Davenport Community Council had been instrumental in setting up the Wami Kata aged care home, considered to be one of the better examples of this kind of facility.
Government ministers who find it easy to denigrate Aboriginal people might do well to observe the warmth and regard in which Indigenous communities hold their older people. Perhaps they could even learn something.
Davenport Council also assisted in setting up the Lakeview Accommodation Centre, to provide accommodation for Aboriginal people making short to medium term visits to Port Augusta and access to health and welfare services. This is a no nonsense arrangement: Residents pay $30 a week and are provided with bedding, towels and access to bathroom facilities. Alcohol is not permitted on the site and disruptive behaviour in not tolerated.
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The Bangala CDEP Program, now happily chugging away under its own steam, was also set up by the very same Davenport Community Council. It beggars belief that an Indigenous Community Council with this distinguished track record of achievement is to fall victim to federal government ideologues.
I caught up with outspoken Port Augusta Mayor Joy Baluch and her City Manager, John Stephens to seek their views on the matter. They too were completely underwhelmed by FaCSIA’s bolt from the blue.
“This is just pulling the rug out from under Davenport. It’s a pretty awful way of implementing change,” Stephens told me. “It ought to be about building capacity, not destroying it.”
They also expressed disappointment that FaCSIA did not see fit to consult with council prior to the announcement. Port Augusta Council’s budget is already committed for the current financial year and they are in no position to guarantee the employment of Indigenous staff displaced from Davenport Community Council. Stephens described the move as a “retrograde step”.
In trying to make sense of this baffling decision I consulted the Office of Indigenous Policy Coordination website. I was gratified to discover that “leadership” is one of the Five Great Principles that underpin the Australian Government’s administration of Indigenous Affairs: “The representative networks that Indigenous people establish will provide leadership and be accountable to the people and communities they represent. Where leadership capacity and organisational governance need to be strengthened the Australian Government is providing support.”
Oh yes minister?
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