Australia's Sorry Indigenous Policy

You may have seen news last week about some new policy developments from my enlightened country of origin!

See below for a letter I sent to one of the leading Australian newspapers (apparently the Australian media doesn't like publishing my letters, so I have to publish them myself).

Also, see this article for Indigenous reaction.

Indigenous policy: the source of political will matters

We do need strong political will to address problems in Indigenous Australia, particularly problems as evil as child abuse. If individual, family and community regeneration is the goal, then that political will (and control) needs to come from Aboriginal people themselves not decrees from Canberra.

As an Australian working for the peak Indigenous policy organization in the US, I am flabbergasted by the Howard government’s ongoing pursuit of failed paternalism. Child abuse in Aboriginal Australia is the activity of people who have lost hope. How can Aboriginal people regain hope and future orientation if the Howard government repeatedly removes control from Aboriginal leaders and imposes draconian policy from on high?

The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development has briefed the Howard Government on a range of issues. I wish they would listen to them when they say “The identifiable cases of sustained progress in addressing the problems of families and children … are marked by being (Indigenous) -driven.”

When will we have an Australian government with the political will to give Aboriginal people meaningful control to address the problems faced by their communities?

Peter Morris, Washington, DC