ABC Radio National 'Perspective'
29 July 2004

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/perspective/stories/s1164813.htm

Reader: Phil Glendenning,
ANTaR National President.

HOWARD’S “FAIR AND DECENT” VISION BLIND TO RECONCILIATION

Last week's sorry spectacle of the Prime Minister forced to hastily reinstate reconciliation to the work of the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs illustrates a major credibility problem for the Howard Government - the Australian people simply don't believe they are committed to reconciliation.

Instead its actions reveal the Howard Government's preoccupation with thwarting the aspirations of Indigenous Australians to gain recognition of their rights and identity as Indigenous peoples.

For example, Mr Howard's unilateral rejection of the final recommendations of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, which were the product of a decade-long, inclusive, bi-partisan process.

Or his Government's attack on native title following the High Court's Wik decision, delivering 'bucket loads of extinguishment' for Indigenous Australians but an enhancement of the rights of non-Indigenous landholders.

Or his refusal to offer a national apology to the stolen generations and the claims of his then Aboriginal Affairs minister, Senator Herron, that the stolen generations didn't really exist, which politicised and trivialised the trauma suffered by those affected by removal policies.

Similarly, the government’s silence on the issue of stolen wages.

The most recent example of the Government's preoccupation is the abolishing of ATSIC and with it independent Indigenous representation and involvement in policy and service delivery, and a return to mainstream delivery and appointed 'advisors'.

These actions mark a paternalistic return to assimilation policies, to a time when there was no seat at the table for Indigenous Australians. They are attempts to dictate the terms of the relationship.

The belated and inadequate, albeit welcome 15 million dollars over four years to the national reconciliation body, Reconciliation Australia, announced recently, and promises of better service coordination through the Council of Australian Governments process, do little to counter this conclusion.

Equal rights for all, not special rights for some', is Mr Howard's mantra, neglecting that in societies characterised by difference and inequality, 'equal rights for all' equates to continuing discrimination against those already disadvantaged and marginalised; and those, such as Indigenous Australians, who have unique rights and interests not shared by others in society.

Howard's idea of 'equal rights' is a recipe for entrenching inequality.

And we have stark evidence for this in the Howard Government's own record. After nearly eight years, it's mainstream 'practical reconciliation' approach has failed to stem the entrenched and mounting crisis in Indigenous communities. Indigenous disadvantage has worsened.

Aboriginal life expectancy is 20 years shorter than for non-Indigenous Australians, and well below Third World standards - a person from Nigeria or Bangladesh can expect to live about ten years longer than an Indigenous Australian. Canada, New Zealand and the US, however, have all managed to significantly improve Indigenous life expectancy over the past 25 years. In quality of life terms, UN data rates the life of Australian Aborigines as the second worst on the planet.

The 97.4% of non-Indigenous people in Australia should be alarmed and ashamed about this but the truth is being swamped.

People think far more health dollars are spent on Indigenous people. In fact, despite illness levels triple those of other Australians, the government still spends less per capita on Indigenous Australians - 74c for every $1 spent on the rest of the population! One percent of the national health budget goes to Aboriginal health - for 2.4% of the population.

Australia spends over $60 billion annually on health. In 2003, the AMA estimated that the additional funding required to achieve equitable health outcomes for Indigenous people amounts to just half of 1% of this total expenditure - or one week's defence spending.

We're talking about the fundamental rights to health that other Australians take for granted. This is not about the failings of ATSIC, which has been shamelessly used as a scapegoat for government failure and to mask the Government's political agenda. ATSIC got 15% of the money and 100% of the blame.

216 years of history shows paternalism doesn't work. Evidence shows that full Indigenous involvement in decision-making, strengthening of Indigenous governance, and accountability of mainstream departments are essential to conquering Indigenous disadvantage. None of these pre-conditions have been achieved to date.

The decision to abandon an Indigenous representative voice will only compound the problem.

The decision is consistent, however, with the Howard Government's blocking of prospects for greater recognition and protection of Indigenous cultures and rights, and resistance to fundamental change in the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

The Australian public wants to see genuine Reconciliation but realise this cannot be achieved under John Howard's dead hand of paternalism.

Those who walked over the bridges in 2000, the one million who signed the Sorry Books, the half a million supporters of ANTaR’s Sea of Hands, and the Indigenous peoples of Australia want a leadership that

• genuinely and sincerely negotiates with Indigenous peoples, and
• does not relegate Indigenous Affairs to the back corner of the Immigration Department.

Indigenous people and the whole nation deserve and need better than this.