Filling the idle hours of a day ...

The past has not worked and must be replaced with new policies and actions framed by a view of the world as seen through the eyes of the Aboriginal people and not the world that the dominant culture wants them to have.

In 1979 the noted entrepreneur and advertising guru John Singleton, after a tour of Northern Australia wrote:

…every time I look at one of those bearded university-trained southern do-gooders, I wonder if they will ever realise that they can never solve the Aboriginal problem because they are the problem (The Bulletin, October 9, 1979).

It now appears these words are as applicable in 2006 as they were then.

When will the government of the day acknowledge where past policies have gone wrong and decide to start afresh by taking the Aboriginal people with them in their planning for the future? There are too many talkfests, conferences, workshops and the like, with the agenda being to discuss the “Aboriginal problem” and yet with few Aboriginal people present. We must work with them - not without them.

Before any real advances can be made to alleviating the extent of family violence including sexual abuse the following issues need to be addressed:

Education has to be restored with full attendance sought from children who are helped to understand the future and start living it. A child needs to have a purpose for going to school otherwise the adverse role model of older people will be hard to resist.

Health has to be firmly linked to combating the social determinants with all parties to health policy planning making a commitment to this as a part of their own culture of change.

Housing must reflect the way people want to live and put an end to the “over crowding” syndrome which simply means the house was not big enough from the outset.

Transport from remote communities must be subsidised to make it more affordable for Aboriginal people to visit the “new world”.

Urbanisation has to be explained so people whose ancestors lived a nomadic existence will understand the new rules, laws and customs that have to be adopted when living in a closed community setting.

Governance must be properly structured so each participant can utilise their own ability and interest and not forced into a management structure they have no understand of or a desire to learn.