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'Practical reconciliation' ignores the problems of Indigenous identity.

By Patrick Dodson

26 January 2004 - Hopefully, at some time on the Australia Day long weekend most Australians would have reflected on what it means to be Australian. And although most non-Indigenous Australians are content with - indeed proud of - their national identity, the circumstances of Indigenous Australians allow no such easy certainty.

So what do Indigenous Australians have to reflect on? For one thing, that we remain the most marginalised and disadvantaged section of the nation. And 2004 looks like promising much the same.

Socially and economically, this has major consequences for all Australians. Where is the future for our children?

Children under 15 account for 40 per cent of the Indigenous population – an extremely young population profile compared with other Australians. Yet the majority of Indigenous children grow up in households with unemployed adults and where household incomes are low, and in communities where few adults have even part-time employment.

A wealthy First World nation enjoying unprecedented economic prosperity cannot hold its head high while continuing to ignore the plight of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged Australian children.

Problems in Aboriginal communities are not simply of Aboriginal peoples' making. They are contributed to by inept programs that cold-shoulder genuine dialogue between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people and turn an introspective focus on supervising Indigenous peoples' behaviour.

Public-sector control programs debilitate our communities by keeping Aboriginal people dependent, and are in serious need of a rethink.

These programs are meant to be partnerships with Aboriginal people and are supposed to build capacity and governance in their communities. They are really about conformity and compliance with mainstream objectives, and allow little accommodation of Aboriginal cultural and social values. They do not inform non-Indigenous Australians about Indigenous peoples' protocols or induce respect for them and their unique position as the first peoples of this land that we all share and love.

These values are subordinated to the continuing thrust of assimilation in this country, which tries to make us into something that we aren't and denies Indigenous aspirations to take responsibility for decisions Affecting our lives.

This new brand of assimilation is like SARS is to the 'flu. Every Australian citizen is entitled to equal access to health and education as a fundamental human right. Trading fundamental rights off as "practical reconciliation" means genuine reconciliation in Australia is not achievable because there's no dialogue. What is equally disturbing is that Aboriginal people have increasingly avoided articulating their concerns for fear of upsetting the government.

Aboriginal affairs policy must be about rebuilding Aboriginal nations, not just about populist campaigns, worthy as they may be. Violence, abuse, exploitation, drugs and excessive alcohol lead in any society - not just in ours - to a loss of quality of life, suffering, sadness and poverty - poverty in fact and poverty in spirit, resulting in despair.

No human being in the world would willingly desire such a life, and we Aboriginal people certainly do not. These things don't just happen by chance - there are causes for them being central to people's lives.

The complexity of Aboriginal affairs is that we must deal not only with abject daily lives but also with the rights of Indigenous people never being acknowledged and agreed. "Practical reconciliation" denies this complexity. Rather, it pulls the wool over middle Australia's eyes that the government is actually doing something.

Australia needs agreements about standard things like Indigenous education, job opportunities, service delivery, native title rights and how they are exercised and a co-operative notion of cultural heritage. There must be fundamental constitutional change in this country, and there must be a treaty.

This requires matching up Indigenous people's essential cultural and social value systems with those of Australian society broadly. It requires the broader society to consider how it is prepared to adapt and change to give Indigenous ways a distinct place in the shared life of Australia.

This does not threaten middle Australia. It would allow Aboriginal people to fully take up their responsibilities in ways consistent with their social, cultural and spiritual values and their obligations. It would enable us to take our rightful place as Australians in an Australia that prides itself upon its democracy, an identity of which we could all be proud, but which is yet, unfortunately, falsely assumed by most Australians.

What we are talking about here is the survival and sustainability of the world's oldest living continuous culture. It requires more than Indigenous people being assimilated into the middle classes. It takes political will and honest dialogue.

Patrick Dodson is chairman of the Lingiari Foundation.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

Australia Day: a celebration for some but sorrowful reflection for others

By Jackie Huggins

4 February 2004 - Australia Day means different things to different people and this is especially true for the First Australians.

For many Indigenous Australians 26 January is an occasion to reflect on past loss and suffering.

There are also people in the wider community who share these mixed feelings about our national day and they are keen to acknowledge that Australia Day evokes a variety of emotions.

Today, organisers of Australia Day events are more mindful of Indigenous heritage and culture, and of the continuing problems faced in Indigenous communities.

Our national day is an important annual opportunity to recognise the honoured place of Indigenous Australians in our nation·s history, and to promote understanding, respect and reconciliation.

It is also a time for each Australian to think about our identity, the many aspects of Australian life that give us pride and areas where we have the opportunity to make the nation stronger for the future.

These reflections are individual and special to each Australian.

Even when my dream of reconciliation comes true, Australia Day will still evoke mixed feelings.

My own feelings about the day do not reflect any lack of loyalty or commitment to Australia · quite the contrary. They are about very deep emotions I have about this country and my people, about great wrongs in our shared history, and important steps that need to be taken to make things right.

Each year on Australia Day, I take myself somewhere quiet where I can sit and think.

It·s a day of reflection and mourning, a time to think about what the invasion of their country meant for my ancestors, and on the terrible suffering that continues for many Indigenous Australians. It wouldn·t make any difference if the date of Australia Day changed · this is what the day represents for me.

It may seem strange that someone as optimistic as I am should use this day to focus on the negatives, but for one day each year I allow myself to think this way.

During the day, I feel overwhelmed by a wall of sorrow that doesn·t shift, a weight on my shoulders that doesn·t lift. I think about the ancestors, locked in chains and shunted to reserves and missions. I think about the harsh treatment they endured and of the great damage done to a community through intolerance.

It is right that people organising Australia Day events should invite Indigenous Australians to take part, but people generally understand when I refuse invitations. Nonetheless, I would encourage organisers of Australia Day events to acknowledge members of the local Indigenous community to take time to think and learn about the history we share as Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

Consider ways in which you can foster reconciliation in your community, and in your schools and workplaces. Where local events are held, acknowledge the local Indigenous community and the honoured place of the First Australians.

Even better, incorporate a special ceremony into local events which acknowledges injustices in our nation·s history.

For me, Australia Day isn't about fanfare and celebration.

On 26 January, I don·t listen to the radio or watch TV because I don·t want to share my space with anyone · even my son, who understands and accepts the way I feel.

I have spent Australia Day in the same way since I was a teenager, and as I get older my resolve to keep doing it is strengthened by the fact that this day is very personal for me and spending it the way I do is an important, symbolic act for me.

Jackie Huggins is Deputy Director of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Unit at the University of Queensland and co-chair of Reconciliation Australia.

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