More than a whiff of Hanson in Liberals' indigenous policy
Comment by Natalie Zirngast
DARWIN — Attuned to the unpopularity of its anti-Aboriginal policies, yet conscious of its need to satisfy its big business backers, the Liberal Party's policy on indigenous people, cynically called "Beyond Welfare", is short on detail but clearly similar to Pauline Hanson's policies on Aboriginal issues.
Launching the policy here on September 23, federal Aboriginal affairs minister John Herron refused to answer some questions, including about possible further Liberal attacks on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission.
Hanson has been very vocal in her opposition to ATSIC, and while the Liberals avoided stating their policy on the future of ATSIC, the implications of their policies do not bode well.
In response to questions about whether some services administered by ATSIC would be "mainstreamed" — handed over to other government departments — Herron said, "I cannot commit any government through any decision that I make".
In Hanson's September 24 launch of One Nation's health policy, she refers to the need to mainstream Aboriginal health services under the control of the health department. Programs to redress the gross inequalities between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal health would be abolished.
The Howard government has announced some increases in funding for Aboriginal health services, but Aboriginal health remains funded on a lower per-capita basis than for non-Aboriginal Australians. There needs to be far greater funding, under the principles of affirmative action, to bring Aboriginal health in line with the rest of the population.
Herron's statement that "naturally ATSIC will remain the government's principal source of advice in indigenous matters" did not clarify his government's plans for ATSIC's future.
His assertion that "[indigenous] program funding will, where practical, be allocated on the basis of open tender, thus ensuring that service delivery is undertaken by the most efficient and effective provider" echoes the government's statements during the privatisation of the Commonwealth Employment Service.
The fear that ATSIC's services will be privatised has been expressed by various Aboriginal groups. They are worried that such a move will flow from the government's constant questioning ATSIC's "accountability".
ATSIC leaders questioned the Liberals' proposal to establish a new organisation called Indigenous Business Australia. Chairperson Gatjil Djerrkura said this would be "yet another bureaucracy". The IBA would amalgamate the business programs currently administered by ATSIC with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commercial Development Corporation.
Using a pitch which sounds disturbingly similar to US president Bill Clinton's justification for slashing welfare, Herron spoke of ending the "welfare dependency" of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders.
He attacked the ALP's record in government, claiming that even after it spent $16 billion, "60% of indigenous people remain dependent on welfare".
The hypocrisy is this charge is hard to believe following the range, speed and severity of attacks the Coalition has launched against indigenous people over the past two and a half years. The racist climate it has helped whip up has reduced further Aboriginal people's opportunities for employment, and caused a corresponding increase in welfare dependency.
Herron announced a $40 million extension to the project to use the army to provide essential services, such as electricity, clean water and sewerage, to Aboriginal communities. ATSIC would be expected to contribute half of the funding.
While some Aboriginal people will be involved in the construction and maintenance of these facilities, this money would be better spent on creating real full-time jobs, with paid training, to provide these services.
The Liberals' strategy to "solve" the massive levels of unemployment in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities is simply to confirm its work for the dole program, the Community Development Employment Program, which currently "employs" around 30,000 indigenous people.
The government's work for the dole and similar slave labour schemes are no alternative to a real jobs with decent wages, or to welfare. While some participants might express their appreciation of having something to do, such schemes reinforce the idea that the unemployed are responsible for their own plight and should be grateful for anything.
It's not surprising that Hanson has been able to express and find a hearing for her racist views, because the Howard government's policies for indigenous Australians have much in common with Hanson's positions.
Howard and Herron assert that their amendments to native title legislation provide "a fair and workable solution that rectifies many of the problems in the previous unworkable act". In fact, this legislation denies the majority of land claims by Aboriginal communities.
In many other areas concerning indigenous people, too, both Coalition and ALP governments have a very poor record. They have consistently failed to take serious action to stop black deaths in custody, attacked land rights and blamed Aboriginal people for their own poverty.
Indigenous Australians deserve much better.
[Natalie Zirngast is the Democratic Socialists' candidate for the seat of Northern Territory.]