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First the wages were stolen, now justice has been lost

By Dr William Jonas AM

4 December 2002 - What would you do if the government decided that after you had paid tax you could only have 30% of your income and they would look after the rest for you? What if thirty years later they offered you $4000 or $2000 as compensation and said that if you accept it and promise not to take them to court they will also say sorry for any harm caused?

This is what is happening right now to many Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders in Queensland. On 20 November 2002 the Queensland Premier and the Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy announced that the government would proceed with its offer of $4000 or $2000 (depending on age) for all Indigenous people who had their wages and savings controlled by former Queensland governments under legislation and administrative practices in place until the 1970s.

The government describes the offer as 'historic' and made 'in the spirit of reconciliation, to acknowledge the injustices of the past and ease the resulting pain that has been suffered'.

The offer is indeed historic. It is often said that history is written by the 'winners' and that is no more so than in this case. The government's offer will long be remembered as the moment at which an apparently well-intentioned government declared that the Indigenous peoples of Queensland were in fact the victims of more than a century of labour exploitation and control.

It will also be remembered as the moment at which that government ensured the continuation of that history by cynically exploiting the poverty and marginalisation of affected individuals (the offer is described by the Minister as a once only 'take it or leave it' one) in order to declare the matter closed, and ultimately to confirm that Indigenous peoples did indeed lose.

The exploitation of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders under so-called protection acts is one of the greatest industrial scandals in Australian history. The discriminatory wage rates and control of wages that was endured by Indigenous people over the greater part of the past century would never have been tolerated if they related to non-Indigenous people.

Indeed I would take this further. The past treatment of Indigenous people is similar to the practices of sweat-shops in the third world today. Ask yourself, if tomorrow¹s papers (or Naomi Klein) revealed controls on worker¹s wages in developing countries in order to make our favourite brand of sneakers how would you react? If the sneaker company said that it would make a one off payment to past workers in the spirit of reconciliation would we not be outraged by their cynical exploitation?

This is what is actually happening with the stolen wages issue. Government has controlled people¹s wages, giving them only 'pocket money' to live on and docking their wages for any deemed bad behaviour. It is suggested that many Indigenous people never received all of their own money. The government now seeks to give a pittance of that money back and calls it reconciliation.

What is clear is that it is a reconciliation of the Government¹s finances. The amount offered is based purely on what will balance the Queensland government's budget. The government has admitted as much. It is not based on any criteria of entitlement or any assessment of what Indigenous people are actually owed.

To make matters worse, the Government possesses all the relevant documents which might indicate to Indigenous people what they are in fact owed. Some of these records probably no longer exist. For those that do, Indigenous people have been assured by the government that they will get access to the records if they request them ­it just might take longer than the timeframe in which they will be required to accept or reject the offer of $2000 or $4000. So much for making an informed decision, and so much for the government making a gesture of reconciliation in good faith.

The amount offered by the government - $55.4m total for over 16,000 people could also be described as a pittance or even as 'pocket money'. The government has shown with a number of issues ­ offers of individual payments of $50,000 to teachers who choose early retirement for example that where there is a will the money can be found.

What is more offensive than this selective approach is the fact that to date no Queensland government has actually accounted for the money that they took from Indigenous peoples. Offering a lump sum of $2000 or $4000 is seen as easier than working out how much money the government actually owes and hence should repay to individuals.

I have made a number of statements in recent months criticising the content of the Queensland government¹s offer, as well as expressing major concerns about the process through which they 'consulted' with Indigenous communities about it. A number of these issues remain of concern as the government rolls out its offer to communities.

The caution that I would send to all Indigenous communities across the state in light of the decision of the government to go ahead with its reparations offer is simply this: beware governments bearing gifts.

You should ensure that you are offered independent legal advice as to the consequences of accepting the government's offer. Beware government people (or those representing them) telling you that they are only providing you with information about the offer when they may in fact be selling it to you. It is after all paying you back for all the years that you worked for 'pocket money'.

And finally, a question for the broader community: If this happened to you, what would you expect the rest of the community to do and say about it? What will you say about it now?

Dr William Jonas AM is the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner.

Source: National Indigenous Times

Further information: stolen wages issues page - includes news index and external links

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