A return to Assimilation or Reconciliation?

Let's have hope.

Published on December 17, 2004 By Champas Socialist In Politics

Now that the Howard Government has tended to the top priority of looking after the white people, it seems that the job of looking after the natives has finally reached the top of the pile on the to do list. John Howard's new board of "dignified" Aboriginals is a reality and they are getting down to business. After 8 years it is wonderful to see that the Howard Government has finally decided to turn some attention to Aboriginal affairs. I knew it had to happen eventually. Even if it's only because they have run out of things to do for the white people and they need to find something to entertain themselves for the next 3 years.

As long-time readers know, I've been critical of the concept of the board as a replacement for ATSIC. And I've been critical of Howard's refusal to apologise for the separation policies carried out by several Australian Governments. For FishHead's sake I should give a little disclaimer there: There was no stolen generation. FishHead said so. And he asked Andrew Bolt first, so the sources are reliable. Australia has always been a racially tolerant society. The White Australia Policy was a misnomer, Aussie battlers have always loved blackfellers as their mates who they work and die alongside. The term "the yellow peril" was simply a bit of joshing between us and our Asian mates. The 1788 colonisation was a bloodless affair in which Aborigines gave up their land wilfully because they realised that it was going to Christians who were infinitely superior to them and there's nothing wrong with that. If any Abos did die back then, they probably deserved it. Bear in mind too, there aren't actually any Aboriginal people, they are all pretty much white people bludging off the system for their alcohol. Uncle Ray can back that one up. And Mike Willessee says so too, so such a widely held belief must be true. Oh and did I mention FishHead said so too? But those debates are for another time.
I am actually optimistic about the new board's potential. Several members of the board have expressed their desire to "move beyond sorry". Under Hawke and Keating a lot of progress towards reconciliation was made. Howard's first test as PM regarding reconciliation was the sorry issue, and he failed dismally. Because of this we have spent almost a decade debating this one issue. Meanwhile, things get worse for Aboriginal people and more Aboriginal knowledge disappears. It is time to agree to disagree and get on with the business of improving conditions for Aboriginal people. Board member and vice-President of the ALP, Warren Mundine, has said as much and I think it is a positive start for the board.

One of the main reasons I opposed the model of the new board was that I thought it would leave out the Aboriginal people themselves and leave decisions up to a few disconnected Uncle Toms. There is potential for this to happen. But Vanstone has actually spoken of working at a community level to get projects up and going that are suited to the individual communities. She has even spoken of working with community leaders/elders to work towards new solutions. My goodness, what a radical! Watch out there Amanda, you're starting to sound like a member of the Labor Party. This is an excellent decision. In fact, this is one of the reasons why ATSIC was, in many instances failing to do its job. Individual Aboriginal communities do need to be involved in their own solutions. There is no point lumping in the Warlpiri people with a solution that is suited to the Ngunnawal people. 200 years ago, these two tribes had no concept of each other and would not have considered each other as part of the same race.

Domestic violence is a major problem in some Aboriginal communities, as it is in some white communities. Board members have identified this as a problem they want to work towards solving. I am glad. I am sceptical as to how they are going to do it, but I wish them success. Domestic violence is an horrific crime, no matter who commits it. However, we have not exactly had a great deal of success at dealing with this problem in white communities so I am unsure of Vanstone's ability to deal with this problem in other cultures. Do they simply plan on more law enforcement? This of course would not work. Victims of domestic violence are usually too scared to dob in their perpetrator or they have a misplaced sense of loyalty to the violent person. This will be a problem for all victims, white or black. What is more, jail won't actually remove the culture of violence where it exists. The cycle will more than likely continue, especially when this removes one more member of the Aboriginal community and family. (And of course there are the problems that come with jailing Aboriginal people because of the different cultural significance). There needs to be work done at a community level to create more supportive environments. Men need to know that domestic violence is not something that others support.

Most importantly, they need to have a positive alternative to violence. They need good family/community situations in which they are happy. The problem of domestic violence will be solved by working through the other problems that Aboriginal communities are facing, like poverty and preventable diseases. And that’s where the challenge lies!

During the election campaign, the Australian Medical Association, who are normally Liberal Party lackeys (Brendan Nelson is a former head), called for more funding for Aboriginal health. Many rural Aboriginal communities do not have access to proper health services and so preventable diseases go undetected early, thus leading to fatalities. Did you know that there is leprosy among some Aboriginal communities? This is not a disease we normally think of as being around in Australia. When you are facing problems such as these, it is impossible to lift yourself out of poverty. Living in such problems, it is no surprise that many Aborigines are dependent on welfare. It is unsurprising that many of them try to escape these horrors of their everyday existence by drinking. More needs to be done to ruralise our health services.

Of course, many Aboriginal communities do not face these same major problems. Some have been making good efforts to improve their lot by doing things like banning alcohol. Some have started towards finding ways to balance their own cultural knowledge with the pressures placed on them by the presence of white communities. More needs to be done to find ways where Aboriginal knowledge can be used and valued.

The Garrma Cultural Studies Institute, built on Yolngu land in the Northern Territory is an excellent example of how efforts can be made to explore ways of mixing Western and Aboriginal knowledge in order to move towards a more harmonious future, in which Aboriginal people feel like a valued part of the country. However, their solutions will take some concessions by white people too. There is the issue of Aboriginal Affairs, which concerns things like Health, and then there is Reconciliation, which relates to the relations between our race and their peoples. And there is only so much the Governments can do to improve these relations. We as people must show our willingness to work with and value the Aboriginal people too. This will involve listening to this country's elders for centuries old wisdom.

It is for this reason that I still hold some concern about this board. Mundine expressed the desire for Aboriginal communities to have their own "industry, just like everybody else". This sounds like an assimilationist policy. This sounds like getting black people to do the jobs white people do. By that I don't mean that Aboriginal people shouldn't be allowed to work jobs that are part of our culture. What I mean is that I would rather see a solution that involves Aboriginals making their communities more self-sufficient. Aboriginals working in ways that support their traditional society and cultural values. I desperately hope that we do not have a board of coconuts who want to promote assimilation. I do not want to sing "Vanstone's got a lovely bunch of coconuts".

So here's to hoping that we don't and the board are able to work towards some better results for Aboriginal communities.

However, for a more cynical view, check out the hilarious satire Let's tell the darkies how to live .

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