Billions spent but gap persists
CRITICS OF CALLS TO “CLOSE THE GAP” FEEL NOT ENOUGH EFFORT IS BEING MADE FROM THE ABORIGINAL SIDE
IT is said the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, and that certainly seems the case regarding the so-called Stolen Generation.
But there is also evidence that the real “Hell” was what awaited some kids in remote areas if they weren’t taken from their parents.
Australia has just marked 10 years since the apology to Aborigines taken from their families to be raised in Christian missions and orphanages.
It is right to say sorry for what happened but more like how you’d say “sorry” to someone grieving a dead loved one. There is a backlash from non-Aboriginal Australians for being made to feel responsible for what happened, and for perceptions that the apology has neither been accepted nor been a spur for improved Aboriginal outcomes.
The anniversary coincided with a report on “Closing the Gap” initiatives which showed four of the seven main goals to address Aboriginal disadvantage were “not on track” despite an eye-watering $130 billion being spent on them.
Spending that for not even a pass mark is appalling, but while some Aboriginal leaders applaud the initiative, it’s almost inevitably followed by calls for even more money.
There have been demands the government address a housing shortage because of cultural issues that when a person passes away the family goes to live with another family.
Some people would say more focus must be put on changing the culture than on building more houses that are going to be left empty as soon as someone dies in them.
Whoever came up with the term “The Stolen Generation” deserves an international marketing award.
We hear sad tales of families being torn apart, but is it fair to tar all child removals as bad? Especially when there are an estimated 17,000 indigenous children in foster care today?
Reports from “Aboriginal Protectors” of Far North Queensland about 1900 paint a grim picture of rampant slavery and sexual slavery, abject pov- erty, unchecked venereal disease, violence, dysfunction and exploitation perpetrated on Aboriginal children.
According to one report, half-caste girls were prized by unscrupulous frontiersmen buying or renting them from Aboriginal and white pimps.
Incidentally, half-caste kids featured heavily in the ranks of children “stolen” by the authorities.
In 1900, Far North Aboriginal Protectors were trying to stop rogue men stealing women, girls and boys to use as forced brides and forced labour.
A protector in Cooktown in 1901, Dr Walter Roth, not only recommended some children be sent to missions to protect them from these men, he said some should not be sent away because they were in stable homes.
The motivation for removal – at least back then – was not sinister, and driven mostly by a desire to give children the best possible chance away from the hellholes in the camps.
The reasons Roth gave for removal included: “mother has incurable syphilis”; and “found in a bad state of nourishment”. One 22-year-old woman even wrote to the police asking to be placed in a mission station.
If life in the camps was judged to be so bad back then, why are we still raising the same concerns today?
More than 120 years later, we’re still hearing of venereal disease, child molestation and violence in the communities.
And one wonders if today we would be hearing complaints of neglect if authorities did not intervene back then to get the kids out.
Critics of calls to “Close the Gap” feel not enough effort is being made from the Aboriginal side.
Basic measures such as sending kids to school, going to a doctor, not doing drugs, leading healthier lifestyles and not breaking the law seem like very achievable goals.
And if that isn’t happening – even after all the billions spent on education, intervention and apologising – we should be asking more serious questions of the help’s recipients than of the givers.
Aboriginal Alice Springs councillor Jacinta Price says there should be a “Forgiveness Day” to acknowledge the reconciliation efforts of non-Aboriginal Australians.
Resistance to this feeds a victim culture that blames others for individual failings.
But if you forgive the past, you forfeit your victimhood, and that is proving to be the hardest hurdle to clear.