The end of ideology in Indigenous affairs

The Howard Government has refused Indigenous input into policy, programs and evaluation and has rejected self-determination and the role and expertise of Indigenous-run bodies.

By stripping back and micro-managing funding the government has reduced the advocacy role of native title representative structures and other community organisations, marginalised critical voices and imposed its own structures on service delivery. Mainstreaming has contributed to this dynamic.

The government’s National Indigenous Council repudiates Indigenous self-determination, with the minister determining the expertise, interests and needs of Indigenous Australians and hand-picking people to articulate them.

Indigenous input is limited to Shared Responsibility Agreements (SRAs), which the government claims are a direct conversation with communities. With only a quarter of Indigenous people living in remote areas, and SRAs being just a fraction of total funding, these conversations between central government and remote communities are limited and exclude most Indigenous people.

SRAs extend mutual obligation to entire communities, in some cases forcing them to bargain for rights of citizenship - basic services. Obligation demanded of communities is not met by government - Mulan did not get its petrol bowser despite meeting its obligation.

SRAs are driven by neither needs analysis nor established priorities; bargains are random; and obligations and rewards unconnected. In his 2005 report, Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma noted serious problems in monitoring and evaluation frameworks and that SRAs were ineffective in “harnessing the mainstream”.

In its rejection of self-determination and Aboriginal participation, its encouragement of Indigenous people into the mainstream and denial of special needs or difference, the quiet revolution shares similarities to the assimilation policies of the past. It is the latest ideological approach to Indigenous affairs.

In 13 years of Labor and 10 years of the Coalition - on the key indicators in health, education, employment and housing - success has been minimal and in some cases the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous outcomes has widened. The community is now less optimistic about real change in Indigenous affairs. Neither Labor nor the Coalition occupies the high moral ground.

We desperately need to lessen the partisanship in Indigenous affairs: after all, we all believe in an equal chance for Indigenous people to share in Australia’s benefits, and a fair go for Aboriginal children.

Both sides must look beyond ideology. Labor must acknowledge that the rights agenda is only part of the solution. We must be more focused on outcomes. The Coalition must accept the need for national settlement with Indigenous Australians, their involvement and empowerment and their experience and difference.

Labor remains committed to the recognition of past injustices and the need for reconciliation and Indigenous self-determination. They are crucial contributors to removing disadvantage. But from here on our guiding principle will be the evidence of what works and what does not work in reducing disadvantage. Not ideology - evidence.

Labor will engage more in the welfare debate, which has been shifted by Noel Pearson’s articulate and passionate contributions.