Noel: a man of words and action

If you closed your eyes, or left the comfort of your cinema seat during the palpable sexual assault of a minor in the dramatic presentation of Once Were Warriors - during the party scene in the home of Jake Heke (played by lead actor Temuera Morrison) - then you get the picture of the horrors that Noel refers, which occur weekly, if not nightly, in some communities.

The second interview of note given by Noel is the one conducted by Leigh Sales on ABC Lateline, on June 26, 2007.

Noel’s opening remark when queried about criticism levelled at the Prime Minister’s plan to take control of the communities in the Northern Territory to stop the abuse of children was breathtaking.

“I'm amazed that anybody would put the protection of children secondary to anything, particularly when those children are subject to imminent abuse, abuse that takes place on a regular basis that's the subject of binge drinking, week in, week out. I'm just amazed that anybody would put the protection of children secondary to anything else. I think that those who have objections to immediate intervention have to ask themselves whether they're willing this whole exercise to fail, and geez, if you're willing the whole exercise to fail, what kind of priorities do you have in relation to the wellbeing of Indigenous children?” Noel said.

For even the most cynical of his critics surely this sobering challenge is one that can’t be overlooked in the final analysis.

I can picture him screaming out when hearing his critics by saying: “Stop living in a state of denial and face reality.”

The answer from Noel to solving the deplorable circumstances Indigenous people endure today in their impoverished communities is one of education. He speaks of education of adults; of the need to instill or reclaim basic parenting skills and places the onus of responsibility, and implicitly protection, squarely in the hands of parents for the financial, educational and social nurturing of their children.

I also observed through his action (of personally committing a dowry to an education boarding school program for identified students) and speech the long term solutions to reclaiming the lost pride, for those leading disfunctional lives, lies also in educating the next generation of leaders; today’s youth.

Like Noel, I also was sent away by my supportive parents from my isolated community; Cunnamulla where school went as high as Year 10, to Marist Brother College, Ashgrove in Brisbane to complete my matriculation. Several kilometres west of Ashgrove is the boarding school of St Peters Lutheren College in Indooroopilly where Noel and his older brother Gerhardt went, along with many other students from Hopevale.

I played football; 1st XV rugby, against Gerhardt in Year 12 and like the Pearson brothers learnt many valuable life skills at boarding school and nurtured old school tie contacts that I utilise today; doctors, lawyers, businessmen, academics and civic leaders.

If one was to take a quick head count of today’s Indigenous leaders who occupy responsible positions in the public and private sector, you would find the majority would credit their education qualifications to a private school background.

This is by no means an endorsement of the private sector over public sector schooling but it is merely an endorsement of them as a means to an end, where there is no public school education to senior level, as happens in some townships, or where the school standard is insufficient to meet an individual’s educational goals.

Those who criticise Noel Pearson the loudest should pay careful attention to Mahatma Ghandi’s profound words of wisdom: “A man is the sum of his actions, of what he has done, of what he can do, Nothing else.”