It is hard to believe how incompetently the indigenous affairs policies of various Australian governments are carried out. Most of us thought there would be a new dawn when Kevin Rudd was elected. He said IA would be a priority and he gave the Apology to the Stolen Generations that brought tears to the eyes of white and black alike. But they persisted with this bloody intervention in remote communities of the Northern Territory that had been started by the previous government. Inter alia, the previous government suspended the application of the Racial Discrimination Act in the NT. It's already hard to understand why the new government didn't embark on a radical revision of the intervention from day one. But now we've had a visit from James Anaya, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, and he has told us no more than we already knew - namely, that the whole thing is racist. Anyway, it's not working - which is also abundantly evident. They put aside some money (600 million) for housing and most of the money has already gone - gobbled up by consultants - with no houses built after nearly 2 years. They are planning to reintroduce the Racial Discrimination Act later this year (2 years after they were elected for a 3 year term!).

Mal Brough, the former Liberal minister who started the whole thing (and lost his seat at the 2007 election), launched an attack on Anaya in the media - saying something to the effect that he's tired of these ****s who talk about human rights while ignoring the facts of child abuse, lack of education, serious health issues, etc, in Aboriginal communities. But since when do we punish the whole community for the sins of a few? People who have never had any involvement whatsoever in the abuse of children or alcohol, are having their pensions quarantined so that others will not get drunk and forget to feed their kids. Imagine the outcry if we decided that because some men are rapists, we should prevent all men from going out of the house. And you have to admit that it's true, violations of women are overwhelmingly caused by men. There is a totally disproportionate problem of men attacking women. That's right, it's only because we're talking about people who are already marginalized and discriminated against, that the outrage isn't there.

Jenny Macklin, the minister, has taken a while to respond to Anaya's criticism. Today she said: "We as a government and as a country have to confront the realities of indigenous people, particularly in remote parts of Australia."

Well there you have it folks: "the realities of indigenous people". It's not stigmatization, no it isn't.

ETA: Nawagadj has given a good run down on the housing fiasco here and here. The short story: as usual, not enough money was allocated, the housing was meant to meet the same quality standards in terms of waterproofing, electrical wiring, etc, ('safety' is another word for it) as housing for white people, so not enough has been achieved and therefore people will say (as usual) that the money is wasted.

The Central Lands Council has done a systematic study on indigenous people's responses to the so-called Emergency Response Taskforce. The results present a mixed picture.

• People were evenly split on the income management scheme. They thought it had reduced gambling and drinking, but had also created difficulties and was implemented in a discriminatory fashion.
  
• 76% supported the CDEP (employment scheme) and thought there were fewer employment opportunities since it was axed.
  
• None of the communities had had an increased police presence, but only people in Titjikala, which has no police, thought the police presence should be increased.
  
• 94% of people in communities on Aboriginal land were opposed to abolition of the permit system.
  
• Where good governance structures existed, they were ignored by the Federal government or even undermined.
  
• Many respondents' questioned what improvement the measures had brought to child safety and education.
  
• Understanding of intervention measures was generally poor and people were highly critical of the lack of consultation and information in the way the program had been rolled out.

While the initial roll-out was carried out by the previous government, this media release by the CLC says nothing about whether things have got better or not under Labor. This might be partly because the study was done in the first 6 months of the Rudd government.

The British, as soon as they arrived in this country, determined that the concepts of law and government were alien to the indigenous population. Meanwhile, their involuntary hosts likewise regarded the British as lawless.

The culture clash continues. A survey done among indigenous people in north-east Arnhem Land, for whom English is their second, third or fourth language, found that few of them actually understood the most basic terminology of mainstream Australian law (words like bail, commit, remand, charge). This is a pretty important issue since in all parts of Australia indigenous people form a disproportionate share of those being brought before the courts and in the Northern Territory it is around 80 per cent. In the category 'it would be funny if it wasn't so serious' is the fact that for a large percentage the word 'guilty' meant 'short time in court, no gaol', while 'not guilty' meant 'long time in court, go to gaol'. Somehow it isn't too hard to imagine how they got that impression.

Mal Brough, the former Minister for Indigenous Affairs, has somehow slipped under the radar. Having launched the new invasion of the Northern Territory and arranging for the Tiwi Land Council to set up 99 year leases, he now returns as a private citizen to make a profit from the system he established.

Jenny Macklin, the current minister was on TV tonight. They are going to act on housing, pre-school, health care and dental care. The housing issue seems easiest to deal with, but where are they going to get early childhood teachers, doctors and dentists who are willing to do long-term stints in remote areas? She said they will add 1200 university places for early childhood education and pay half the school fees. Why only half? They say they want to halve infant mortality in a decade and close the life expectancy gap (does that mean close it tight or halfway or what?). I'm waiting to see what their target is for the end of their 3-year term before the next election.

Amidst all the emotion today, I totally forgot about the Potomac Primaries. But I think Obama must now be the leader. Unless Clinton (aka Canute?) can hold back the tide on 4/3 in Texas and Ohio, she's a goner.

Also, José Ramos Horta was shot twice, in the back.

Yesterday we had a Welcome to Country ceremony, acknowledging the fact that Indigenous people never gave up their land or their rights to occupancy of it.

Today we did the Sorry Business. The Prime Minister apologized without reservation for the grief and pain caused by two centuries of legislation in colonial, state and federal parliaments. The hankies were out in the public gallery, full of Stolen Generations. Instead of asking all those in favour to say 'aye' the Speaker asked everyone in favour to stand in support of the motion. Everyone did. Nobody could escape being seen to vote for the motion. Brilliant.

Tomorrow we have to start the Healing Business or as Kev calls it the Unfinished Business. We will have a kind of War Cabinet on this one issue of closing the gap between indigenous and immigrant Australians. Brendan Nelson, the Opposition Leader, had to agree to it - I think his personal instincts would be for it, but the rest of his party are going to give him a lot of trouble. I wouldn't be in his shoes for anything on earth, and I don't think he will last very long as leader (except that the only alternative is Malcolm Turnbull who won't support the racists either). Judging by Rudd's speech two things are top of his agenda: housing and pre-school. The first of these drew applause from the masses outside.

The only thing missing was the question of compensation. Rudd didn't mention it, but Nelson did, in order to reject it. That was unfortunate, because as Mick Dodson said there is still a job of persuasion to be done if the Stolen Generations are not to have to spend decades plugging through the courts (some of these cases have been going for years already and some, in the absence of acknowledgement that the policy was wrong, have been lost). The fact that Rudd didn't mention it suggests that, for him, this question is still open.

I was wrong yesterday. Old Silver was there too. Every Labor and Liberal PM since 1972 except one.

The Federation Mall outside was lined with beautiful banners incorporating the indigenous flag. So much more attractive than the stupid official flag. I was sitting there watching all this and thinking that indigenous culture is really becoming a huge part of mainstream Australian culture - one of the few things that really distinguishes us from other predominantly white, Anglo-Saxon cultures. It's not just the Welcome to Country ceremonies that happen everywhere these days, or the fact that every major event opens with an acknowledgement of the traditional owners, but the importance of Aboriginal arts. Painting especially, which most people recognize as the most important modern art we have and is also borrowed heavily in other national 'branding' - the painting of Qantas aircraft, for example - but also dance groups like Bangarra, popular musicians and even so-called 'serious' music which makes use of didgeridoo and clapsticks alongside classical European instruments. The fact that terms like 'sorry business' have become part of everyday language.

This week we are having a kind of national catharsis.

This morning, for the first time ever, the Parliament was opened with a 'welcome to country' ceremony. Matilda House-Williams, a Ngambri elder, delivered the welcome.

"A Prime Minister has honoured us, the first people of this land, the Ngambri people by seeking a welcome to country.

"In doing this, the Prime Minister shows what we call proper respect."

I especially liked this part of the PM's response...

Despite this antiquity among us, and despite the fact that parliaments have been meeting here for the better part of a century, today is the first time in our history that as we open the parliament of the nation, that we are officially welcomed to country by the first Australians of this nation.

And Matilda, I thank you for the welcome. For that welcome, we are all here, Senators and Members, truly honoured.

In 1927, when we opened the old parliament, no Aboriginal or Torres Straight Islander people were invited. There was no welcome to country, they were not welcome at all. No place at the national table as we began the national parliament in this place for the first time.

But one man, Jimmy Clements, came, and stood alone, referred to by the Canberra Times in 1927 as, and I quote, “a lone representative of a fast vanishing race”, unquote.

I celebrate the fact that indigenous Australia is alive, well, and with us for the future.

... as well as the promise to repeat the ceremony at every future Parliamentary opening.

Tomorrow morning, in Parliament, the PM will deliver a formal apology for past damage. The transcript of the speech, which has taken a month of consultation with indigenous people to write, was released this afternoon. It says:

Today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.
We reflect on their past mistreatment.
We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations - this blemished chapter in our nation's history.
The time has come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia's history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.
We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.
We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.
For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.
To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.
And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.
We the Parliament of Australia respectfully request this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation.
For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in our history of our great continent can now be written.
We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.
A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.
A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economy opportunity.
A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed.
A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.
A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia.

It is being put as a Parliamentary motion which means that the Opposition will have to vote for it, although many of them will be gritting their teeth as they do so. The will have to vote for the word 'sorry' and the word 'stolen'. Big screens are being put up in the Sydney CBD and schools are being asked to let the kids watch it. Which arsehole racist politicians would dare to vote against in that environment, and in front of 100 invited indigenes and 3 former Prime Ministers (not including the Dessicated Coconut of course)?

It makes me want to cry. Maybe tomorrow it will. I think Kevin Rudd has really nailed his flag to the mast on this issue and I believe that he will really try, harder than anyone ever has before, to make some genuine progress. The only thing we can be really certain of though, is that his efforts will be made through consultation with the indigenous population. That, at least, is a very good start.

I came by this item in the Northern Territory News (27 October) via a new blog I've just added to my links list: Knee Jerk Response Taskforce. It refers to a visit by the ex-Minister to Bagot, an aboriginal community in the centre of Darwin.

Commonwealth Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough said the Territory Government let the problem "fester" by hiding the community behind a fence.

"It is an appalling circumstance when a government of any persuasion puts a fence up between one part of its community and another and lets what goes on behind the fence hide behind it," he said.

Mr Brough said he intended to bring down the fence.

In case you think it is some kind of Separation Barrier, this fence, then have a look at the photos and read the text. Meanwhile, I'm just off down the road to see if I'm tall enough to peer over the wall surrounding Kirribilli House. Moreover, I might have a chat to the guards about what problems are festering in there behind the PM's wall. Appalling indeed!

1) Malcolm Turnbull and Tony Abbott are so far the only idiots whose egos are bigger than their brains. Downer probably won't run because he doesn't want to be leader of the Opposition. If Abbott wins the Party will carry on as it is now. If Turnbull wins, things might move back towards the centre.

2) Clare Martin has resigned as Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, along with her deputy. Her position was completely undermined (as she deserved) by the previous government's invasion of remote Aboriginal settlements and Julia Gillard, who seems to be making the running on this at the moment) says that the new government will not hand back powers to the NT, but their intervention will become consultative. They will also review the removal of the permit system for entering Aboriginal land. The NT Labor Party has responded by electing an indigenous woman as its Deputy Chief Minister! Yet another First. Whee!
Quote from today's Australian:

Ms Scrymgour sparked divisions in Labor ranks last month when she described the federal government's indigenous intervention to combat child sex abuse as the "black kids' Tampa" and "vicious new McCarthyism".

The Tiwi Islander also questioned the motivation and operation of the intervention.

Her remarks prompted Labor leader Kevin Rudd - Australia's next prime minister - to say Ms Scrymgour was wrong and that he believed a new approach was needed for Aboriginal affairs.

Some are saying that Peter Garrett will get Indigenous Affairs instead of Environment (which he had in the Shadow Ministry). This ministry is usually the kiss of death politically, because anyone who is actually committed to the cause has to carry the can for the awful policies of government. (Remember when Midnight Oil appeared in the closing ceremony at the Olympics wearing T-shirts that said 'Sorry').

3) The AEC has given Bennelong to Maxine, though she is unwilling yet to claim victory officially (as of this morning she's on 51.7 per cent). She had a conversation with Kev and refused to confirm or deny that she'd asked him for a ministry - which means that she did!

Today is Australia Day, also known as Invasion Day. I have not been celebrating or mourning or doing anything at all!

One good bit of news is that retired Justice Lawrence Street has decided there is enough evidence to charge Senior Sergeant Hurley with manslaughter. For those not familiar with the case, an Aboriginal man called Mulrunji was bashed and left to die in his cell after being arrested for drunkeness. After two years of collecting evidence, the coroner came to the conclusion that Hurley was responsible, even though Mulrunji had behaved aggressively. The Qld Crown Prosecutor then decided that there was "insufficient evidence" to charge Hurley. The controversy aroused by this forced the Qld government to bring in Street from NSW and yesterday the Crown Solicitor issued an arrest warrant.

Also, after 3 decades of interstate bickering over who gets the water from the steadily diminishing supply in the Murray-Darling basin - mostly ending up with huge costs to the river system itself and to the people living in the downstream areas - the Feds have decided to step in and take over.

We seem to have a new, non-elected Prime Minister. Every time Kevin Rudd makes a suggestion, the government decides to to it! Apart from getting out of Iraq, that is - too much risk of upsetting the President!

Tim Flannery was voted Australian of the Year.

Wadeye's first contact with white people occurred when a sacred heart missionary settled there in 1935. Some nuns arrived in 1941 and established a sacred heart school. This explains the 'Catholic' part of the description I found on the Wadeye website.
The school (rebuilt since the early days).


The web page has the date 1998 on it. The population was given as 2000. Today it is about 2500, of whom 1300 are children.
'There are about 367 students attending the school ranging in age from 4 yrs of age to 19 yrs.' (The use of the word 'about' in this sentence is probably very significant.) The figure also suggests that about 2/3 of the kids were not attending the school. There were 6 aboriginal early childhood teachers. Nothing about the rest.
An Australian government site gives these interesting statistics about the school:

• Average attendance rate at school - under 50 per cent. At age 12 it is as low as 13 per cent


• 2 per cent of the adult population has attained Year 12

The 'tribal' part is a bit more mysterious. What is 'tribal' about it? According to the government site, 'There are three ceremonial groups, encompassing at least 23 tribal groups and seven language groups.' The Kardu Diminin are the traditional owners of the area and, their language, Murrin-Patha is taught at the school along with English. Neither site explains what proportion of the population are traditional owners and what proportion have just landed there, cut off from their roots.

Here are a couple of 'tribal' artifacts (from the Wadeye site).

Murrin Air.


There is a page called 'Wadeye links'. Curiously, contains a link to Adelaide's most elite private boys' school (not a Catholic one btw).

According to the government web site, 82 per cent of income is sourced from welfare payments - $8 000 average annual income. The poverty line in Australia is currently at $25,000. There were, in mid-2005 154 houses at Wadeye, of which 33 needed to be demolished. This site also says that 122 extra dwellings would be required over the next twenty years, just to maintain the occupancy rate of 16 per house. Reports in the last week have said there are now 148 houses. Another source says that there are only 25 paying jobs in a community of 2500.

I was quoted in The Australian Higher Ed pages today. Planned to post a link here, but they haven't put it up on their free access page. Too bad.

Instead, I found this article by Janet Albrechtsen on the difficulty of being 'culturally sensitive' when the culture in question is beyond redemption. I do object to her backhander at 'yesterday's feminists' towards the end. Maybe the Murdoch press requires that sort of self-righteousness - so nobody else can be seen to have said anything before they did. There is actually a substantial group of Aboriginal women fighting against the culture of rape and violence against women that prevails in many communities. But of course it's possible that Ms Albrechtsen was only born five minutes ago.