It is a sad fact that the White staff who take jobs in remote Aboriginal communities tend to socialise together after work, thus maintaining a clear social distance from the people they are working for, or working with, or working among. Close and trusting relationships between the locals and the strangers — teachers, health workers, Continue reading »
Indigenous affairs
A few days after coming to power in 1972 Gough Whitlam declared that ‘Australia’s real test as far as the rest of the world is concerned is the role we create for our own Aborigines’. More than foreign aid programmes, more than any role the country plays in agreements or alliances, treatment of the Aborigines Continue reading »
Note of warning: This article refers to deceased Aboriginal people, their words, names and images. Words attributed to them and images in the article are already in the public domain. Also, historical language is used in this article that may cause offence. As we head toward the referendum on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Continue reading »
Australia’s first Aboriginal-led Royal Commission recently completed a month of public hearings during which Commissioners questioned Victorian government ministers and senior bureaucrats about injustices against First Peoples in the criminal justice and child protection systems. These historic hearings marked the first time an Aboriginal-led Royal Commission has publicly held to account the authorities that have Continue reading »
The inadequate if not negligent response of governments around Australia to the critical issue of Aboriginal housing—perhaps the country’s biggest policy failure—puts into sharp focus why a Voice to Parliament may help elevate the case for urgent action. Governments have moved away from specific programs to address the acute housing needs of First Peoples, even Continue reading »
After a marathon debate, the House of Representatives on Wednesday morning passed the bill for the referendum for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament to be inserted into the Constitution. The bill now goes to the Senate where it is assured of passage in June. The final vote was 121 in favour and 25 against. Most Continue reading »
Obviously if the Hon. Peter Dutton were to change his mind and offer bipartisan support for the “Voice” Referendum, its prospects would be immensely improved. The history of successful referendums tells us this. The current conflicted public discourse tells us that if both leaders were from now on, seen together, warmly and thoughtfully supporting the Continue reading »
As the people of Thailand say, ‘same, same.’ Here we go again. Another indigenous Australian, and this one an educated, travelled, and articulate First Nation public intellectual is being maligned. Stan Grant has stepped away from the ABC, as a result of persistent and vitriolic racist abuse. The persistence of racism Those most aligned with Continue reading »
Stan Grant is always intelligent, insightful and provocative. He demonstrated this in his extraordinary farewell piece last Monday night on the ABC’s Q+A. I have enormous respect for Stan Grant. Always intelligent, thoughtful and provocative, he has been an important contributor to intellectual life in Australia. His strength has been to move discussions on from Continue reading »
The Uluru Statement from the Heart is a mirror to Australia saying, “Look how much we’ve already done as a nation.” It’s just time to bring it home. – Professor Megan Davis, John Menadue Oration, 2020 The Centre for Policy Development (CPD) supports a Voice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and supports a Continue reading »