Those in power make the decisions and those who don't agree are too afraid to speak up or stay quiet to keep the peace.Ĭonflicts over land ownership under Native Title could have been avoided (or at least reduced) if individual landowners had been identified when land was returned to Indigenous people.
#False notion definition code#
Could it be that government is consulting with the wrong people? But if that is the case, then who are the right people?Ī democratic process whereby everyone in the community gets a voice no matter how marginalised they are, is much superior to 'consensus' style decision making that is really code name for bullying. But who in the community is being consulted? Everyone or just those in power, with the strongest voices?Ĭommunities are endlessly 'consulted' about government programs but are rarely happy with the results. Report after report extols the need for greater 'community' control, engagement and consultation. The word 'community' is constantly used by government and those involved in Indigenous Affairs. This quite clearly demonstrates that not all remote Indigenous Australians are opposed to income management of the Intervention. When given the chance to come off income management (which included 7,877 people), a majority, of 59 per cent or 4,653 people chose to participate in voluntary income management. The latest Closing the Gap in the Northern Territory Monitoring Report shows that the additional policing provided under the Intervention was actually what three quarters of communities wanted. Bess Price and others have pointed out that this is not the case. Self appointed advocates for Indigenous rights, such as Susan Allan on the ' World Socialists Website' argue that Aboriginal 'communities' (and hence all Aboriginal people) are opposed to the Northern Territory Intervention. The fact that so many people think it is different for Aboriginal people and hold a romantic view of Indigenous 'communities' is testament of our exoticism of an Indigenous 'other'. Anyone who has spent Christmas Day crowded into a holiday home with extended family realises that close living quarters and relatives can be a recipe for disaster. It is bizarre that people consider Indigenous communities to be homogenous. The stratification is apparent in the position and condition of the public dwellings that people occupy and the 'job' title they hold.
The divisions are particularly noticeable between those who wield the power and are acknowledged traditional owners and those on the outer, who are not. Even in remote outstations, where the average population is 50-100 and people have strong familial ties, there are still differences of opinion and sharp divides. Remote Indigenous settlements are called communities for want of a better word. The notion of an 'Indigenous community' where everyone lives in harmony with one another and has similar views on things is an artificial construct. Last week Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda acknowledged that the shortcomings of Native Title contribute to in-fighting within Aboriginal communities.
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