Issues and agendas to push

If I did have any trepidation about the specific goals of the Indigenous session it would be that it is narrow in scope with an over emphasis on issues pertaining to the Northern Territory, Cape York Peninsula and remote communities generally.

The majority of Indigenous Australians living in rural and urban areas were overlooked by the previous government - loss of CDEP (work for the dole) and CHIP (housing) to name a few programs - with the money being redirected into the above mentioned areas.

I hope that we will not be overlooked by the new Labor administration when they sit down to carve up the Indigenous financial pie during budgetary deliberations in the coming months.

While not wanting to detract from the urgency of the plight of our Indigenous brothers and sisters in those communities it is necessary for governments, and the media, to be reminded from time to time that Indigenous people do live in greater numbers south of the boomerang-shaped line that runs from Townsville across to Port Hedland and loops down to include Alice Springs.

In fact the 2001 ABS figures show that 8.8 per cent of our population lives in remote areas and 17.7 per cent live in very remote areas. Add in an additional 5 per cent for the communities not identified as remote or very remote, above the boomerang line, including the cities of Darwin, Cairns and Townsville and you still only have a total population base of no more than 31.5 per cent.

In reality we’re talking about less than a third of the Indigenous population receiving two thirds of the budget and as much as 95 per cent of the headlines from the national media.

We’re all very aware of the old saying that the squeaky wheel gets the most oil - and thanks to the media no one would argue that the squeak in the Indigenous wheel has certainly been heard the loudest above the boomerang line in recent years.

We, as a discrete race of people, are today a product of old experimental social programs that have failed us dismally and are clearly evident in the social indicators produced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The social indicators speak for themselves: of a population of 458,500 we’re dying 18 years younger than our non-Indigenous counterparts (men at 59 and women at 65); cardiovascular diseases (heart diseases, strokes) are 2.2 and 3.0 per cent higher than non-Indigenous people for women and men respectively, mental health problems affect 30 per cent of our population; and hospitalisations recorded for injury due to assault were 7 and 13 times higher for Indigenous males and females respectively - just to name a few.

Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission has identified poverty as the main link to poor health. For example:

• poor education and literacy are linked to poor health status, and affect the capacity of people to use health information;
• poorer income reduces the accessibility of health care services and medicines;
• overcrowding and run-down housing is associated with poverty and contributes to the spread of communicable disease;
• poor infant diet is associated with poverty and chronic diseases later in life; and
• smoking and high-risk behaviour is associated with lower socio-economic status.

Research has also demonstrated that poorer people also have less financial and other forms of control over their lives.

I believe the number one goal for the 2020 Forum Indigenous delegates is to come up with concrete strategies to address the issue of Indigenous poverty.

As delegates warm to the challenge of the forum I implore them to be practical in their goal setting and to show compassion for their people in much the same way as Dr Kelvin Kong demonstrated on being identified as Australia’s first Aboriginal surgeon: “The ideal day will be when it's not special - when there are thousands of Indigenous doctors.”