Black is the new black

As an Aboriginal colleague says: black is becoming the new black of Australian politics.

If recent events are an indicator, indigenous affairs are moving into the mainstream of our political life. And while this holds renewed promise for the advancement of indigenous Australia, it is also not without risks to that goal.

It's only by switching off "auto pilot" policy-making – and working with new and pragmatic indigenous leadership - can indigenous and non-indigenous Australia arrive at a better location.

To recap developments of last week alone:

• The current Prime Minister, building on his profound commitment to indigenous advancement, used the first Parliamentary Sitting Day of his administration to express support for a future indigenous Prime Minister;
• The high-achieving Australian and proud indigenous woman Nova Peris took her seat for the ALP in the Senate, only one generation after her mother was removed from her traditional land and placed in a mission;
• The former President of the ALP, and now indigenous adviser to the Coalition Government, Warren Mundine, was scheduled to speak to Liberal Party organs;
• Noel Pearson, Australia's greatest living social reformer, and someone wrongly associated by some commentators with conservative politics, addressed the Left-leaning Gough Whitlam Institute, and
• On announcing his resignation, the former Prime Minister cited the Stolen Generation apology as among his greatest accomplishments.

Not long ago, but one of the above events would have been symbolic and remarkable. This past week, they competed for column inches in our media.

In politics and policy reform, momentum matters. Latching on to a trend, be it a trend in public opinion, trend in the respective Party Room, or trend in the evidence, is always much easier than trying to pop latches.

So, the prospect in the upcoming period of meaningful reform of indigenous employment and education policy is high – as foretold by the comprehensive and laudable suite of election commitments made by the Coalition.

Thankfully, the shared view – both among key Coalition Government figures and many quarters of the highly diverse indigenous community – appears to be that conventional policy and programs aren't working and need changing.

This is no wonder when, on the one hand, there are plentiful examples like the western NSW town with some 50 indigenous providers for less than 600 people.

On the other hand, research by Crosby|Textor (and no doubt others) shows strong community support for indigenous advancement, particularly because many Australians see this land's indigenous heritage as central to our unique identity in the world.

With the wind perhaps at our backs, the main risk to real reform is now one of failing to run out the main sail. Undue risk management is the risk itself. Here's how.

In the name of caution, agencies may seek to re-bureaucratise rather than de-bureaucratise to streamlined indigenous-led governance.

In the name of indigenous "capacity building", whites of seeming good will may want to introduce more programs where there are already too many, and where real job creation through indigenous enterprise, indigenous leveraging of land assets, and corporate partnering is too limited by habit and regulation. (Here, it's incomprehensible that some indigenous people are still prohibited from that fundamental of economic opportunity - individual home ownership.)

In the name of duty of care, the undoing of indigenous welfare dependency in place of responsibility may be left as a "policy trial" rather than promoted as social norm.

In the name of cultural sensitivity, the horrors of substance abuse in indigenous communities may be for "healing" rather than confronting and condemning.

In the name of educationalist finery, poor numeracy and literacy rates among some indigenous kids may continue to be tolerated over adopting old-fashioned but now data-driven phonics.

All of the above is for ardent avoidance. Too often, policy decisions in the name of something are but inertia's rationale or the rear guard action of entrenched interests.

It starts with governments not doling out more money but acknowledging the legitimacy of indigenous leadership. It continues with deleting the default (and polite) mode of indigenous policy, which is at best about marginal improvements toward Close the Gap aims and at worst the continued masking of soul-shattering poverty and cultural excuses for bad personal behaviours.

The truth is there is an extraordinary new generation of indigenous Australians on the rise. They are talented; they are urbane; they want not jobs but careers; they seek success both in their own cultures and in the broader community. At the same time that they want to better know their ancestral culture and languages, they want the Prime Minister's job.

In some respects, the main opportunity for government is opportunity. To first vigorously and dynamically educate for it and then to get out of its way - and see indigenous Australians prosper in the ways of their choosing.

Where there is a risk of not doing things as the political class has done them before, let's take it.