Closing the Gap - ending Indigenous disadvantage

[nutbean 8,838]

TBH, I'd love to see a real leader advocate a vision for Australia with actual solutions to issues such as these.

good luck with that one....

[nutbean 8,838]

maybe the politicians bipartisanly could agree to setup a commission of sorts including prominent australians (but not current pollies) to spend the next 12 months developing a 25 year blueprint for the future and a roadmap to get there. That commission would then continue (for the 25 years) to monitor and advise and act as a sort of ombudsman separate from the politican side.

?

I am sure the chief ombudsman will have a fixed term of 5 years to ensure that that person is free from political interference...what a second ....

I love the idea but getting the politicians to agree bipartisanly on anything is a pipe dream - agreeing on a commission would be problematic let alone agreeing on the make up of the commission.

I do agree we need some sort of circuit breaker to snap us out of this current inability of politicians to constructively address large pressing issues. My despair is that I cannot see anyone on the political landscape with enough talent or vision to provide the breaker to produce those sort of outcomes.

[Dr John Dee 1,057]

I am sure the chief ombudsman will have a fixed term of 5 years to ensure that that person is free from political interference...what a second ....

I love the idea but getting the politicians to agree bipartisanly on anything is a pipe dream - agreeing on a commission would be problematic let alone agreeing on the make up of the commission.

I do agree we need some sort of circuit breaker to snap us out of this current inability of politicians to constructively address large pressing issues. My despair is that I cannot see anyone on the political landscape with enough talent or vision to provide the breaker to produce those sort of outcomes.

A small exaggeration, I suppose. The last big ticket item to get bipartisan support (albeit with a few grumbles from the then opposition about cost) was the NDIS. It's possible, but the number of issues on which either side can see some sort of political advantage in opposing what the other wants to do is growing all the time. By the end of this government's term I suspect your view will be an accurate enough description. And on Aboriginal affairs, something which for a while anyway there was a broadly bipartisan approach, it's probably now too late. Like Daisy, I want to hope it's not.

[Earl Hood 6,086]

I have a feeling the gap is about to get a lot bigger with Tony basically signing off on Barnett's policy to close down what some 150 indigenous communities on the bases that he has lost federal funding. And Tony basically signs off on the life style choice. Does this man actually have a soul, is he actually human? We dispossessed these people, moved them off their lands and shoved them onto reserves in the outback or outskirts of our society because we didn't want to have to look at the results of our actions. Now we say we can't afford to subsidise their reservations. But of course whatever small rights they have are linked to the land but Tony wants them to move back to where exactly? Regional towns, major cities? Where is the planning for that, the policies, the resources to facilitate this movement of people? Of course there is nothing in place because Tony is reacting to just another thought bubble he or someone else created yesterday.

With the sort of strategic thinking and planning displayed by this Government they would struggle to run a brothel operating just outside a US Military Base successfully.

[Grapeviney 9,715]

Nev Jetta, JKH and Heritier join the campaign on the closure of remote communities:

https://twitter.com/les_thomas/status/578335024996478977

The great irony in all this is that nearly 50 years ago Australia voted overwhelmingly to support the referendum which gave responsibility over Aboriginal affairs to the Commonwealth. Now, the Feds are effectively wiping their hands of the issue by passing it off to the states, while at the same time planning to use the 50th anniversary of that referendum for the next step in the reconciliation process - constitutional recognition. Given the current fracturing of relations, that goal is looking like a pipe-dream.

[daisycutter 29,610]

gv, putting aside the current political posturing.......

it seems to me that the viability of supporting 1000,s of remote indigenous communities with 21st century services and providing sustainable career and employment opportunities is well worthy of dialogue.

without some rationalisation, i can just see this consuming enormous amounts of money and still not providing some sort of sustainable future, equality and assimilation

maybe, i'm just being too simplistic....i'm certainly ignorant in this area, but i would love to see more progress

[Grapeviney 9,715]

gv, putting aside the current political posturing.......

it seems to me that the viability of supporting 1000,s of remote indigenous communities with 21st century services and providing sustainable career and employment opportunities is well worthy of dialogue.

without some rationalisation, i can just see this consuming enormous amounts of money and still not providing some sort of sustainable future, equality and assimilation

maybe, i'm just being too simplistic....i'm certainly ignorant in this area, but i would love to see more progress

Absolutely it's worthy of dialogue DC, but the quality of the debate - as with many areas in national affairs - is sorely lacking, and in this particular instance, the remote communities in question in WA say they're not being consulted, either by the WA or Commonwealth Governments.

The major question which needs to be asked if communities are to close is: what will happen to the residents?

It's not as if Aborigines living in urban areas are thriving; some leave the city for the bush to take their kids away from the drugs, violence etc.

On the other hand, some remote communities are beset by these problems, too.

To cut a short story long, I've got no idea what the answer is..

[Grapeviney 9,715]

The latest report card from the Productivity Commission shows little progress has been made in meeting targets to Close the Gap.

There's been improvement in child mortality rates, but life expectancy, access to pre-school, and literacy and numeracy rates are largely static, while employment is going backwards.

This analysis by Queensland law professor Megan Davis absolutely nails the deplorable state of Indigenous affairs policy and politics in modern Australia, and why the push for constitutional recognition - at least in its current form - could amount to little more than symbolic window-dressing.