place where things, people and animals are put to be recorded for history and usually after they are extinct or dead. Our Aboriginal Australians are a living culture and an ancient one but certainly not “museum” status. They are very much alive as you well know and deserve greater respect.
The notion of “viable” communities – I presume you mean financially viable. The maintenance of a unique lifestyle for Aboriginal people in their own communities should not be expected to be financially self supporting. In a time span of 40,000 years before being exposed to the “developed world” the short term is certainly a lot longer than 30 years since “sit down money” was given to them; 38 years since full citizenship rights; 217 years since colonisation; and, in fact it could be 1,000 years in the short term. The government through the Australian people must understand that this ancient culture (which did not know the meaning of work, money, possessions, housing, education or the perils of the developed world) will take a long time to adjust to a strategic plan for change or maintenance of their “status quo”. It is going to cost money – lots of money – and society as a whole must acknowledge this and assist the process.
The notion of treating Indigenous Australians like every other citizen – they are not and never will be “like every other citizen”. You must acknowledge, as stated above, it will take many many years for remote living Aboriginals to become accustomed to the mainstream way of living – if in fact they want to “normalise” into our culture. The “assimilation” policy of the 1960s failed them and the “reconciliation” policy is not doing much better. In 1979 when noted publicist/entrepreneur John Singleton travelled the north of Australia he observed[2] “…the do-gooders insist the Aboriginal people live exactly like us whites. It is obviously ludicrous.” And further “…every time I look at one of those bearded university-trained southern do-gooders, I wonder if they will ever realise that they can never solve the Aboriginal problem because they are the problem”. Little has changed and 26 years have passed. The remote Aboriginal Australians are too used to expecting governments to fix it and sadly this has failed them. It is time for government to realise that only the Aboriginal people can decide how they want to live – we cannot do that for them.
Thirdly – what would I like to see happen?
Robust debate involving people who have spent time working and living with remote Aboriginal people and have experienced at first hand the conditions and developed an understanding of their needs from their viewpoint. I would rate highly in such a group John Cleary[3] from his position as CEO of the Tiwi Islands Local Government for three years and his wife Veronica[4] who recently wrote an expose on the educational needs of remote Aboriginal children. Too often the audience for discussion on Aboriginal issues is taken up with public servants who do nothing but fly in and fly out of communities. There is a large number of persons who could participate and give an opinion from first hand experience. Another such person is Mary Ellen Jordan[5], whose book “Balanda” is a fine description of the current situation in Maningrida.
Scrutiny of money spending – not just GST revenue to State/Territory Governments but also the land councils who receive large sums from a number of sources and yet seem to have no accountability back to the people of the spending from Trusts and private companies established under their aegis. You rightfully point to the fact that “traditional owners are but a subset of people who live on Aboriginal lands” and unfortunately these are the people benefiting from money that should be the property of the whole population.
Social capital building should be a priority using funds that belong to the community and dispersed based on priorities based on the community’s own assessment of their social needs and education of children. The money could be paid from Centrelink benefits or land council royalty payments or money gained from commercial trading – such as the revenue of the Tiwi Land Council from the sale of the Sylvatech forests to Great Southern Plantation. There would be the need for a proper financial management agency managing the funds but the direction of spend would be for the people to decide. I refer you here to the Australian Assistance Plan 1972-75 of the Social Welfare Commission that was a model based on regional social development and would be as applicable today to remote Aboriginal living as it was then.
I look forward to your consideration of these matters and would welcome the opportunity of discussing them with you sometime when you are in Darwin or I am in Canberra.
Yours sincerely
ROLLO MANNING
Principal
[1] Vanstone comments branded insulting. Northern Territory News, 10-12-2005, Ed: 1 -, Pg: 002
[2] Stone, Gerald. Singo: A biography of John Singleton. p120. Harper Collins 2002
[3] CIS issue analysis No. 55: Lessons from the Tiwi Islands: The need for radical improvement in remote Aboriginal communities John Cleary
[4] CIS Issue Analysis No. 65 Education and Learning in an Aboriginal Community Veronica Cleary
[5] Jordan, Mary Ellen. “Balanda – my year in Arnhem Land”. Allen & Unwin. 2005
