An interview with Gary Foley: history will judge Howard's reforms

“We are North Queenslanders, but often we are specifically people of Cape York Peninsula.”

Pearson, director of the Cape York Institute, has remained effectively silent on the government’s universal reforms, despite the fact they neglect the complex “layers of identity”. Admittedly Pearson’s essay relates only to the area of the Cape York, but extrapolating his theory beyond the Cape York would be extremely valuable.

With Mal Brough and John Howard using Noel Pearson as a poster boy for their political ends, his hesitance to openly criticise the government suggests reluctant consent. The potential for Aboriginal communities to benefit is too good an opportunity to pass up, so Pearson is in an awful position for an “authority” on such issues.

Foley, on the other hand, believes Pearson and his “band of cheerleaders” have misunderstood Aboriginal societies to begin with. In fact, the problem is not part of any social issue that government or Pearson may think.

“If you see it as a simple social problem, then you will never solve it and you will never understand it. It’s a historical and political problem”.

Granted, no solution would be without its controversy, but Foley’s pledge to history may be a valid one, particularly because it is somewhat trivialised in the current debate.

Eleven years of Howard’s inaction, or 150 years of disastrous government policy, cannot be forgotten amid the apprehension of one government initiative that aims to help Aborigines; a government initiative that, according to Foley, will, like its predecessors leave an undesirable legacy.

“You look at the whole history of Australia, the whole history of Australia is full of this sort of stuff, and the reason you’ve got that problem there now, is that every single government plan that involved imposing things on Koori communities has failed. Every single one, there is not one success story.”

And this, in Foley’s eyes, is what has given rise to what is known as the “Aboriginal industry”.

“If every Aboriginal person dropped dead tonight, there would be two million white fellas on the dole tomorrow. Such is the extent of the Aboriginal industry. These are the white fellas that (sic) have career paths that are purportedly helping us. Most of the money that’s spent goes straight into white pockets.

“We are talking about $35,000 million since 1972, if money had been given straight to the Aboriginal people, we’d be millionaires, and there would be no problem. But how would that help the people that depend upon our suffering for their career paths.”

Though it is equally problematic to put taxpayer money directly into the pockets of Aborigines; this is not what Foley is advocating.