The Rights of Indigenous Australians

[tcpip]

There is little doubt in my mind that the Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, is a racist in both traditional and contemporary senses of the word. From his rejection of sanctions against the evil apartheid regime in the mid-1980s, to his public gaffe in calling for curbing of Asian immigration in 1988, his refusual to condemn Pauline Hanson's outbursts, the "children overboard" scandal ofand the Tampa (does anyone seriously think he didn't know?) and his refusual even to accept that Australia faces racist problems after the Cronulla riots are all indicitive of a person who panders and supports the superiority of the white man over his lessers. Of course, he claims "I don't have a prejudiced bone in my body."

But none have suffered as greatly as indigenous Australians at the hands of the current Prime Minister.



To recall, after the High Court decided (Wik Peoples v. The State of Queensland), that pastoral leases do not give exclusive possession to the pastoralist and do not extinguish native title, Howard embarked on a campaign to amend the Native Title Act - to "extinguish Wik" as it was popularly known. His claim was: "the [High Court] Wik decision pushed the pendulum too far in the Aboriginal direction".

Next he sought to change the culture of Australia. There had been great movements in the nation from 1988 onwards in favour of a treaty between indigenous Australia and the Commonwealth. Further impetus was gained when the "Stolen Generations" report acknowledged the separation of children from their families. The Prime Minister refused to apologise, leading to one of the best actions in Australian political history; at Corroboree 2000, a sizeable part of the audience rose from their seats and turned their backs on the Prime Minister.

Following this disposession of land rights, the next stage was to disposses indigenous people of their own decision making structure, namely the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, a representative body elected by indigenous Australians. The opportunistic decision to shutdown the organisation during litigation against Geoff Clark can be counted as clever politics, albeit morally repugnant.

Now the Prime Minister apparently wants to stamp out child abuse in indigenous communities; I often half-joked that he'd use whatever it takes to win an election, and I guess if a combination of the race card and the pedophile card should be winner in his mind. The first step is paternalistic intervention: to put a ban on alcohol and pornography, to enforce education in English and to threaten the welfare payments of parents who do not comply. iron_orchid provides an excellent collection on the outbreak of the story.

Professor Ian Anderson considers the electoral ploy. Aboriginal elders recognise that they're being used; "black children overboard". Families decide to flee, rather than have their children taken away. Muriel Bamblett, begs the Prime Minister to engage in consultation rather than enforcing measures (I don't think he cares Muriel...). Jenny Martiniello reminds us of the Howard strategy (defund, blame, eliminate) and recalls Paul Keating's great words: "What if this were done to us?" But most daming of all, the very author of the report which has inspired the PMs has condemned his actions.

Want to end prevalent family problems in indigenous communities, such as domestic violence and sexual assault? Give the people dignity and the means to dignity; financial security, health services, education go a long way here. Give the indigenous people the freehold rights to the land which they inhabited for 50,000 years. Consult with them in accord to their decision-making structures. Don't tell them what they must do; work with them.


But quite honestly, I don't think John Howard particularly cares about indigenous Australians. I think he's more interested in how he can use them for his own means. History will judge him very harshly indeed.

Comments

[stickykitty.livejournal.com]

Dan and I were talking about this just the other night. I wanted to make a post about it but the entire subject makes me too mad.
My general conclusion is that if the government cared at all about disadvantaged Australians, white or black, they would develop, support and fund our social workers and community workers rather than sending in the army. It's like using a sledgehammer when what you really need is a pair of tweezers.
Is it any wonder that qualified people like myself choose not to work in our chosen field? With poor pay and work conditions and little job security?
How can the social welfare of our country be worth so little?

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

I must say it took me a while to put this together as well. It's simply infuriating; the utter and complete refusual to listen to the voices and requests of indigenous people on these serious matters concerning their own lives is contemptuous. It is difficult to think of a worst Prime Minister the country has ever had (with the possible exception of Stanley Bruce).

Howard's approach, and it has always been the case, is that the poor are poor because they are lazy; and because they are lazy they deserve to be punished. Evidently none are more lazy that indigenous Australians.

And people wonder why I hate him so; he is one of the few people whom I genuinely consider to be wicked.

[strangedave.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I keep trying to post about it, and not quite getting there, because I makes too mad.
And its the same basic point you are saying - if they really wanted to help people, they'd pay for actual services, not just social workers and community workers, but giving them proper houses, schools, medical services. And if they aren't willing to pour real money into problem, its just showboating for an election.

[zhenzhi.livejournal.com]

i agree. he is beyond disgusting :-(

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

He hasn't exactly shown the sort of leadership that is conducive to building a good society...

[celsa.livejournal.com]

First they came for the refugees...

This is the second iteration that I can see.

I wonder who the next group targeted for "assistance" will be?

[reddragdiva]

Oh, that's easy: anyone on welfare.

[ironed_orchid]

Thanks for writing this. As someone else said, the entire topic can make me so angry I can't think straight and then I can't communicate well.

Most people I speak to are of the opinion that it's an election ploy, but then most people I know are both widely informed and cynical about the Howard government, so they don't constitute a good sampling of the Australian voting public.

We were talking about the 1996 election today, and I remember being mad and sad at the time, but I honestly never thought things would get quite so bad. I expected a GST and cuts to welfare and the privatization of health, but I don't think I ever expected refugees on hunger strikes after being in detention for years or having anyone seriously propose to remove indigenous children from their families by force.

I'd like to have the Australia I grew up in back, please. You know, the one where we were learning to identify ourselves as part of Asian-pacific community, and no longer a far flung outpost of of the British empire.

[jahbulon.livejournal.com]

"I'd like to have the Australia I grew up in back, please. You know, the one where we were learning to identify ourselves as part of Asian-pacific community, and no longer a far flung outpost of of the British empire."

Ah, childhood memories.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Part of me thinks that Howard has, thankfully, made a serious strategic error. This time, he had played his cards too early and too crassly and people don't want to be caught out again. I also think he has underestimated the quantity of people who are sympathetic to indigenous Australians and overestimated the quantity who wish to punish them (which is somewhat different than the situation with refugeees).

[catsidhe.livejournal.com]

I know erudito personally. I actually like him, if we're not talking about politics. He is friendly, and funny, and intelligent, and well-read, and has himself some very interesting friends.

But I really really really hate his politics.

He basically says there that you, me, everyone who has commented here so far, anyone, everyone who has in any way dared to question Howard in any way, may as well have personally gone bush and raped a child themselves.

And, yes, I'm too blinded by red-dimmed sight to respond an any more articulate way than to pass on the message, and hope others can keep a good argument. (And, I warn you, it had better be good, because he will find any logical or moral holes, and anything which looks like one.)

I'm not a racist, but...

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

erudito's position seems most of all a dislike of the Marxist-orientation emphasised by Coombs, who studied at the London School of Economics during the Great Depression and worked as a senior public servant under seven Prime Ministers. As Mick Dodson, once said, Coombs was "white man's most senior elder".

To Coombs the most important means to give indigenous Australians freedom was not necessarily freedoom in the modern liberal-capitalist sense; it meant self-determination - economic, legal and, most importantly, land rights.

This means specifically that indigenous people should not be forced to assimilate to the cultural and economic mores of modern capitalism, if they so choose. Instead, they have the right to adopt a lifestyle which equates with "primitive communism"; a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, collective property, customary law, and so forth.

I think this is a problem that Howard and his supporters face; they cannot come to terms that freedom does not axiomatically mean western-capitalist freedom. The worse part of it is that they're prepared to force people into a "freedom" they neither want or even understand.

As Pat Dodson once pointed out:

The Governments of today have unilaterally decided that we are to be mainstreamed and assimilated into a society that elevates the individual above traditions and values forged over more than 50,000 years around community and belonging in extended family relations centred on kinship rules and responsibilities. Grounded in our spiritual and physical relationship to our lands and our ancestry.

[janewilliams20.livejournal.com]

When the only two Aussies on my FL are slating Mr Howard, at length, it tells me something. The other one, incidentally, is over here: Pip, John Hughes' other half.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the link, that's a very impressive set of links and and agreeable comments - I've added them.

[velvetink.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting this (i've come via iron_orchid).

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

No problem. It took my a while to compose it over the past days; so thank you for reading it.

[lula-neith.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this. While it's not the same, there was reversal of Brown vs. the Board of Education here in the States. An effort to make it more difficult for recourse against institutional racism. So many countries are taking steps backward...

Once again...

[laura-seabrook.livejournal.com]

...my theory is that he was cloned in Washington DC at (or just after) 9/11 and remote controlled by the Bush administration ever since. Nothing I see or read contradicts that theory, including his racist opportunism.

[ruth-lawrence.livejournal.com]

History will judge him very harshly indeed.

I hope so. I hope the wretch loses his seat.

I knew someone who knew him personally, and he is (in their view), far *worse* than he seems.

[angel80.livejournal.com]

The fact that 'children overboard' and Tampa were two separate incidents is not clear from your text. (They were even possibly two separate election campaigns - I'm not sure).

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Same election campaign; I was working in Reith's electorate (now Greg Hunt's) during it all.. Damn disaster that one, Tampa, 9-11 and "children overboard", all in two months or so..

My typo ('of' instead of 'and') has been modified appropriately.

[strang-er.livejournal.com]

If this is a political stunt, to stop people talking about interest rates and bring the topic of the day back to more traditionally 'left' vs 'right' territory where Mr and Mrs Average Australian will identify with Honest John over bleeding hearted pinko hippies, then it seems to be working brilliantly.

[zey.livejournal.com]

Indeed. The "at last they're doing something" line will be playing very well with the ACA/TT viewer demographic.

[kremmen.livejournal.com]

As I commented recently elsewhere, I believe Johnny's lost the plot. In this instance, the people can fight back and their responses are appearing in the media. Likewise, the lack of action over many years gives voters of any persuasion a reason to be sceptical.

The primary goal of the current federal Libs appears to be to appeal to those who don't think through either the principles or the ramifications of issues. I believe the primary motivation for such voters is selfishness. Government gives me more money/less tax/etc, so I vote for them. The "ACA/TT viewer demographic" (nicely put, zey) doesn't care about the aboriginal situation. It's just irrelevant for them, unless they are aboriginal themselves. Next week, they'll be watching stories about parking inspectors and supermodels and footballers again and Howard's latest manoeuvre will be just some political waffle in their past.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Well put; I believe you're right. He has always tried to play a shrewd game of the knockout punch. This time I think he's swung too early and seriously miscalculated the mood of the electorate on the issue.

[n2kaja.livejournal.com]

I hope you don't mind
but I added you! I found your post a pleasure to read.
I am trying to understand why Howard has such a hold
on Australians, I suppose it's not different in the states
but for the most part I do believe americans are catching on.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

The reason why people like this can have so much of a hold is due to self-interest. The troubles of refugees did not affect middle Australia; they were prone to the fear-mongering. Ditto for indigenous Australians. The difference being in this case I think is that most people in Australia are far more sympathetic to the plight of indigenous Australians.

Added back.

[thebaronmk1.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting this - there was a sound grab onthe radio over the weekend about the issue which said that the government wanted more police, labour wanted more teachers to address the issue - says it all really

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Without a doubt some will try to say this is Labor being "soft" on aboriginal people when the government is being "tough".

[last-chael.livejournal.com]

I hope you don't mind me commenting, I saw your post through another's friend's page.

When I heard about this I was utterly horrified! After everything that has happpened in the past, I find it so hard to comprehend how it's possible that this could even be considered a viable option. You don't 'fix' a problem using the same methods that really were the cause of the problem in the first place. This is only going to cause more problems in the long run and make things worse for everyone.

Even just the suggestion that John Howard's government can 'fix' the problem is just infuriating!! I agree that is just proves his racist attitudes, and complete ignorance of the problem, how it started and what can be done to help. In fact, the very idea that he can fix the problem just shows how much he looks down on Aboriginal people. Like they're some primitive tribe of specimens who he can magically fix with good old western ideals! I hate even using words such as 'fix' really.

I can't even claim to know how such problems can be overcome, but I do know that it's definitely not in such a way. In my mind it would be more helpful to use strategies such as community development, education, building ties in the community, networking (in a community sense). But above all, it is the Aboriginal people who must be involved in working out what can be done, how it can be done and who does it. We should merely be helpers in it, helping them with resources and funding, but the Aboriginal community are ultimately the only ones who can possibly help solve the problems.

Australia really needs a big dose of education! I find is apalling how ignorant and in fact, racist many Australians are. It really makes me so angry that we live in a first world country, and yet we have a whole population of people who are living in conditions comparable the the third world. These people are dying from diseases that are prefectly treatable. However, it none of it can be achieved with this paternalistic attitude towards possible solutions. *sigh*

I'm enrolled in an Indigenous subject this coming semester, something tells me that we'll have a lot to talk about with this.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

I really appreciate the time and effort you've put into making these comments.

Although much pooh-poohed by the new conservatives, funding, consultation and self-determination empirically has positive effects.

Good luck with the subject; indigenous Australia has a fascinating and rich history which very few people are aware of in any detail.

[amazinggoatgirl.livejournal.com]

So I keep hearing about these bans on alcohol and porn, but how are they enforcing them? Is it a geographical ban? Though I read somewhere, I think on here, that some Aboriginal dudes asked a white guy to buy them beer and he did, so maybe not? Do they just not sell these things to anyone who doesn't pass the paper bag test or is there some kind of 'Aboriginal look' that people who work at stores that sell booze and porn must be trained to recognize? ::shudder::

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

They're geographically based; the bans take affect within aboriginal-reserved lands.

The first attempt to enforce such a ban has been received a polite "No thank you, go away" response.

http://www.theage.com.au/text/articles/2007/07/02/1183351124750.html