Page 27 - Indiginous Australians

Mary Alp
suffered by many Indigenous Australians; the many inappropriate government
policies; the lack of meaningful government consultation with Aboriginal people;
& the rise of Indigenous Australian nationalism; we see why & how Aboriginal
voices were & are calling for the end of the ongoing injustices handed down from
colonization. Self-determination - the need to be able to control their own future
-to implement healing in ways they think appropriate- is fundamental to their
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treaty, & truth telling . Again the government’s position is different from the
Indigenous people in its call for constitutional recognition. This difference between the two methods is well summed up by Hobbs who states -‘In essence, the problem with constitutional recognition is a disconnect between the federal government & Indigenous aspirations. While the government gently pushes for symbolic acknowledgement & minor constitutional tinkering, Indigenous people want more. They want meaningful reform that will impact their daily lives. This is
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success.
treaty that acknowledges their history. We see this desire for a treaty expressed in the 2017 ‘Uluru Statement from the heart’ where Aboriginal consensus called for constitutional reform that included three things - a voice in parliament, a
Cultural revival & restoration of respect & identity are closely tied to a
why they are attracted to the promise of treaties.’
see the governments positions as symbolic – as Lowitja O’Donoghue states– ‘reconciliation will not work if it puts a higher value on symbolic gestures rather than practical needs ...in areas of health, housing education & employment’.- We have heard the federal government’s speeches & apologies (Hawke, Keating & Rudd) and know about the federal government’s caveat on much of Native Title land & the tenuous situation of the culturally important Homelands Movement. While the federal government continues its refusal of a treaty, the state governments have started a treaty process with their Indigenous people. These include WA in 2015; SA in 2016; NT in 2018; Victoria in 2019 & Queensland in 2019. It is now 3 years since the Uluru statement. It is interesting to see that the Uluru statement was addressed to the Australian population & not the federal
. The Indigenous Australians
116 Oxfam, 2017,’6 Quotes that show why Indigenous leaders should be in charge of Indigenous policy’.
117 The Guardian 2017,’Uluru talks: Indigenous Australians reject ‘symbolic recognition in favour of treaty’; ACAAma radio 2019,’Update on progress of the Uluru Statement from the Heart’
118 The conversation 2016 ‘Will treaties with Indigenous Australians overtake constitutional recognition
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