tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/aboriginals-4439/articlesAboriginals – The Conversation2024-02-13T03:52:15Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2234442024-02-13T03:52:15Z2024-02-13T03:52:15ZNew commissioner will focus on vexed issue of Indigenous children in out-of-home care<p>A national commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children will be established by the Albanese government, an initiative long sought by Indigenous advocates. </p>
<p>The commissioner will especially focus on the vexed issue of the high proportion of children in out-of-home care. Indigenous children are almost 11 times more likely to be in out-of-home care than non-Indigenous children. </p>
<p>Delivering the 2023 Closing the Gap Annual Report and the 2024 Implementation Plan, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told parliament: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The National Commissioner will be dedicated to protecting and promoting the rights, interests and wellbeing of First Nations children and young people, as well as calling on their strengths, sense of hope, and ideas for change.</p>
<p>The Commissioner will address the unacceptable rates of out-of-home care. What it all comes down to is strengthening families and keeping children safe.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The government also announced <a href="https://theconversation.com/albanese-government-commits-707-million-for-3-000-jobs-for-indigenous-people-in-remote-australia-223336">$707 million for a new remote jobs program</a> to deliver 3000 jobs, and initiatives and funding for remote training hubs in Central Australia, justice policy partnerships, Wifi services in remote communities and an expansion of the junior rangers program.</p>
<p>Asked whether the funding announced is new or old money, the government said the jobs and justice commitments were new dollars, with the Wifi and training from existing funds.</p>
<p>Albanese said after then-prime minister Kevin Rudd’s Apology to the Stolen Generations 16 years ago, only 11 out of 19 socioeconomic outcomes for Indigenous people were improving. “Just four are on track to meet their targets,” he said.</p>
<p>“What should give us pause is that outcomes have worsened for four critical targets – children’s early development, rates of children in out-of-home care, rates of adult imprisonment, and tragically suicide.” (This is from the Productivity Commission mid last year.)</p>
<p>He said the debate before the Voice referendum had “brought into sharp focus the disadvantage and inequality” of Ingenious people.</p>
<p>“This government remains determined to move reconciliation forward and seek better results for Indigenous Australians.”</p>
<p>Albanese indicated the government was still committed to treaty and truth telling which, with a Voice, were key elements of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. But he did not indicate how it would pursue them, saying simply “As we take the time needed to get Makaratta and truth-telling right, the work of treaty goes on at a state and territory level. There will be a diversity of processes, reflecting the diversity of First Nations across the continent.”</p>
<p>Albanese stressed the importance of listening to Indigenous people. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Canberra must be willing to share power with communities. To offer responsibility and ownership and self-determination. To let local knowledge design programs, to trust locals to deliver them and to listen to locals when they tell us what’s working and what isn’t.</p>
<p>That’s a culture change we have to drive – in this [parliament house] building, in the public service and across governments at all levels.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Opposition leader Peter Dutton again urged a royal commission into the sexual abuse of children in Indigenous communities. </p>
<p>Dutton, replying to the PM, said the findings of such an inquiry “would certainly support the work of this national commissioner”.</p>
<p>Dutton called for the specifics of the jobs program. “From which sectors, industries and employers will these jobs come? What infrastructure is or will be put in place to support these jobs?”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223444/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Delivering the Closing the Gap annual report, the prime minister has announced a national commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children among other measures.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1769752022-03-14T12:21:20Z2022-03-14T12:21:20ZSettler colonialism helps explain current events in Xinjiang and Ukraine – and the history of Australia and US, too<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450748/original/file-20220308-23-65clzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Demonstration for the rights of the Uyghurs in Berlin, 2020.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Demonstration_for_the_rights_of_the_Uyghurs_in_Berlin_2020-01-19_09.jpg">Leonhard Lenz, Wikimedia Commons </a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Global flashpoints, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Chinese actions in Xinjiang, share a common background: a previous history of invasion and occupation. </p>
<p>The northwestern region of Xinjiang, for example, became an autonomous region under <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Xinjiang-Chinas-Muslim-Borderland/Starr/p/book/9780765613189">Chinese rule in 1955</a>. Officially known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, this mainly Turkic, Muslim area is viewed by the Chinese as a <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02634937.2018.1534801">possible threat</a> to China’s security and territorial integrity. </p>
<p>The government in Beijing <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24364952">encouraged mass migration</a> of Han Chinese into Xinjiang, which fomented resentment among the local Uyghur people. After clashes in 2009 that caused more than 200 deaths and a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/25/islamist-china-tiananmen-beijing-attack">2013 terrorist attack</a> in Tiananmen Square, the Chinese cracked down with aggressive policing and <a href="https://theconversation.com/i-researched-uighur-society-in-china-for-8-years-and-watched-how-technology-opened-new-opportunities-then-became-a-trap-119615">extreme surveillance</a>. Hundreds of thousands of <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/24/hrw-china-targets-uighurs-with-more-prosecutions-prison-terms">Uyghurs have been jailed</a>, more than 1 million detained in “<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-22278037">reeducation camps</a>,” and China has been accused of <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/is-china-committing-genocide-against-the-uyghurs-180979490/">genocide</a>. </p>
<p>These tactics of invasion and occupation can also be seen in the way 250,000 Russians moved to Crimea after it was <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2020/03/17/crimea-six-years-after-illegal-annexation/">annexed in 2014</a>.</p>
<p>Academics sometimes refer to these tactics as “<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03086534.2013.768099">settler colonialism</a>.” As a strategy of subjugation, it has many historical precedents and it provides an important lens for understanding geopolitics in various parts of today’s world. </p>
<h2>Two types of empire</h2>
<p>History is studded with empires. Broadly speaking, there are two types. </p>
<p>British rule in India exemplifies an empire of control, where imperialists extract wealth and resources without large-scale emigration from the colonizing country. The importation of the wealth of India, especially its textiles, was an essential requirement of Britain’s <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2598220">Industrial Revolution</a>.</p>
<p>There are also empires of settlement that occupy colonial territories by moving in large numbers of settlers. Across the world, especially in the lightly settled open grasslands of Australia and the Americas, the original inhabitants were <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/18380743.2013.771761">displaced and marginalized</a> as their homeland was taken by treaty, sale, guile and theft. </p>
<p>The process often involved brute force or ethnic cleansing as land was seized and handed over to immigrants. In Australia, the British justified colonization by declaring the continent “<a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=4Lp_zzaVl7gC&oi=fnd&pg=PA121&dq=+land+rights+Australia&ots=n8SHLeMQ02&sig=enu8gL4dgOqpB5UDyrFKXi_I1to#v=onepage&q=land%20rights%20Australia&f=false">terra nullius</a>” – that is, empty and uninhabited. </p>
<p>Settler colonies were used to safeguard the edges of empires. A <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/705117">policy used by the Qing dynasty</a> (1644-1912) that moved ethnic Chinese settlers into recently captured territory is still used today in <a href="https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/23624/9789048544905.pdf?sequence=1#page=518">Tibet</a> and <a href="https://www.manchesterhive.com/view/9781526153128/9781526153128.00007.xml">Xinjiang</a>. Both imperial Russia and the former Soviet Union encouraged citizens to settle border regions, so today at least <a href="https://hcommons.org/deposits/item/hc:44413/">20% of the population of Ukraine</a> is ethnic Russian. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450757/original/file-20220308-25-p0jl7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="people dressed in winter coats carry their belongings through the snow, with a destroyed bridge in the background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450757/original/file-20220308-25-p0jl7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450757/original/file-20220308-25-p0jl7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450757/original/file-20220308-25-p0jl7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450757/original/file-20220308-25-p0jl7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450757/original/file-20220308-25-p0jl7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450757/original/file-20220308-25-p0jl7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450757/original/file-20220308-25-p0jl7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Civilians continue to flee from Irpin because of ongoing Russian attacks in Irpin, Ukraine on March 8, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/civilians-continue-to-flee-from-irpin-due-to-ongoing-news-photo/1239025598">Emin Sansar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Settler colonialism</h2>
<p>Many settler empires rose in the 18th and 19th centuries and continued well into the 20th century. In Africa, for example, settler societies were established by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00083968.2018.1429868">the British in Kenya</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00083968.2018.1429868">the French in Algeria</a> and the Dutch in <a href="https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315544816-25">South Africa</a>.</p>
<p>The colonists who moved in, often in large numbers, were typically white Europeans who took control over the land, lives and economy of Indigenous peoples. There were exceptions, though. In <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=KiglDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA215&dq=settler+colonialism+Liberia&ots=FC-bOo_rLT&sig=wKbbbTg5R0gNm6u_cMxtqNJMIc8#v=onepage&q=settler%20colonialism%20Liberia&f=false">Liberia</a>, Black Americans settled in the land of Black Africans; in <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=4gxmDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=settler+colonialism+israel&ots=9cEJ4hYVFP&sig=REiAPCcCH-XhlnziblfvwjlVgtc#v=onepage&q=settler%20colonialism%20israel&f=false">Israel</a>, mainly Jewish immigrants took over the land of Arab populations; and in <a href="https://brill.com/view/journals/gr2p/13/1/article-p9_9.xml">China</a>, the majority Han people moved into non-Han areas.</p>
<p>My research into the interactions between <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=DQvhwDsXDVsC&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=John+Rennie+Short+cartographic+encounters&ots=SP3tSTaJHY&sig=rlsFbXCwPg2ZGIR3pmhCHUuBR9w#v=onepage&q=John%20Rennie%20Short%20cartographic%20encounters&f=false">Indigenous people and European settlers in North America</a> and resistance to cultural integration by an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00045608.2011.583576">Indigenous art movement in central Australia</a> has offered me a different way to view history. Looking at the past through a lens of settler colonialism substantially changes how we view histories of many countries, including <a href="https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429433733">Australia</a>, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40388468">Canada</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0242-8_71-1">New Zealand</a>, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=6P00EAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=settler+colonialism+South+Africa&ots=w7hs3O2qQU&sig=2BOHtgf2j-tWBfNnrL4VxXpYtp8#v=onepage&q=settler%20colonialism%20South%20Africa&f=false">South Africa</a> and the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132515613166">U.S</a>. </p>
<h2>Today’s issues, viewed through a colonial lens</h2>
<p>Most settler societies are steeped in a prejudiced history in which racial categories define who has power. One strategy has been to make full citizenship available only to settlers and their offspring. Some of the more extreme examples include racialized rule in South Africa that created brutal apartheid and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0020872819870585">traumatized generations</a> of aboriginal Australians. </p>
<p>There is also a long history of child abuse, with Indigenous children taken from their homes to be assimilated into settler society. Emerging evidence of these practices, including those experienced by <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/12/14/1064081667/canada-pledges-40-billion-abuses-indigenous-children">Indigenous children in Canada’s residential schools</a>, is helping to rewrite the history books from the Indigenous – rather than just from the settler – perspective.</p>
<p>By restricting immigration, some countries – including Australia, Canada and the U.S., among others – have tried to maintain their racial or ethnic identities and their power. Many of these <a href="http://www.beacon.org/Not-A-Nation-of-Immigrants-P1641.aspx">policies</a> were weakened only in recent years.</p>
<p>[<em>More than 150,000 readers get one of The Conversation’s informative newsletters.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-150K">Join the list today</a>.]</p>
<p>But in acts of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00045608.2011.583576">amazing resilience</a>, Indigenous societies have resisted cultural assimilation, political marginalization and economic insecurity. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451460/original/file-20220310-19-mx38c1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Horse-drawn carriages are scattered across a deep and flat landscape in a black and white photograph." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451460/original/file-20220310-19-mx38c1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451460/original/file-20220310-19-mx38c1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451460/original/file-20220310-19-mx38c1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451460/original/file-20220310-19-mx38c1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451460/original/file-20220310-19-mx38c1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451460/original/file-20220310-19-mx38c1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451460/original/file-20220310-19-mx38c1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Settlers raced into what was then known as ‘Indian Territory’ as the sound of a gunshot opened the area to white settlement on Sept. 16, 1893. The land rush marked the early beginnings of the state of Oklahoma.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/OklahomaLandRush/268e07ac3a86436eaa8c0c49839bc258/photo?Query=American%20Indians&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:asc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=7118&currentItemNo=0">AP Photo/A.A. Forbes</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Land is a key issue, as Indigenous groups continue to pursue land claims and resist land grabs. From ongoing <a href="https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1076&context=poli_honors">Mapuche claims</a> in Chile to aboriginal Australians’ <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=4Lp_zzaVl7gC&oi=fnd&pg=PA121&dq=+land+rights+Australia&ots=n8SHLeMQ02&sig=enu8gL4dgOqpB5UDyrFKXi_I1to#v=onepage&q=land%20rights%20Australia&f=false">successful campaign</a> to overturn the legality of “terra nullius,” land seized by settlers is being disputed. </p>
<p>New facts and greater awareness of the racist nature of settler societies are challenging the triumphalist view of progress. New information is providing a darker understanding of the impact of settler colonialism on Indigenous peoples, including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14623520601056240">ethnic genocide</a> and the devastating impacts of the loss of both land and cultural identity.</p>
<p>This isn’t just history. Unequal, brutal treatment of settlers and indigenous peoples continues in today’s settler societies, not least of all in Xinjiang and in Ukraine.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176975/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Rennie Short does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Is history really a triumphant march of progress? It depends on your point of view.John Rennie Short, Professor, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland, Baltimore CountyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1294482020-01-10T01:42:46Z2020-01-10T01:42:46ZStrength from perpetual grief: how Aboriginal people experience the bushfire crisis<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/309370/original/file-20200109-80116-bg82xl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C24%2C2048%2C1508&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Regrowth one month after fires at Colo Heights, NSW. A legacy of displacement and racism inflames bushfire trauma for Aboriginal Australians</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Vanessa Cavanagh</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>How do you support people forever attached to a landscape after an inferno tears through their homelands: decimating native food sources, burning through ancient <a href="https://scartrees.com.au/about/">scarred trees</a> and destroying ancestral and totemic plants and animals? </p>
<p>The fact is, the experience of Aboriginal peoples in the fire crisis engulfing much of Australia is vastly different to non-Indigenous peoples.</p>
<p>Colonial legacies of eradication, dispossession, assimilation and racism continue to impact the lived realities of Aboriginal peoples. Added to this is the widespread exclusion of our peoples from accessing and managing traditional homelands. These factors compound the trauma of these unprecedented fires.</p>
<p>As Australia picks up the pieces from these fires, it’s more important than ever to understand the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S175545861100065X">unique grief</a> Aboriginal peoples experience. Only through this understanding can effective strategies be put in place to support our communities to recover.</p>
<h2>Perpetual grief</h2>
<p>Aboriginal peoples live with a sense of perpetual grief. It stems from the as-yet-unresolved matter of the invasion and subsequent colonisation of our homelands. </p>
<p>While there are many instances of <a href="http://www.corntassel.net/being_indigenous.pdf">colonial trauma</a> inflicted upon Aboriginal peoples – including the removal of children and the suppression of culture, ceremony and language – dispossession of Country remains paramount. Dispossessing people of their lands is a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277992187_Decolonization_Is_Not_a_Metaphor">hallmark of colonisation</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1213710096246525953"}"></div></p>
<p>Australian laws have changed to partially return Aboriginal peoples’ lands and waters, and Aboriginal people have made their best efforts to advocate for more effective management of Country. But despite this, the majority of our peoples have been consigned to the margins in managing our homelands. </p>
<p>Aboriginal people have watched on and been ignored as homelands have been <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-14/traditional-owners-predicted-bushfire-disaster/11700320?pfmredir=sm">mismanaged and neglected</a>. </p>
<p>Oliver Costello is chief executive of <a href="https://www.firesticks.org.au">Firesticks Alliance</a>, an Indigenous-led network that aims to re-invigorate cultural burning. As he puts it:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Since colonisation, many Indigenous people have been removed from their land, and their cultural fire management practices have been constrained by authorities, informed by Western views of fire and land management.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In this way, settler-colonialism is not historical, but a lived experience. And the growing reality of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0959378009000223">climate change</a> adds to these anxieties. </p>
<p>It’s also important to recognise that our people grieve not only for our communities, but for our non-human relations. Aboriginal peoples’ cultural identity comes from the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14486563.2013.819303">land</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/our-land-is-burning-and-western-science-does-not-have-all-the-answers-100331">Our land is burning, and Western science does not have all the answers</a>
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</em>
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<p>As such, Aboriginal cultural lives and livelihoods continue to be tied to the land, including landscape features such as waterholes, valleys and mountains, as well as native animals and plants. </p>
<p>The decimation caused by the fires deeply impacts the existence of Aboriginal peoples and in the most severely hit areas, threatens Aboriginal groups as distinct cultural beings attached to the land. As The Guardian’s Indigenous affairs editor Lorena Allam <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/06/for-first-nations-people-the-bushfires-bring-a-particular-grief-burning-what-makes-us-who-we-are">recently wrote</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Like you, I’ve watched in anguish and horror as fire lays waste to precious Yuin land, taking everything with it – lives, homes, animals, trees – but for First Nations people it is also burning up our memories, our sacred places, all the things which make us who we are.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>For Aboriginal people then, who live with the trauma of dispossession and neglect and now, the trauma of catastrophic fire, our grief is immeasurably different to that of non-Indigenous people.</p>
<h2>Bushfire recovery must consider culture</h2>
<p>As we come to terms with the fires’ devastation, Australia must turn its gaze to recovery. The field of community recovery offers valuable insights into how groups of people can come together and move forward after disasters. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-research-turns-tasmanian-aboriginal-history-on-its-head-the-results-will-help-care-for-the-land-124285">New research turns Tasmanian Aboriginal history on its head. The results will help care for the land</a>
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<p>But an examination of <a href="https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/110384/1/Moreton%20Thesis%202016.pdf">research</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/disaster-recovery-from-australias-fires-will-be-a-marathon-not-a-sprint-129325">commentary</a> in this area reveals how poorly non-Indigenous Australia (and indeed, the international field of community recovery) understands the needs of Aboriginal people. </p>
<p>The definition of “community” is not explicitly addressed, and thus is taken as a single socio-cultural group of people. </p>
<p>But research in Australia and overseas has demonstrated that for Aboriginal people, healing from trauma – whether historical or contemporary – is a <a href="http://journals.sfu.ca/fpcfr/index.php/FPCFR/article/view/379/311">cultural and spiritual process</a> and inherently tied to land.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cobi.12580">culture-neutral standpoint</a> in community recovery research as yet does not acknowledge these differences. Without considering the historical, political and cultural contexts that continue to define the lives of Aboriginal peoples, responses to the crisis may be inadequate and inappropriate.</p>
<h2>Resilience in the face of ongoing trauma</h2>
<p>The long-term effects of colonisation has meant Aboriginal communities are (for better or worse) accustomed to living with catastrophic changes to their <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2514848618777621">societies and lands</a>, adjusting and adapting to keep functioning. </p>
<p>Experts consider these resilience traits as integral for communities to survive and recover from natural disasters. </p>
<p>In this way, the resilience of Aboriginal communities fashioned through centuries of colonisation, coupled with adequate support, means Aboriginal communities in fire-affected areas are well placed to not only recover, but to do so quickly. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-can-expect-far-more-fire-catastrophes-a-proper-disaster-plan-is-worth-paying-for-129326">Australia can expect far more fire catastrophes. A proper disaster plan is worth paying for</a>
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<p>This is a salient lesson for agencies and other non-government organisations entrusted to lead the disaster recovery process. </p>
<p>The community characteristics that enable effective and timely community recovery, such as close social links and shared histories, already exist in the Aboriginal communities affected.</p>
<h2>Moving forward</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/national-bushfire-recovery-agency">agency</a> in charge of leading the recovery in bushfire-affected areas must begin respectfully and appropriately. And they must be equipped with the basic knowledge of our peoples’ different circumstances. </p>
<p>It’s important to note this isn’t “special treatment”. Instead, it recognises that policy and practice must be fit-for-purpose and, at the very least, not do further <a href="https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=767232205676002;res=IELAPA;type=pdf">harm</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1214351138520043522"}"></div></p>
<p>If agencies and non-government organisations responsible for leading the recovery from these fires aren’t well-prepared, they risk inflicting new trauma on Aboriginal communities.</p>
<p>The National Disability Insurance Agency offers an example of how to engage with Aboriginal people in <a href="https://www.ndis.gov.au/about-us/strategies/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-strategy">culturally sensitive ways</a>. This includes thinking about Country, culture and community, and working with each community’s values and customs to establish respectful, trusting relationships.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-should-leaders-respond-to-disasters-be-visible-offer-real-comfort-and-dont-force-handshakes-129444">How should leaders respond to disasters? Be visible, offer real comfort – and don't force handshakes</a>
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<p>The <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/national-bushfire-recovery-agency">new bushfire recovery agency</a> must use a similar strategy. This would acknowledge both the historical experiences of Aboriginal peoples and our inherent strengths as communities that have not only survived, but remain connected to our homelands. </p>
<p>In this way, perhaps the bushfire crisis might have some positive longer-term outcomes, opening <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1474474018821419">new doors</a> to collaboration with Aboriginal people, drawing on our strengths and values and prioritising our unique interests.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/129448/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bhiamie Williamson is affiliated with the ACT Bushfire Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Weir receives funding from the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vanessa Cavanagh receives funding from The NSW Bushfire Risk Management Research Hub. She is affiliated with Firesticks Alliance Indigenous Corporation. </span></em></p>As Australia picks up the pieces after the fires, we must understand the unique grief Aboriginal people experience from a loss of country.Bhiamie Williamson, Research Associate & PhD Candidate, Australian National UniversityJessica K Weir, Senior Research Fellow, Western Sydney UniversityVanessa Cavanagh, Associate Lecturer, School of Geography and Sustainable Communities, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1218142019-08-27T04:44:54Z2019-08-27T04:44:54ZLegal and welfare checks should be extended to save Aboriginal lives in custody<p>As the inquest begins into the death in custody of Yorta Yorta woman Tanya Day, who fell asleep on a train in Victoria before she <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/aug/24/tanya-day-death-custody-inquest-family-want-answers">was arrested</a> for public intoxication, questions are being asked about what it takes to stop Aboriginal people dying in custody.</p>
<p>Earlier this month was the fifth anniversary of the death of Ms Dhu, a young Yamatji woman <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-20/ms-dhu-family-to-sue-wa-over-death-in-custody/8728620">who died</a> after four days in South Hedland police lockup. The Western Australian coroner said: </p>
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<p>In her final hours she was unable to have the comfort of the presence of her loved ones, and was in the care of a number of police officers who disregarded her welfare and her right to humane and dignified treatment.</p>
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<p>And in 2016, Wiradjuri mother Rebecca Maher died in custody after police failed to conduct any physical checks for her safety or take her to hospital, where <a href="http://www.coroners.justice.nsw.gov.au/Documents/Findings%20-%20Rebecca%20Maher.pdf">expert evidence</a> indicated she could have survived. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/deaths-in-custody-25-years-after-the-royal-commission-weve-gone-backwards-57109">Deaths in custody: 25 years after the royal commission, we've gone backwards</a>
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<p><a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/indigenous-australians-more-likely-to-be-imprisoned-than-african-americans">A recent analysis</a> found Australia’s incarceration rate is sitting at 0.22%, the highest it’s been since 1899, with Indigenous people <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/4517.0%7E2018%7EMain%20Features%7EAboriginal%20and%20Torres%20Strait%20Islander%20prisoner%20characteristics%20%7E13">making up 28%</a> of those in prison. Tanya Day, Ms Dhu and Rebecca Maher are among the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/how-many-times-does-one-person-have-to-be-tested-20190724-p52adv.html">400 people</a> who have died in custody, more than 25 years since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. </p>
<p>But how many deaths could have been avoided? </p>
<p>In Ms Dhu and Maher’s inquests, the families believed access to a custody notification service would have been an important check in the absence of police care.</p>
<p>The custody notification service is a 24/7 “telephone hotline” for Aboriginal people <a href="https://theconversation.com/nsw-ditches-another-protection-for-indigenous-people-in-custody-42811">to receive</a> legal advice and a welfare check. The Royal Commission <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/IndigLRes/rciadic/national/vol5/5.html">recommended</a> it be</p>
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<p>mandatory for Aboriginal Legal Services to be notified upon the arrest or detention of any Aboriginal person. </p>
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<p>A custody notification service is necessary as a health and legal line, including to alert police when a person needs medical help and make crucial referrals to community-controlled health and legal services. </p>
<p>But custody notification services aren’t accessible to people in protective custody, such as for intoxication. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ms-dhu-coronial-findings-show-importance-of-teaching-doctors-and-nurses-about-unconscious-bias-60319">Ms Dhu coronial findings show importance of teaching doctors and nurses about unconscious bias</a>
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<p>And the services operate inconsistently across Australia, on short-term funding arrangements. Often they do not enable a conversation between the person in custody and the person on the line. Generally, the police are the ones who contact the service.</p>
<p>If Aboriginal deaths are to be prevented, the custody notification service needs to be funded nationally and implemented locally. It must encompass a well-being and legal service to Aboriginal people in police custody, a direct line to the Aboriginal person in custody and a mechanism for police accountability.</p>
<h2>Northern Territory: too little and too late</h2>
<p>In the Northern Territory, protective custody <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/nt/consol_act/paa1978227/s128.html">was introduced</a> to decriminalise intoxication. But it has led to police stations becoming <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/IndigLRes/rciadic/national/vol2/100.html">known as</a> “drunk tanks” exclusively for Aboriginal people. </p>
<p>Between 2003 and 2012, eight Aboriginal men and women died in the Northern Territory while in, or associated with, protective custody. </p>
<p>The Northern Territory government set down <a href="https://legislation.nt.gov.au/en/Subordinate-Legislation/Police-Administration-Amendment-Regulations-2019">regulations</a> for a custody notification service only last month – the last Australian jurisdiction to commit to such a service. </p>
<p>While the regulations provide little detail, they do have two notable exclusions: protective custody and paperless arrests.</p>
<p>The regime of <a href="http://theconversation.com/paperless-arrests-are-a-sure-fire-trigger-for-more-deaths-in-custody-42328">paperless arrests</a> allows police to take a person into custody where they would otherwise <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/nt/consol_act/paa1978227/s133ab.html">receive an</a> on-the-spot fine. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/paperless-arrests-are-a-sure-fire-trigger-for-more-deaths-in-custody-42328">Paperless arrests are a sure-fire trigger for more deaths in custody</a>
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<p>Under these laws, Warlpiri artist and children’s book illustrator Kumunjayi Langdon died on <a href="https://justice.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/208962/d00752015-perry-langdon.pdf">a concrete bench</a> in police lockup in Darwin in 2015 from treatable heart disease.</p>
<p>Both paperless arrests and protective custody already provide fewer procedural protections than arrests for an offence that result in charges. Removing access to the custody notification service for Aboriginal people arrested under these laws is another denial of safeguards.</p>
<h2>New South Wales is leading by example</h2>
<p>New South Wales led the way with its state-wide custody notification service, implemented <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/nsw/consol_reg/learr2016542/s37.html">in 2007</a>. It is set apart from many other custody notification services in Australia by providing direct contact with the person in custody.</p>
<p>Like the NT and most other Australian jurisdictions, NSW police have the power to detain an intoxicated person for their own protection. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-aboriginal-voices-need-to-be-front-and-centre-in-the-disability-royal-commission-115056">Why Aboriginal voices need to be front and centre in the disability Royal Commission</a>
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<p>Maher died in custody in 2016 within five hours of being held in protective custody for intoxication, and wasn’t given access to the custody notification service.</p>
<p>She was held under part 16 of the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) <a href="http://www7.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdb/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/leara2002451/">Act 2002</a> (LEPRA), which allows for the detention of intoxicated people. It means she didn’t receive the benefit of a notification to the Aboriginal Legal Services given to those arrested under part 9 of the same law.</p>
<p>In July 2019, the NSW coroner in the inquest into Maher’s death identified the custody notification service was too narrow in its application. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.coroners.justice.nsw.gov.au/Documents/Findings%20-%20Rebecca%20Maher.pdf">She recommended</a> that an Aboriginal person detained under part 16 of LEPRA is given the same access to the service as an Aboriginal person held under part 9, and that the service should be sufficiently funded to extend to these people. </p>
<p>What’s more, the federal government <a href="http://www.coroners.justice.nsw.gov.au/Documents/Findings%20-%20Rebecca%20Maher.pdf">is working with</a> the NSW government to ensure the custody notification service is funded so it “extends to protective custody”.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-need-evidence-based-law-reform-to-reduce-rates-of-indigenous-incarceration-94228">We need evidence-based law reform to reduce rates of Indigenous incarceration</a>
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<p>The custody notification service needs to be rolled out to protective custody across the nation to enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in custody to have a direct line to the service. </p>
<p>For this service to effectively stop deaths in police custody, it must be fully-funded, consistently-funded and available to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in custody, not only those arrested.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121814/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thalia Anthony receives funding from the Australian Research Council</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alison Whittaker does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Tanya Day, Ms Dhu and Rebecca Maher are among the 400 people who have died in custody more than 25 years since the Royal Commission. How could those deaths have been avoided?Thalia Anthony, Associate Professor in Law, University of Technology SydneyAlison Whittaker, Research Fellow, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/980062018-06-14T20:38:49Z2018-06-14T20:38:49ZIndigenous treaties are meaningless without addressing the issue of sovereignty<p>Ironically, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/oct/26/turnbulls-uluru-statement-rejection-mean-spirited-bastardry-legal-expert">rejection of the 2017 Statement from the Heart</a>, proposing more meaningful national engagement with Indigenous peoples, has accelerated demands for a treaty process across the country. <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/greens-demand-for-aboriginal-sovereignty-clouds-state-treaty-bill/news-story/996c9ad9509bdb860b3c844f70bec072">Victoria</a> and the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-08/indigenous-treaty-a-step-closer-after-nt-government-pledge/9848856">Northern Territory</a> have both moved ahead on this front in recent weeks.</p>
<p>But enthusiasm for treaties at the state and territory level is misplaced. The legal, political and economic power to effect real change lies only at federal level. Local treaty action may be a symbol of goodwill, but it is the very foundation of the Australian Constitution that must be changed. </p>
<p>Greens MP Lidia Thorpe, the <a href="https://thewest.com.au/politics/vics-first-indigenous-woman-mp-to-speak-ng-s-1803303">first Indigenous woman elected to state parliament</a>, maintains that <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/greens-demand-for-aboriginal-sovereignty-clouds-state-treaty-bill/news-story/996c9ad9509bdb860b3c844f70bec072">Indigenous sovereignty</a> must be asserted in the Victorian treaty process. However, this is not possible. States and territories cannot enter into treaties with sovereign nations - they can only sign agreements or domestic acts akin to land rights, vulnerable to political expediency. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/will-treaties-with-indigenous-australians-overtake-constitutional-recognition-70524">Will treaties with Indigenous Australians overtake constitutional recognition?</a>
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<p>Worse, it implies Indigenous peoples must recognise the legitimacy of the government system that dispossessed them, potentially compromising action at the national level.</p>
<p>Thorpe, a Gunnai-Gunditjmara woman, also announced, apparently without irony, there would be government funding for consultations in Victoria. This recognises the unequal position from which Indigenous peoples are forced to negotiate. Demeaned by their ongoing colonial status, in a country made wealthy through their dispossession, they are dependent for resources even to meet. </p>
<p>State and territory-level action might be commendable if economic power was restored to Indigenous peoples to allow them to come to the national treaty table on equal terms. This could be through the return of land, for example, or a tax revenue derived from land that hasn’t been returned. If the states and territories are serious about treaties, this is the path they will take. </p>
<p>The major debate is whether, at the national level, there should be a single treaty, or treaties with each Indigenous nation. A template that could be used across Australia by each Indigenous nation (or a cluster of them) in such negotiations, would provide for consistency, as well as flexibility. This would be the most useful focus for the state- and territory-level treaty discussion.</p>
<h2>Sovereignty stripped away</h2>
<p>The irony of a treaty process is that treaties also assume the participation of sovereign parties. Indigenous peoples have never ceded their sovereignty. So, how did Australia acquire it? </p>
<p>The founder of Melbourne, John Batman, was an unsavoury character with little time for Aboriginal peoples, but is <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-truth-about-john-batman-melbournes-founder-and-murderer-of-the-blacks-1025">credited with being the first</a> to pursue an Indigenous “treaty”, such as it was. </p>
<p>In May 1835, he sought to purchase land directly from the Wurundjeru land owners in a ruse to get around colonial restrictions, entering into what he called a “deed”, or agreement. Infuriated, Governor Richard Bourke quickly sought a proclamation from the Colonial Office to prevent <a href="https://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item-did-42-aid-8-pid-73.html">this usurping of government control</a>. It defined anyone occupying land without government authority as illegal trespassers, proving devastating for Indigenous peoples. </p>
<p>The Crown knew Indigenous peoples had their own systems of land ownership and deliberately chose to ignore this. The doctrine of <em>terra nullius</em>, land without owners, was born. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/after-uluru-we-must-focus-on-a-treaty-ahead-of-constitutional-recognition-78474">After Uluru, we must focus on a treaty ahead of constitutional recognition</a>
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<p>The Australian High Court, in the Mabo Decision of 1992, <a href="https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/articles/mabo-case">did not overturn</a> <em>terra nullius</em>. The decision recognised prior Indigenous sovereignty, but nonsensically affirmed the sovereignty of the Australian parliament anyway. It acknowledged <em>terra nullius</em> was a lie, without following through the implications: Australia remains a nation without a moral and legal foundation. </p>
<p>There have been attempts in recent years to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/may/26/a-year-on-the-key-goal-of-uluru-statement-remains-elusive">pursue constitutional recognition</a> of Indigenous peoples, but this is also based on a false premise. Symbolically removing racist clauses from the Constitution and “recognising” Indigenous peoples is pointless: without treaties, the Constitution has no moral or legal legitimacy. </p>
<p>Constitutional recognition cannot restore a moral and legal foundation. We need a new starting point. </p>
<h2>A new approach</h2>
<p>Non-Indigenous Australians want to see Indigenous peoples “included” or “embraced” in the nation. But many don’t want to change their ways to accommodate Indigenous rights or difference. The flow is one way. We are taught that western civilisation is superior, and Indigenous difference is a deficit. </p>
<p>There is Indigenous leadership on these questions that is both visionary and practical. In 1987, Kevin Gilbert, a Wiradjuri man, produced a <a href="http://kevingilbert.org/pdf/Kevin-Gilbert-Aboriginal_Sovereignty-Book.pdf">comprehensive critique</a> of Australia’s claims to sovereignty, and the need to recognise the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples. </p>
<p>Irene Watson, a Tanganekald and Meintangk Boandik legal scholar and professor, points out that crises such as climate change are a call for a new relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigneous Australians and our environment. She shows how <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Aboriginal-Peoples-Colonialism-and-International-Law-Raw-Law/Watson/p/book/9780415721752">Indigenous moral and relational values</a> provide a sound basis on which to build those new relationships.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/treaty-debate-will-only-strengthen-indigenous-recognition-process-61078">Treaty debate will only strengthen Indigenous recognition process</a>
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<p>Victoria Grieves, a Warraimaay historian, <a href="https://griffithreview.com/articles/new-sovereign-republic-living-history-grieves/">foresees</a> a Republic of Australia based on the sovereignty of Aboriginal peoples. She says:</p>
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<p>Australia could achieve absolute decolonisation and shared sovereignty and live up to the reputation we like to have, as a nation deeply concerned with human rights and social justice. </p>
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<p>It is wrong-headed to think of “embracing” Indigenous peoples. Those with a western heritage must relinquish their arrogance, rewrite the distortions of their history, and place Indigenous interests at the forefront of social, economic and political concern. </p>
<p>We need to look beyond symbols to restitution: compensation, reparations and resource sharing. Indigenous peoples, through seeking a treaty, invite us to share in building an honourable future. Surely we can agree that Australia is worth it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98006/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gaynor Macdonald does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Enthusiasm for Indigenous treaties at the state and territory level is misplaced. The power to bring about real change lies only at federal level.Gaynor Macdonald, Senior Lecturer in Anthropology, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/933802018-03-23T11:41:42Z2018-03-23T11:41:42ZThe lost children of the Empire and the attempted Aboriginal genocide<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210630/original/file-20180315-104645-sxfrdd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Aboriginal demonstration in Brisbane in 2014. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/aboriginal-demonstration-21-brisbane-australia-circa-230939146?src=zgpBYruX-z3n5G3HvZwm1Q-1-2">Shutterstock/MWHunt</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse has <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43242786">concluded that British children</a> who suffered abuse when they were forcibly sent abroad should now be paid compensation from the government. The inquiry has looked into the cases of children who were sent to Australia and parts of the British Empire from 1945 to 1970 by charities and the Catholic church. Its findings are damning.</p>
<p>But if society is looking for a fuller social and historical account of child abuse linked to the actions of the British Empire it will not be found in this sort of inquiry as it skirts around the fact that the parallel abuse of Aboriginal children was part of a larger eugenic effort to eliminate their race entirely. </p>
<p>For decades either side of the World War II, the British government supported a policy of transporting children from poor backgrounds to colonies or former colonies dominated by white settlement: Australia, Canada and Southern Rhodesia. </p>
<p>This transportation of poor children to key imperial outposts began in the 17th century, when the US state of Virginia was the destination. However, the most extensive activity of enforced child export – with the blessing of the British state – was between 1920 and 1970. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210632/original/file-20180315-104663-url8ke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210632/original/file-20180315-104663-url8ke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210632/original/file-20180315-104663-url8ke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210632/original/file-20180315-104663-url8ke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210632/original/file-20180315-104663-url8ke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210632/original/file-20180315-104663-url8ke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210632/original/file-20180315-104663-url8ke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A child put to work in Manitoba, Canada.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.childmigrantstrust.com/media-and-books/image-gallery/">Child Migrants Trust</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>The findings of the report, based on unequivocal evidence, draw <a href="https://www.iicsa.org.uk/news/inquiry-publishes-child-migration-programmes-report">four main conclusions</a>. The British government failed to ensure that the transported children were protected from harm. When reports of abuse emerged no response was forthcoming. A sensitivity about upsetting the receiving governments in large part drove that inaction. And, finally, the British government did not want to jeopardise its relationship with the voluntary sector and religious bodies, which had facilitated transport and had run the receiving institutions abroad. With a weak welfare state in the early 20th century, the British state relied heavily upon the role of those bodies. </p>
<h2>Abuse in a loveless world</h2>
<p>The story of these “lost children of Empire” did not emerge <a href="https://www.abebooks.co.uk/book-search/title/lost-children-of-the-empire/author/bean/">until the 1980s</a> – but then more and more accounts were offered by survivors of <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-forgotten-children-9781741666144">abuse in a loveless world</a>. The children were used as slave labour on farms. They were told that their parents did not want them or were dead. Parents trying to retrieve them were blocked in their efforts or fobbed off with empty promises of later reconciliations. </p>
<p>Many children were denied benign parental care – but there were those who fared much worse. They were subjected to physical and sexual abuse, often affecting their long-term mental health. Reports of the abuse were ignored by the charities ostensibly “caring” for these children. Because of their low social class and sometimes wayward behaviour, they were treated like scum or “<a href="http://www.childrensdatabase.ie/database-project/document.asp?DocID=3430">moral dirt</a>”.</p>
<p>When eventually the British Parliamentary Health Select Committee in 1998 began to make serious inquiries into the investigatory negligence of the charities implicated, they denied that any abuse was known to them. This was simply untrue, as their own <a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199798/cmselect/cmhealth/755/8061114.htm">excavated records showed</a>. </p>
<h2>Political responsibility</h2>
<p>In 2009, on behalf of the Australian government, the then prime minster Kevin Rudd issued an apology for the harm created by the UK policy of sending children to <a href="http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCQQFjAAahUKEwiJpaCpga3HAhXL7hoKHVLUBFg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegraph.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fworldnews%2Faustraliaandthepacific%2Faustralia%2F6578427%2FAustralian-apology-to-British-child-migrants-speech-in-full.html&ei=aDLQVYnREsvda9Kok8AF&usg=AFQjCNGaNf4kJQV1mdNABYAj--qdn4OcHg">isolated facilities abroad</a>. In 2010, Gordon Brown also issued his apology for what he described as a “disgraceful episode in Britain’s history” and “<a href="http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCEQFjAAahUKEwj1oYf9ga3HAhVMcBoKHYJ0C_E&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.bbc.co.uk%2F2%2Fhi%2Fuk_news%2F8531664.stm&ei=GDPQVfW1A8zgaYLprYgP&usg=AFQjCNEENxhqnVAdVKOu_2uxS347zHNo7w">an ugly stain that would never be repeated</a>”. </p>
<p>These apologies have now been followed up by this <a href="https://www.iicsa.org.uk/key-documents/935/view/IICSA%20Review%20Report_Final_alt_v4_ACCESS.pdf">report from the IICSA</a> with its recommendation that the ageing survivors should now be offered compensation. We will see if that happens. With all of the named abusers in the report now deceased, there are no legal prosecutions pending.</p>
<h2>Aboriginal cultural genocide</h2>
<p>This report is robust in its recommendations and credible in its investigatory method. However, it shares a weakness of any historical inquiry, which focuses primarily on the legal and social administrative aspects of wrongdoing. This leaves important political silences. For example, British colonialism with its eugenic character did not only export white “stock” to extend the racial reach of Empire, it also stole aboriginal children and placed them in white Christian families in a process of cultural genocide. </p>
<p>These stolen children were denied their birth names (which were permitted for the British children). The intention was to assimilate Aboriginal children and thereby eventually <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15260027">erase the existence of their race and culture</a>.</p>
<p>A fuller social and historical account of child abuse linked to the actions of the British government is needed. One that contrasts the cases of the “forgotten children” who were white and the “stolen children” who were black. Both groups were neglected and abused by so called “civilised” adults <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781351264556">on behalf of the British Empire</a> and then by successive Australian governments until the 1970s.</p>
<p>But the fact is the post-colonial reckoning for these crimes is being played out unevenly, in terms of political responsibility. For example, with resonances of the attitude of the BBC about “drawing a line” under the case of abuse by <a href="http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/14073/">Jimmy Savile on their premises</a>, a former prime minister of Australia, John Howard, considers that the Australian state has no reason <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/22/john-howard-there-was-no-genocide-against-indigenous-australians">to apologise for its past treatment</a> of Aboriginal children. </p>
<p>What happened to British and Aboriginal children was appalling. Both scandals need full and frank exposure and discussion. The extensive political challenge of ensuring justice for the indigenous people of ex-British colonies can be ignored but it will still remain.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93380/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Pilgrim’s most recent book Child Sexual Abuse: Moral Panic or State of Denial? is published by Routledge.</span></em></p>A damning inquiry has revealed the extent of the abuse suffered by British children sent abroad between 1920 and 1970. But it skirts around Aboriginal cultural genocide.David Pilgrim, Professor of Health and Social Policy, University of LiverpoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/932292018-03-18T21:07:57Z2018-03-18T21:07:57ZI am a Mi’kmaq lawyer, and I despair over Colten Boushie<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210719/original/file-20180316-104676-n0pxm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Debbie Baptiste, mother of Colten Boushie, is seen here in the House of Commons in February 2018. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang</span></span></figcaption></figure><blockquote>
<p><em>My law school recently organized a panel on Gerald Stanley’s acquittal in the death of Colten Boushie. Timing was such that the talk occurred two days after the Saskatchewan Crown announced it would not be seeking an appeal of the verdict. I was reluctant to participate on the panel, not because I wasn’t interested in the subject, but because the case affects me in a deeply emotional way that most other topics do not (and I frequently speak on complex and difficult Aboriginal law and policy topics). I decided the only way I could talk about this was by getting personal and emotional, even though that is usually not my style. In the end, I am glad that I did. Many in attendance told me my remarks helped them to appreciate this case in a new way. So I thought I would seek to publish my remarks, edited slightly, in the hopes it may do the same for others.</em> </p>
</blockquote>
<p>I find it painful <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/colten-boushie/article32451940/">to talk about this case</a>. Many other Indigenous people, especially my friends who also work in law, have expressed the same sentiment. A lot of us feel this case viscerally. </p>
<p>There are several Indigenous people I know, none of whom knew Colten Boushie personally, who wept upon hearing the news of the verdict. I felt a heavy weight of sadness over me for many days and I still do. Friends of mine described the recent news <a href="http://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/colten-boushie-shooting-crown-will-not-appeal-in-gerald-stanley-case">that the Crown is not appealing the verdict</a> as hitting them as though they were punched in the stomach.</p>
<p>Those of us who are Indigenous and work in law are no strangers to being disappointed or angry with court decisions. But usually the reaction is not felt so personally or by so many of us. Why is it different here?</p>
<p>I can’t speak for everybody, but I might say that as Indigenous people (and maybe especially those of us in law), it has threatened something deep within us. You see, as much as we know the past injustices and the ongoing injustices faced by our people, and the role the law has played and continues to play in this injustice, deep down there is hope that change is possible and is slowly happening. </p>
<p>We work hard, sometimes against significant resistance and barriers, to play a role in that change. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/clearing-the-plains-continues-with-the-acquittal-of-gerald-stanley-91628">'Clearing the plains' continues with the acquittal of Gerald Stanley</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>I think that the Gerald Stanley verdict has made many of us seriously question this hope, if not lose it altogether. To many of us, the verdict sent the message that our lives are not as important, and that many Canadians saw this case as placing defence of property above a human life. As <a href="https://sincmurr.com/2018/02/10/colton/">Sen. Murray Sinclair asked in poem</a> he wrote after the verdict: Why does a farmer need a handgun?</p>
<p>Many on the “property defence” side of the debate fail to see the bitter irony that the property in question here are <a href="http://www.macleans.ca/news/no-rural-prairie-dwellers-you-cant-shoot-to-protect-your-property/">lands from which Indigenous groups have been displaced through colonization</a> that often involved state manoeuvres like coercion, starvation, disease and treaty promises that were subsequently ignored. Not to mention the fact that this displacement continues to result in <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/04/27/two-thirds-of-saskatchewans-first-nations-children-live-in-poverty-advocate-says.html">many Indigenous peoples in Canada, and certainly in Saskatchewan, being marginalized and poor.</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/social-media-full-of-vitriolic-myths-in-the-aftermath-of-the-stanley-trial-92168">Increased anti-Indigenous vitriol that appeared in some media and online sources</a> in the days that followed the verdict have further threatened to erode that hope I spoke of, as did the news two weeks later of the acquittal of <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/raymond-cormier-trial-verdict-tina-fontaine-1.4542319">Raymond Cormier in the death of Tina Fontaine</a> and the recent news that neither Saskatchewan <a href="http://www.timescolonist.com/no-grounds-manitoba-crown-won-t-appeal-acquittal-in-tina-fontaine-murder-case-1.23200302">nor Manitoba is going to appeal</a> either verdict.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210744/original/file-20180316-104673-1gr81di.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210744/original/file-20180316-104673-1gr81di.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210744/original/file-20180316-104673-1gr81di.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210744/original/file-20180316-104673-1gr81di.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210744/original/file-20180316-104673-1gr81di.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210744/original/file-20180316-104673-1gr81di.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210744/original/file-20180316-104673-1gr81di.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A woman holds artwork by Indigenous artist Jackie Traverse, of Winnipeg, showing a woman holding an eagle feather and the scales of justice during a rally for Tina Fontaine in Vancouver, B.C., last month. A man accused of killing the 15-year-old Indigenous girl was acquitted of second-degree murder.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I am not a criminal law expert. Many who are more knowledgeable than me in this area say that it’s <a href="https://www.law.utoronto.ca/news/prof-kent-roach-how-canadian-legal-system-fails-indigenous-people-colten-boushie">extremely difficult to appeal jury verdicts, unless there was a clear error in the charge to jurors</a>.
Maybe so, but there are so many problematic aspects of the Boushie case that it is hard to accept this is the end of the matter. </p>
<p>They include:</p>
<p><strong>The jury’s composition and the role of peremptory challenges</strong> </p>
<p>Much has already been said about the how the <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/colten-boushies-family-should-be-upset-our-jury-selection-procedure-is-not-fair/article37787115/">use of peremptory challenges to exclude Indigenous jury members without any explicit reasons is deeply troubling </a> in a legal system that recognizes <a href="http://canlii.ca/t/1fqsg#par21">there is deep-seated racism in many corners of our society that can infect a jury pool</a>.</p>
<p>Peremptory challenges have received most of the media attention in this case, but there are many more.</p>
<p><strong>Jury rolls and obligations to ensure they’re representative</strong> </p>
<p>There were strong recommendations on the need for juries to be representative of Indigenous peoples in the <a href="https://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/about/pubs/iacobucci/First_Nations_Representation_Ontario_Juries.html">2013 Iaccobucci Report</a>, but the Supreme Court of Canada chose not to affirm them in its <a href="http://canlii.ca/t/gj1qq#par53">2015 R. v. Kokopenace decision, dismissing the argument that the state has an obligation to ensure a proportionately representative jury</a>. I have been wondering if Supreme Court justices have been regretting their decision since the Stanley verdict.</p>
<p><strong>The conduct of the RCMP</strong> </p>
<p>The way in which the RCMP treated Colten Boushie’s mother and family members when they broke the news is shocking. <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/colten-boushie/article32451940/">More than a dozen officers, many with guns brandished, searched the family’s trailer as if Colten was the suspect, telling his mother who was in a heap crying to “get yourself together”</a> and asking her: <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/colten-boushie-family-list-problems-gerald-stanley-case-1.4532214">“Have you been drinking?”</a>. There was no comfort. There was no empathy.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210718/original/file-20180316-104673-1asqcc1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210718/original/file-20180316-104673-1asqcc1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210718/original/file-20180316-104673-1asqcc1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210718/original/file-20180316-104673-1asqcc1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210718/original/file-20180316-104673-1asqcc1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210718/original/file-20180316-104673-1asqcc1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210718/original/file-20180316-104673-1asqcc1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Coulten Boushie’s mother, Debbie Baptiste, is seen here on Parliament Hill in February holding up a photo of her deceased son.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://www.ckom.com/2018/02/07/timeline-of-events-surrounding-the-death-of-colten-boushie/">The length of time it took police to charge Stanley, and how they reported on the events,</a> has been <a href="http://www.macleans.ca/news/the-gerald-stanley-verdict-is-a-blow-to-reconciliation-and-a-terrifying-one-at-that/">criticized as likely creating an impression in the minds of some community members (who would become jury members) that the police believed in Stanley’s innocence</a>. </p>
<p>There is also the fact that <a href="http://www.ckom.com/2018/02/07/timeline-of-events-surrounding-the-death-of-colten-boushie/">the RCMP lost track of the SUV Colten Boushie died in before the defence had a chance to have it independently analyzed</a>. I don’t understand how that could happen. </p>
<p>Other negligent investigative practices have been alleged, including the <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/rcmp-sloppy-and-negligent-in-investigating-colten-boushie-s-death-say-independent-experts-1.4564050">failure to protect the crime scene or to do a proper blood splatter analysis</a>. And then there’s the private RCMP Facebook page <a href="http://aptnnews.ca/2018/02/15/rcmp-facebook-group-claims-colten-boushie-got-deserved/">where one officer wrote: “I’m sorry the kid died but he got what he deserved.”</a></p>
<p><strong>The background of the judge</strong> </p>
<p>The past history of the judge in the case, Martel Popescul, Chief Justice of Saskatchewan’s Court of Queens Bench, has also raised questions. As a lawyer in 1992, Popescul was lead counsel for the RCMP in a 1992 case where an <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/the-stanley-verdict-and-its-fallout-is-a-made-in-saskatchewan-crisis/article37945105/?utm_medium=Referrer%3A+Social+Network+%2F+Media&utm_campaign=Shared+Web+Article+Links">alleged RCMP informant, who was the leader of a white supremacist group, murdered a First Nations man</a>. In a later public inquiry into the role racism played in the man’s death, <a href="http://nationalpost.com/news/canada/clearing-the-plains-continues-with-the-acquittal-of-gerald-stanley">Popescul sought to prevent key witnesses from testifying at the inquiry,</a>, arguing that RCMP informants might be exposed. Given this history, <a href="http://www.mediacoop.ca/story/disturbing-background-gerald-stanley-trial-judge/36686">some have questioned why Popescul didn’t recuse himself from the Stanley case.</a></p>
<p><strong>The role of the prosecution</strong> </p>
<p>I don’t have all the details about how the prosecution handled this case, but the fact that Stanley was acquitted entirely, and the jury did not find guilt on any of the lesser but <a href="http://criminalnotebook.ca/index.php/Lesser_Included_Offences">included offences</a> of manslaughter or criminal negligence, leaves questions about how strongly the prosecution pursued conviction. <a href="http://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/colten-boushie-shooting-crown-will-not-appeal-in-gerald-stanley-case">Some Indigenous leaders have alleged</a> the Crown bungled the case. The <a href="http://criminalnotebook.ca/index.php/Ineffective_Counsel">accused can and do make arguments of ineffective counsel</a>, so why isn’t there an equivalent for victims and their families in the case of the Crown? </p>
<p>It’s also noteworthy that the provincial government <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/family-of-colten-boushie-seeks-out-of-province-investigation-into-death-1.3829441">declined the Boushie family’s requests for an out-of-province lead investigator and Crown prosecutor</a>. </p>
<p><strong>Deep racism, stereotyping and victim-blaming</strong> </p>
<p>It’s clear from the RCMP Facebook post and other social media commentary that many people blame Colten for his fate. We don’t have the <a href="http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/castle-doctrine.html">castle doctrine</a> in Canada, and yet many people have argued that Stanley was justified in his actions because Colten or his friends <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-myth-of-the-wheat-king-and-the-killing-of-colten-boushie-92398">were trespassers on the farmer’s property,</a> or possibly trying to steal an ATV (which is not clear).</p>
<p>It reminds me of how Nova Scotia’s <a href="http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/donald-marshall-jr/">Donald Marshall Jr.,</a> even after the Mi'kmaq man was completely exonerated, was blamed for his own wrongful conviction based on the questionable narrative that he had attempted to rob someone with a friend. This view was even shared by the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal, who commented that: “Any miscarriage [in the case was] more apparent than real.” </p>
<p>Even if Colten’s friend was attempting to take the ATV, it justifies nothing. </p>
<p>There was another case in 2011 where an Alberta man shot, but did not kill, another man trying to steal his ATV, and <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-farmer-who-shot-atv-thief-will-go-to-jail-1.1066411">he was at least convicted of criminal negligence.</a></p>
<h2>Much to question</h2>
<p>From my perspective, there is much to question here.</p>
<p>I don’t know what’s going to happen next. Do we need a royal commission? How many royal commissions and inquiries have we already had that recommend solutions to problems that presented themselves once again in this case?</p>
<p>Perhaps there are factors here that reveal new problems <a href="https://theconversation.com/stanley-trial-highlights-colonialism-of-canadian-media-91375">that must be probed.</a> But there’s also clearly a failure to implement many previous recommendations that have already been made. This includes recommendations from the <a href="http://www.ajic.mb.ca/volume.html">Manitoba Justice Inquiry</a>, the <a href="http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100014597/1100100014637">Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples</a>, <a href="https://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/about/pubs/iacobucci/First_Nations_Representation_Ontario_Juries.html">First Nation Representation on Ontario Juries</a>, the <a href="https://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/inquiries/ipperwash/index.html">Commission of Inquiry into the death of Dudley George</a>, the <a href="http://www.publications.gov.sk.ca/details.cfm?p=9462">Commission of Inquiry into the death of Neil Stonechild</a> and the <a href="https://novascotia.ca/just/marshall_inquiry/_docs/Royal%20Commission%20on%20the%20Donald%20Marshall%20Jr%20Prosecution_findings.pdf">Royal Commission on the Wrongful Conviction of Donald Marshall Jr.</a>, to name a few. </p>
<p>Currently, there is a team of scholars that have taken it upon themselves to research a number of points raised by this case. It’s called <a href="https://www.osgoode.yorku.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/PROJECT-FACTA_FINAL.pdf">Project Fact(a)</a>. They are hoping to release their first set of findings in April 2018. I hope they are listened to.</p>
<p>I wish I could end on a more hopeful note. But I don’t really have it in me.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93229/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Naiomi Metallic does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Indigenous people are seriously questioning whether Canada is truly changing following the acquittal of the man accused of killing Colten Boushie. A Mi'kmaq lawyer explains the despair.Naiomi Metallic, Assistant Professor and Chancellor's Chair in Aboriginal Law and Policy, Dalhousie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/746222017-06-12T19:56:15Z2017-06-12T19:56:15ZWe need to know the true cost of Indigenous boarding school scholarships on communities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/163597/original/image-20170403-18846-l1pp6n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Seeking out a good education can sometimes take you away from what's familiar.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>In <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/are-we-making-progress-on-indigenous-education-39329">this series</a>, we’ll discuss whether progress is being made on Indigenous education, looking at various areas including policy, scholarships, school leadership, literacy and much more.</em> </p>
<hr>
<p>Every year, over 3,000 Indigenous students leave home to attend boarding schools. While many consider Indigenous boarding programs a “solution” generally aimed at remote students who don’t have access to local high schools, most Indigenous students at boarding schools are not from remote Australia. </p>
<p>Some come from cities, but the majority of Indigenous boarders come from regional and rural Australia. </p>
<p>With the government spending <a href="https://ministers.education.gov.au/pyne/54-million-help-indigenous-boarding-school-students">millions of dollars</a> each year to encourage Indigenous students to attend boarding schools, what is the true cost of Indigenous boarding on regional communities, Indigenous families and students?</p>
<h2>Many more will leave remote areas</h2>
<p>By <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/3238.0Media%20Release02001%20to%202026?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=3238.0&issue=2001%20to%202026&num=&view=">2026</a>, only 8% of all Indigenous Australians are projected to be living in remote Australia. </p>
<p>Within this decade, our Indigenous population is <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/3238.0Media%20Release02001%20to%202026?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=3238.0&issue=2001%20to%202026&num=&view=">projected</a> to reach upwards of 900,000 people, from <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/latestProducts/3238.0.55.001Media%20Release1June%202011">669,900</a> in 2013.</p>
<p>Huge amounts of government and state <a href="https://ministers.education.gov.au/pyne/54-million-help-indigenous-boarding-school-students">funding</a> continue to be spent on <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/BudgetReview201516/Indigenous">boarding</a> programs that enable students to leave their home communities and attend boarding schools in major cities and large towns. </p>
<p>While the government financially supports individual scholarship foundations and providers, private schools often fund their own scholarships. </p>
<p>Students and boarding schools can also access funding from the government’s <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Indigenous_Affairs/Educational_Opportunities/Interim_Report">ABSTUDY</a> initiative. Figures specific to boarding schools have not been released, but in 2015-16 ABSTUDY payments to secondary school students alone cost around <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/10_2016/dss_annual_report_2015-16.pdf">$145 million</a>.</p>
<h2>Little research on impact of Australian Indigenous boarding</h2>
<p>During my years coordinating an Indigenous program for boarding students at a private girls’ college, I struggled to find data and research related to the <a href="http://www.reefandleaf.com.au/etropic%2014.1%20files/14%20Stewart%20and%20Lewthwaite.pdf">experiences</a> and outcomes of Indigenous boarders in Australia.</p>
<p>Through a <a href="http://www.anu.edu.au/alumni/our-alumni/spotlight/jessa-rogers">PhD</a> I decided to add to the small body of <a href="http://www.reefandleaf.com.au/etropic%2014.1%20files/14%20Stewart%20and%20Lewthwaite.pdf">studies</a> in this area through analysing the experiences of 25 Aboriginal girls attending boarding schools away from home.</p>
<h2>Boarding better option than local school?</h2>
<p>The majority of students in my study explained that they had chosen not to attend their local school because, based on their own and others’ experiences attending such schools, they believed the teaching and management to be of poor quality. </p>
<p>Students spoke of wanting better educational opportunities, as well as access to extracurricular activities, which were not provided at their local school. </p>
<p>They also described how local schools in their home towns, mostly in regional and rural Australia, struggled to keep teachers for longer than a year. They said that learning often consisted of copying down lines from a whiteboard or “mucking around” in unruly classrooms. </p>
<p>Students saw this as an example of “the teacher not caring”, “not trying” and “not thinking Aboriginal kids deserve a good education”.</p>
<p>But a few students I spoke to were attending boarding school in the city they lived in, and were able to catch the train home to visit their families. Some saw boarding school as opening doors to better opportunities in the future, by being able to put the name of a “big school” on their resume.</p>
<p>Having a good education was seen as a stepping stone toward a better life, even if students felt their education did not support their Indigenous identity and culture. </p>
<p>The pull between wanting a good future and wanting to maintain their identity was palpable, and unresolved. This was often the reason given for Indigenous students dropping out of boarding school. </p>
<p>Statistics <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/4714.0%7E2014-15%7EMain%20Features%7EEducation%7E5">show</a> that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in non-remote areas are more likely than those in remote areas to have completed Year 12 or equivalent (28% compared with 18%). </p>
<p>And while boarding school is a way for students from remote areas to move to regional and urban schools, the completion rates of remote students in boarding schools are unclear. </p>
<p>Recent <a href="http://education.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/1391651/004_STEWART_V2.pdf">research</a> indicates that in some remote towns where secondary schooling is unavailable, up to 50% of secondary school aged students who are supported to attend boarding school return as a result of de-enrolling (through self-exclusion, withdrawal, exclusion or cancellation of enrolment).</p>
<h2>Other reasons for attending boarding school</h2>
<p>Students choose to attend boarding for individual reasons. In my research, one student spoke of leaving home because her mother was in a violent relationship, and she wanted to move away to escape the hurt of watching her mother being bashed after letting her boyfriend return each time he left her, bruised and crushed.</p>
<p>Another student spoke of how she and her mother had often searched for boarding scholarship advertisements in the hope of a “better education” and “making her family proud”. The same student told me that getting into boarding school granted her grandmother’s dying wish. </p>
<h2>Impact on communities</h2>
<p>Three in four students in my study said they had been subjected to racism and discrimination while at boarding school. </p>
<p>This included name calling, taunts based on being scholarship recipients, and social isolation by non-Indigenous students.</p>
<p>Many of the events students described were not heard, but were felt. “You just know,” one student said, “it’s the way they look at you”. </p>
<p>Students also described problems with feeling homesick; a lack of understanding of Indigenous content in classwork; their need for Indigenous teachers – who comprise of just <a href="https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/article/increasing-the-number-of-indigenous-educators-in-australian-schools">1.2%</a> of the Australian teaching workforce. They also wanted more access to Indigenous support people in schools.</p>
<p>They talked about feeling disconnected with family, culture and identity when they returned home after boarding. They also retold painful stories of feeling lost and trapped, not knowing who they were when they returned home after changing to fit in at boarding school.</p>
<h2>Desire to stay in city in further education</h2>
<p>Despite this, the majority of Aboriginal students I spoke with said that they planned to remain in major cities and regional centres, to go to university or in getting a job after boarding school.</p>
<p>They saw this future, away from their communities, as bright, exciting, and worth it as an “end goal”.</p>
<p>While scholarships are providing students with opportunities to attend boarding schools that are well out of reach for most families, the cost to identity, culture and connection to community has not been fully explored – and is rarely discussed with students and families before they embark on such journeys. </p>
<h2>Boarding scholarships worthwhile?</h2>
<p>What is clear is that boarding school is not for everyone. Some students will thrive, and others will <a href="http://boardingtrainingaustralia.com.au/2016/04/15/indigenous-boarding-paper/">not</a>, regardless of whether they are Indigenous or non-Indigenous. Indigenous boarding school scholarship foundations openly state this to potential applicants.</p>
<p>It’s also a reality that a small number of Indigenous students must leave their <a href="http://www.cairnspost.com.au/news/cairns/high-school-floated-as-solution-to-aurukuns-problems/news-story/e077b609ddc54b2159ff8a19461686af">homes</a> if they wish to receive a high school education in Australia. </p>
<p>More data, however, must be collected if the government is to continue to spend millions on sending Indigenous young people to boarding school. </p>
<p>More research into boarding school models, more discussion around the aims of such initiatives, and an understanding of the true cost of boarding school on students, and their communities, is also required. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>• <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/are-we-making-progress-on-indigenous-education-39329">Read more</a> articles in this series.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/74622/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessa Rogers does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>If the government is to continue to spend millions toward sending Indigenous children away to boarding school, we need research into how effective this model is, and its impact on communities.Jessa Rogers, Assistant Professor, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/657452016-09-21T17:07:13Z2016-09-21T17:07:13ZGenetic studies reveal diversity of early human populations – and pin down when we left Africa<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138606/original/image-20160921-21711-9j6rw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Aubrey Lynch, elder from the Wongatha Aboriginal language group, participated in one of the studies. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Preben Hjort, Mayday Film.</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Humans are a success story like no other. We are now living in the “Anthropocene” age, meaning much of what we see around us has been made or influenced by people. Amazingly, all humans alive today – from the inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego on the southern tip of the Americas to the Sherpa in the Himalayas and the mountain tribes of Papua New Guinea – came from one common ancestor. </p>
<p>We know that our lineage arose in Africa and quickly spread to the four corners of the globe. But the details are murky. Was there just one population of early humans in Africa at the time? When exactly did we first leave the continent and was there just one exodus? Some scientists believe that all non-Africans today can trace their ancestry back to a single migrant population, while others argue that there were several different waves of migration out of Africa.</p>
<p>Now, three new studies mapping the genetic profiles of more than 200 populations across the world, published in <em>Nature</em>, have started to answer some of these questions. </p>
<h2>Out of Africa</h2>
<p>Humans initially spread out of Africa through the Middle East, ranging further north into Europe, east across Asia and south to Australasia. Later, they eventually spread north-east <a href="https://theconversation.com/first-americans-lived-on-land-bridge-for-thousands-of-years-genetics-study-suggests-23747">over the top of Beringia</a> into the Americas. We are now almost certain that on their way across the globe, <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v524/n7564/full/nature14558.html">our ancestors interbred with</a> at least two archaic human species, the Neanderthals in Eurasia, and the <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v468/n7327/abs/nature09710.html">Denisovans</a> in Asia. </p>
<p>Genetics has been invaluable in understanding this past. While <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/239/4845/1263">hominin fossils hinted</a> that Africa was the birthplace of humanity, it was genetics that <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v325/n6099/abs/325031a0.html">proved this to be so</a>. Patterns of genetic variation – how similar or different people’s DNA sequences are – have not only shown that most of the diversity we see in humans today is present within Africa, but also that there are fewer differences within populations the further you get from Africa. </p>
<p>These observations support the “Out of Africa” model; the idea that a small number of Africans moved out of the continent – taking a much reduced gene-pool with them. This genetic bottleneck, and the subsequent growth of non-African populations, meant that there was less genetic diversity to go round, and so there are fewer differences, on average, between the genomes of non-Africans compared to Africans.</p>
<p>When we scan two genomes to identify where these differences, or mutations, lie, we can estimate how long in the past those genomes split from each other. If two genomes share long stretches with no differences, it’s likely that their common ancestor was in the more recent past than the ancestor of two genomes with shorter shared stretches. By interrogating the distribution of mutations between African and non-African genomes, two of the papers just about agree that the genetic bottleneck caused by the migration out of Africa occurred roughly 60,000 years ago. This is also broadly in line with dating from archaeological investigations.</p>
<p>Their research also manages to settle a long-running debate about the structure of African populations at the beginning of the migration. Was the small group of humans who left Africa representative of the whole continent at that time, or had they split off from more southerly populations earlier?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138486/original/image-20160920-12453-wwkp61.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138486/original/image-20160920-12453-wwkp61.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138486/original/image-20160920-12453-wwkp61.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138486/original/image-20160920-12453-wwkp61.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138486/original/image-20160920-12453-wwkp61.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138486/original/image-20160920-12453-wwkp61.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138486/original/image-20160920-12453-wwkp61.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">SGDP model of the relationships among diverse humans (select ancient samples are shown in red) that fits the data.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Credit: Swapan Mallick, Mark Lipson and David Reich.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Simons Genome Diversity Project compared the genomes of 142 worldwide populations, including 20 from across Africa. They <a href="http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/nature18299">conclusively show</a> that modern African hunter-gatherer populations split off from the group that became non-Africans around 130,000 years ago and from West Africans around 90,000 years ago. This indicates that there was substantial substructure of populations in Africa prior to the wave of migration. A second study, led by Danish geneticist Eske Willersev, with far fewer African samples, used similar methods <a href="http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/nature18964">to show</a> that divergence within Africa also started before the migration, around 125,000 years ago.</p>
<h2>More migrations?</h2>
<p>Following the move out of the continent, the pioneers must then have journeyed incredibly quickly to Australia. The Danish study, the most comprehensive analysis of Aboriginal Australian and Papuan genomes to date, is the first to really examine the position of Australia at the end of the migration.</p>
<p>They found that the ancestors of populations from “Sahul” – Tasmania, Australia and New Guinea – split from the common ancestor of Europeans and Asians 51,000-72,000 years ago. This is prior to their split from each other around 29,000-55,000 years ago, and almost immediately after the move out of Africa. This implies that the group of people who ended up in the Sahul split away from others almost as soon as the initial group left Africa. Substantial mixing with Denisovans is only seen in Sahulians, which is consistent with this early split.</p>
<p>Crucially, because the ancestors of modern-day Europeans and Asians hadn’t split in two at this point, we think that they must have still been somewhere in western Eurasia at this point. This means that there must have been a second migration from west Eurasia into east Asia later on. The Simons Genome Diversity Project study, by contrast, albeit with a far smaller sample of Sahulian genomes, found no evidence for such an early Sahulian split. It instead shows that the ancestors of East Asians and Sahulians split from western Eurasians before they split from each other, and therefore that Denisovan admixture occurred after the former split from each other.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138484/original/image-20160920-12465-1c3mlo8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138484/original/image-20160920-12465-1c3mlo8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138484/original/image-20160920-12465-1c3mlo8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138484/original/image-20160920-12465-1c3mlo8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138484/original/image-20160920-12465-1c3mlo8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=694&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138484/original/image-20160920-12465-1c3mlo8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=694&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138484/original/image-20160920-12465-1c3mlo8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=694&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A graphic representation of the interaction between modern and archaic human lines, showing traces of an early out of Africa (xOoA) expansion within the genome of modern Sahul populations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dr Mait Metspalu at the Estonian Biocentre, Tartu, Estonia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Meanwhile, a third paper <a href="http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/nature19792">proposes an earlier, “extra” migration</a> out of Africa, some 120,000 years ago. This migration is only visible in the genomes of a separate set of Sahulians sequenced as part of the Estonian Biocentre Human Genome Diversity Panel. Only around 2% per cent of these genomes can be traced to this earlier migration event, which implies that this wave can’t have many ancestors left in the present day. If true (the two other papers find little support for it), this suggests that there must have been a migration across Asia prior to the big one about 60,000 years ago, and that anatomically modern human populations left Africa earlier than many think.</p>
<p>Whatever the reality of the detail of the Out of Africa event, these studies provide some benchmarks for the timings of some of the key events. Importantly, they are also a huge resource of over 600 new and diverse human genomes that provide the genomics community with the opportunity for further understanding of the paths our ancestors took towards the Anthropocene.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/65745/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>George Busby does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New research into how early humans spread across the world settles several long-running debates.George Busby, Research Associate in Statistical Genomics, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/445972015-07-16T19:29:14Z2015-07-16T19:29:14ZNorthern Australia syphilis outbreak is about government neglect, not child abuse<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/88624/original/image-20150716-5089-6swco6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Syphilis outbreaks tend to occur in marginalised populations where there is a lack of affordable, appropriate and culturally acceptable health care.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/barkochre/251902177/in/photolist-og4JZ-8vqDsw-2fNt7j-8vqBMG-4WSQh7-48CoBM-89pxEr-8vnzLt-4vaApc-7ftPxg-8txe3a-2e8zVU-9kkH4p-fcgQvz-4Hj3nA-DgDTk-7eJZ2v-fySHVY-g8iTu3-2h3bX5-7WbEhf-4rL3MY-4rSvo4-ama5St-ah434f-5jgr9p-4SMCTZ-qLKpf">yaruman5/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-12/syphilis-outbreak-nt-indigenous-youth-prompts-fears-for-unborn/6613514">recent syphilis outbreak</a> in Central Australia highlights the urgent need for investment in sexual health services for young Aboriginal Australians living in remote regions.</p>
<p>Since July last year, 134 cases of the sexually transmitted disease have been reported in the Barkly and Katherine regions. This is up from 15 reported cases in the 2013-14 financial year. </p>
<p>There’s a serious risk the outbreak will extend into other parts of remote Australia. But suggestions that the recent rise in syphilis cases has something to do with child sexual abuse in Aboriginal communities are an irresponsible distraction from the issue at hand. </p>
<p>What both the territory and federal governments need to do is acknowledge that investment in primary health-care delivery in remote Aboriginal communities is inadequate. That’s why outbreaks of sexually transmitted diseases are confined to these regions, while being a rarity in mainstream Australia.</p>
<p>Globally, syphilis outbreaks have been reported in many <a href="http://khn.org/morning-breakout/dr00002167/">marginalised populations</a>, including <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5906a2.htm">Native Americans,</a> <a href="http://gov.nu.ca/health/information/syphilis-outbreak-nunavut">First Nations</a> peoples and African Americans. All these groups share a common problem: lack of access to affordable, appropriate and culturally acceptable health care.</p>
<h2>Outbreaks of syphilis</h2>
<p>Syphilis is a sexually transmitted bacterial infection. In Australia, it mainly affects urban gay men and heterosexual people in remote Aboriginal communities. It’s extremely uncommon in the general population. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.sti.guidelines.org.au/sexually-transmissible-infections/syphilis#clinical-presentation">symptoms are often mild and transient</a>, making it easy for infectious people to unknowingly transmit the infection to their sexual partners. But if left untreated, syphilis can affect multiple organs, including the heart, brain, bones and joints.</p>
<p>Most concerning is that the infection <a href="http://www.health.vic.gov.au/neonatalhandbook/infections/syphilis.htm">crosses the placenta</a>, which accounts for high rates of stillbirth or permanent disabilities in children, including blindness and even perinatal death.</p>
<p>Exactly why syphilis outbreaks occur is not fully understood. Until recently <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/links/050127/050127-1.html">the prevailing theory</a> was that due to acquired partial immunity in the population, syphilis rates fluctuate naturally in cycles of about ten years. But more recent evidence has discounted this theory and suggested changes in sexual behaviour and the vigour of <a href="http://precedings.nature.com/documents/1373/version/1">public health control programs</a> are the main factors driving syphilis rates at the population level.</p>
<p>Another factor - and one that plays into the current outbreak - is the recent realisation that <a href="http://aac.asm.org/content/54/2/583.full">syphilis is becoming resistant to common antibiotics</a> such as azithromycin, which is used widely to treat other infections. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/88641/original/image-20150716-5108-1esrz9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/88641/original/image-20150716-5108-1esrz9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88641/original/image-20150716-5108-1esrz9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88641/original/image-20150716-5108-1esrz9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88641/original/image-20150716-5108-1esrz9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88641/original/image-20150716-5108-1esrz9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88641/original/image-20150716-5108-1esrz9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sexual behaviours of Aboriginal young people are broadly the same as those of other young Australians.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/211626852/in/photolist-7nh9ar-nRLt3t-9nf73B-5rCNrP-avg5ks-7nhQbV-8KDJvT-gQbdwt-pvnJb7-8CY6xV-8AJXMC-8PHh2Z-f6hTM5-edcjfR-8xnMuU-gxA95-aEiAVv-3N1wYY-8wRTrV-8ByV3k-gLpBpo-jGDhQ-9hvFDL-7EGLC-acUNrr-e2rqeM-8Sod4U-7nmnYy-4MCW82-3i22L-mJXr9j-qKy8Wh-4PgEvk-qrwYuv-gxzyn-ehW3ha-gvRRsj-aAua5C-oXk9pc-4UJqk8-7DHPQT-dHMKrW-jVW2AF-kaU8m7-72DcVz-y8n2D-6JegTp-78P1zb-78P2Lo-5dW9i">Thomas Hawk/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Syphilis in children</h2>
<p>Syphilis is a notifiable disease, which means that doctors who make a diagnosis have a legal obligation to report the case to their jurisdictional health department. The majority of the current outbreak’s notified syphilis cases have been among Indigenous people aged 15 to 19. But the disease has affected children as young as 12. </p>
<p>The legal age of sexual consent in the Territory, and many other jurisdictions, is 16. But the median age of sexual debut in Australia is 15. This is the same everywhere - in mainstream Australia and among Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory.</p>
<p>Indeed, <a href="https://www.sahmri.com/our-research/themes/infection-immunity/research/list/sexual-health-and-relationships-survey-2">survey data has shown</a> that the sexual behaviours of Aboriginal young people in the Northern Territory and other remote areas are broadly the same as those of other young Australians. There are similar numbers of sexual partners, for instance, and similar rates of condom use, as well as same-aged sexual partners. </p>
<p>Of course, sexually transmitted infections in children are a major concern. But it’s important to remember that most sexually transmitted infections in the Northern Territory in adolescents below the age of 16 (that is, below the age of consent) occur among 14 and 15-year-olds. And these rates are <a href="http://kirby.unsw.edu.au/surveillance/2014-aboriginal-surveillance-report-hiv-viral-hepatitis-stis">similar to non-Indigenous young Australians</a>. These notifications – both in mainstream and Aboriginal Australia - predominantly arise because of early sexual debut.</p>
<p>In recent days, the Northern Territory’s health minister, John Elferink, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-12/syphilis-outbreak-nt-indigenous-youth-prompts-fears-for-unborn/6613514">has alluded</a> to the increasing rates of syphilis being caused by sexual abuse in Territory communities. However well-intentioned, comments linking high rates of sexually transmissible infections among children to child sexual abuse carries a risk of further pushing young people away from services we so desperately need them to engage with.</p>
<h2>Successful programs</h2>
<p>Outbreaks of sexually transmitted infections like this one are related to the inappropriately low level of investment in sexual health in remote areas. They highlight the lack of high-quality education, primary health care and specialist outreach programs, all of which could stop these high rates of infections. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22697136">Several programs</a> have been successful in bringing rates under control through consistent delivery of primary care, appropriate sexual health education and specific testing and treatment programs. But not all Aboriginal people living in remote areas have access to these programs. </p>
<p>To deal appropriately with the current outbreak, we are using what we have learnt from <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2870166/">past syphilis outbreaks</a> and have instigated an intense and sustained public health response. More specifically, we are <a href="http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/cdna-song-syphilis.htm">focusing on raising awareness</a> of the issue among people at risk, increasing the rate of condom use, and ensuring both early detection and treatment of people infected, as well as their sexual partners, occurs in a timely manner. </p>
<p>What’s urgently required in remote Australia is a significant investment in sexual health to be integrated into existing primary health care services, alongside education.</p>
<p>We need to ensure that young Aboriginal Australians’ sexual debut is a positive and pleasurable experience - not an embarrassing, shameful one because it went hand-in-hand with a sexually transmitted infection.</p>
<p><em>Ms Amanda Sibosado, Sexual Health Coordinator at Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services, co-authored this article.</em></p>
<p><em>This article was originally published with the headline “Northern Territory syphilis outbreak is about medical neglect, not child abuse”. It has been amended at the authors’ request.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/44597/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The syphilis outbreak in Central Australia is not about child abuse. But it highlights the urgent need for investment in sexual health services for Aboriginal Australians living in remote areas.James Ward, Associate Professor, Infectious Diseases Research Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health, South Australian Health & Medical Research InstituteDonna B Mak, Professor, Head of Population and Preventive Health, University of Notre Dame AustraliaJohanna Dups, Masters of Applied Epidemiology (MAE) Scholar, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National Univeristy (ANU), Australian National UniversityNathan Ryder, Conjoint Senior Lecturer, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/442352015-07-03T05:45:50Z2015-07-03T05:45:50ZNorthern development plan shows Australia’s fraught vision of our tropics<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/87268/original/image-20150703-30171-1b2zgbo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An historian reading the government White Paper on developing northern Australia will realise we’re actually heading all the way back to the 1890s.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lawson_matthews/2415335571/">andrew matthews/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><blockquote>
<p>Australia is a big blank map, and the whole people is constantly sitting over it like a committee, trying to work out the ways to fill it in.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Written as long ago as 1911, the <a href="http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10819532">words of journalist C.E.W. Bean</a>, later inventor of the Anzac legend, haunted me as I read <a href="https://northernaustralia.dpmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/papers/northern_australia_white_paper.pdf">Our North, Our Future</a>, the federal government’s White Paper on developing northern Australia, released on June 17, 2015. </p>
<p>For more than 100 years, white Australians have rallied to cries of northern development, obsessively figuring out how to fill in the country north of Capricorn lest Asians should come and take it or Aborigines reclaim it. </p>
<p>Indeed, the first medical research organisation, the Australian Institute of Tropical Medicine (AITM), was set up in Townsville in the decade after federation in order to <a href="https://dukeupress.edu/The-Cultivation-of-Whiteness/index-viewby=title&sort=.html">ascertain whether a working white race</a> might be implanted across our tropical territory. Or whether moist heat would sap the vitality and mentality of whites, and tropical germs destroy them.</p>
<p>One of its later directors, Raphael Cilento, a very proud white man and anti-Semite, spent his career in “the struggle to establish a tropical consciousness in Australia” — as he put it in the Queensland school text he wrote with Clem Lack, <a href="http://www.textqueensland.com.au/item/book/1e6ed5d19fc3219033ff9a76eff6a190">Triumph in the Tropics</a>. </p>
<h2>A veritable goldmine</h2>
<p>Consistent with the barrage of tropical boosterism, the current government wants yet again to unlock the potential of the North and settle millions of productive citizens above Capricorn. Only it’s inclined now to bang on about fostering a multi-racial economic powerhouse rather than making the world safe for virile white labourers. </p>
<p>Thus the government is planning, inaptly, to use “Australia Unlimited branding to showcase investor ready projects and specific northern opportunities” — surely unaware that novelist E.J. Brady, who coined the term <a href="http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/8621138?selectedversion=NBD2972726">Australia Unlimited</a>, hoped the Australian tropics would be purely white and free of pesky Aborigines and Chinese.</p>
<p>Indeed, “unlimited for whom?” is always an apposite question in the history of Australian nationalism.</p>
<p>As an historian of medicine, I found the White Paper’s emphasis on tropical health particularly intriguing. A Tropical Health Strategy is a key part of this ambitious plan to develop what may be called <a href="http://www.harpercollins.com.au/9780730408871/capricornia">Capricornia</a> (following the lead of novelist Xavier Herbert). </p>
<p><a href="https://northernaustralia.dpmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/papers/northern_australia_white_paper.pdf">Our North, Our Future</a> suggests two compelling reasons for building expertise in tropical medicine. Investment in research into “tropical” diseases, such as dengue fever, malaria, melioidosis, Australian bat lyssavirus, Hendra virus, Nipah virus, chikungunya, Murray Valley encephalitis, multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and “other emerging pathogens” would, the report says, make Australia “a leading hub for the development of tropical medicine”. </p>
<p>The federal government has <a href="http://trademinister.gov.au/releases/Pages/2015/ar_mr_150510.aspx">allocated A$6.9 million for basic research</a> on such “priority diseases” — many of them dubiously tropical, but obviously worth treating all the same. And found a further A$8.5 million to “commercialise research in new tropical therapeutics and diagnostics”.</p>
<p>Understandably, Louis Schofield, the director of the Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, a reinvention of the AITM (but note the tactful insertion of health), has welcomed the investment. </p>
<p>“By promoting commercialisation and the creation of science/industry networks,” <a href="http://www.jcu.edu.au/research/JCU_147417.html">Professor Schofield announced</a>, “this funding initiative plays to Australia’s scientific strengths in the future economy of the Pacific Rim.”</p>
<h2>Pharmaceutical cashcow</h2>
<p>The government’s obsession with commercial opportunities in alleviating tropical disease is revealing. Certainly, it fits with technocratic, disease-centred, top-down programs of global health organisations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. </p>
<p>“In calling the world’s researchers to develop innovative solutions to ‘the most critical challenges in global health’,” writes <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140673605664793.pdf">public health researcher Anne-Emanuelle Birn in The Lancet</a>, “the Gates Foundation has turned to a narrowly conceived understanding of health as product of technical interventions divorced from economic, social, and political contexts.” </p>
<p>But Australia’s Tropical Health Strategy goes further, hoping to profit from such technical fixes. This reveals a sort of cargo-cult mentality: build the laboratories and commercial medical technologies will pile up, solving the problems of global disease and making us rich as well. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/journals/hum/summary/v001/1.1.lakoff.html">an influential 2010 article</a>, anthropologist Andrew Lakoff describes “two regimes of global health”: what drives global health, he argues, is either concern with biosecurity, with emerging disease threats, or the humanitarian engagement of organisations like Médecins sans Frontières, which seeks to relieve suffering.</p>
<p>Naively, Lakoff failed to account for the “vision” of money-rubbing Australian politicians who imagine tropical medicine simply as a cash cow — or should that be a cash mosquito?</p>
<h2>Biosecurity fears</h2>
<p>Biosecurity is not forgotten, of course — how could it be in contemporary Australia? Apart from lucrative returns, the other main reason we should invest in tropical medicine, according to the White Paper, is to safeguard the nation from the threat of introduced diseases and pests. </p>
<p>Of course, this is an old saw, dating back to the first AITM: we must be vigilant against foreign bugs and the foreigners who spread them. We are told that “the Asia-Pacific region is a global epicentre for emerging infectious diseases and drug resistance”. </p>
<p>We are reminded that “the North’s proximity to our international neighbours, extensive coastline and sparse population makes it particularly vulnerable to biosecurity threats”. </p>
<p>Almost 100 years ago, Anton Breinl, the first director of the AITM, assured nationalist politicians that there was nothing inherently pathogenic in the tropics for whites. Rather, <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/The-Cultivation-of-Whiteness/index-viewby=title.html">they must protect vulnerable Europeans</a> from coloured races on the margins of Australia who had a proclivity for carrying germs especially noxious to white people. This was the medical rationale for immigration restriction.</p>
<p>The authors of this White Paper still seem to assume that disease comes from outside our borders, even if many of their “priority diseases”, such as Hendra, are in fact vernacular phenomena, genuine little Aussie battler viruses. </p>
<p>Now, I’m not denying there are frightening diseases emerging beyond our borders — just that in focusing exclusively on foreign threats we unrealistically limit the epidemiological palette. Evidently, in the biosecurity industry it’s hard to break such disabling xenophobic habits.</p>
<h2>The power of medicine</h2>
<p>If the White Paper is a reliable guide, tropical medicine is more important than ever in northern development. It has a timeworn contribution to make in securing us against disease threats, and an increasing role to play in generating pharmaceutical products and profits. </p>
<p>The authors express a touching confidence in tropical medicine, a faith in its efficacy that would have embarrassed even Breinl and Cilento. Indeed, so effective is modern tropical medicine that we can now allow those supposedly dodgy, previously disease-dealing foreigners within our borders to labour in the tropics. </p>
<p>Thus the White Paper recommends Designated Area Migration Agreements (DAMA) to permit foreign skilled and semi-skilled workers into a few northern zones. It promotes the <a href="https://employment.gov.au/seasonal-worker-programme">Seasonal Worker Programme</a> for labourers from the Pacific Islands and Timor Leste, as well as a new pilot program for workers from Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu. </p>
<p>A few pages earlier, these people and the places they come from were stigmatised as biosecurity risks, but presumably our tropical medicine industry can render them secure. Once used to justify keeping Asians and Pacific Islanders out of Australia, tropical medicine will now be employed to bring them in “safely”.</p>
<p>Too often, members of the infamous leftie lynch mob and other vaguely ABC-types protest that prime minister Tony Abbott is taking us back to the 1950s. But any Australian historian reading this White Paper will realise we’re actually heading all the way back to the 1890s, before federation, when unbridled capitalism and various forms of indentured labour were developing our North.</p>
<p>“Whose North?” we should ask, “whose triumph?”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/44235/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Warwick Anderson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The federal government’s recent White Paper on developing northern Australia has disturbing echoes of the 1890s, a time when unbridled capitalism and indentured labour developed the North.Warwick Anderson, Professorial Research Fellow, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/439112015-06-29T20:08:26Z2015-06-29T20:08:26ZFactCheck: might there have been people in Australia prior to Aboriginal people?<blockquote>
<p>“There may have been people in Australia prior to the Aborigines… if there is any doubt at all, why would you put history in the Constitution?” – <strong>Liberal Democrat Senator David Leyonhjelm, speaking with <a href="http://www.skynews.com.au/news/politics/national/2015/06/25/leyonhjelm-casts-doubt-over-first-australians.html">reporters</a>, June 25, 2015.</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Not for the <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-we-should-recognise-as-first-australians-in-the-constitution-38714">first time</a>, the Liberal Democrat crossbencher, Senator David Leyonhjelm, has expressed scepticism about the idea that Aboriginal people are the first Australians.</p>
<p>He <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-25/david-leyonhjelm-raises-doubts-over-aboriginal-occupants/6572704">suggested last week</a> that “the fact that there is even a doubt raised about it would suggest to me that it is not necessarily a good thing to put in the Constitution.”</p>
<p>When asked for evidence to support his statement, a spokesman for Senator Leyonhjelm said that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Some anthropologists have suggested different cultures once existed in the Kimberley as in the study referred to <a href="http://www.futurity.org/rock-art-clarifies-demise-of-pre-aboriginal-culture">here</a>. Nobody knows for sure when the people who painted this unique rock art first arrived. The oldest known human remains found in Australia, Mungo Man, were found not to be related to modern day Aborigines in at least one study. Of course people disagree with this, which once again proves Senator Leyonhjelm’s main point as manifestly true… the Senator is not expressing an opinion one way or the other, except that anthropologists do debate these things.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So, does research show that the first people to live in Australia were different from Aboriginal people? And is there disagreement among anthropologists on this question? </p>
<h2>The evidence on skeletons</h2>
<p>In one sense, Leyonhjelm is correct. There have been a handful of <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/40387209?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">anthropologists</a> who have argued that Aboriginal people were not the first Australians, but the way science proceeds is that ideas are constantly questioned, tested and replaced. </p>
<p>Some researchers once argued that there may have been <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/40386006">three separate population</a> migrations into Australia. Later, other researchers argued there were <a href="http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/38823489?selectedversion=NBD46682010">two</a>. More recently, researchers have assessed the earlier work and <a href="http://www.peterbrown-palaeoanthropology.net/AusOrigins.html">argued</a> there was only <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/40386774">one</a> source population of all known skeletal remains in Australia. </p>
<p>Famously, one early study compared Australian remains to very early ones from Java but as more remains were uncovered, and as methods for comparison improved, that claim was <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20633924">dismissed</a> and <a href="http://www.researchgate.net/publication/255971247_Genetic_heritage_in_the_Darling_River_Aboriginal_peoples_captures_ancient_presence_and_post-contact_survival">is no longer</a> held by most people working in the field.</p>
<p>Senator Leyonhjelm’s spokesman said 42,000 year-old skeletal remains found at Lake Mungo (“Mungo Man”), and an analysis of DNA from one of those skeletons, suggest another argument for a pre-Aboriginal population. </p>
<p>These claims, from a 2001 <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/98/2/537.full.pdf">study</a>, are not widely accepted in the anthropological community, and not even really debated any more. The 2001 DNA study was a very early attempt to extract DNA from an ancient skeleton in conditions that could be expected to be very bad for the survival of ancient DNA. Subsequent studies demonstrated that the DNA signature was most likely contamination from the scientists that handled the fossil remains. </p>
<h2>The evidence on rock art</h2>
<p>In his response to The Conversation, Senator Leyonhjelm’s spokesman referred to studies on the Gwion Gwion rock art in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.</p>
<p>The Gwion Gwion figures are best known through the long term research project by the late Australian researcher, <a href="http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/bradshaws/grahame-walsh.php">Grahame Walsh</a>, who <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=YujMAAAACAAJ&dq=Walsh+Bradshaw+art+of+the+Kimberley&hl=en&sa=X&ei=EOuMVb7JO8qB8gXC2qi4DQ&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAA">called</a> the figures “Bradshaws”. They are also well described in a <a href="http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=092904976307406;res=IELHSS">book</a> co-authored by Aboriginal people from the region.</p>
<p>Walsh claimed that the Gwion Gwion images were like other images of people from outside Australia (most of which are much more recent than he thought the Bradshaws were), and concluded they were made by people other than Australian Aboriginal people. </p>
<p>But careful analysis of a sample of images from all over the world has <a href="http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=447954669231551;res=IELIND">shown</a> that the comparison is not convincing, and that the closest similarity is with rock art images from Arnhem Land.</p>
<p>The late rock art researcher, <a href="http://antiquity.ac.uk/tributes/rosenfeld.html">Andrée Rosenfeld</a>, <a href="http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/33284324">wrote</a> that the claims were speculative and <a href="http://ywcct.oxfordjournals.org/content/10/1/259.full">that</a> the argument:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>that the finely executed Bradshaw paintings are too fine to be Aboriginal and must be the work of earlier people… have no archaeological basis.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>More recent <a href="http://australianarchaeology.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/AAA_ASHA2014-Conference-Handbook-Final.pdf">research</a> (page 54) shows that there are other images that seem to be intermediate between the Gwion Gwion figures and the <a href="http://www.mowanjumarts.com/about1/our-culture/">Wandjinas</a>, another group of paintings that use a different style to depict figures.</p>
<p>This suggests strongly that there is no strong evidence base suggesting that the painters of the earlier images were anything other than the ancestors of the people who painted the later images. </p>
<p>It should also be remembered that Walsh’s interpretation of the Gwion Gwion paintings was a product of its study in colonialist Australia. As <a href="https://www.library.uq.edu.au/ojs/index.php/aa/article/view/1899">noted</a> by Australian researcher, Ian J McNiven:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>During conservative government in Australia in the 1990s and 2000s, high profile media attention was given to amateur research on Gwion Gwion (Bradshaw) paintings of the Kimberley region and notions of non-Aboriginal authorship. The disassociation of Aboriginal people from the paintings played into the hands of conservatives wishing to undermine Aboriginal land claims.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>‘Why would you put history in the Constitution?’</h2>
<p>Senator Leyonhjelm jumps from casting doubt on Aboriginal people as the first Australians to arguing that academic debate on this question shows that constitutional recognition of Aboriginal Australians might be a mistake.</p>
<p>I would argue that is a logical fallacy.</p>
<p>The issue in the constitutional recognition debate is about recognising that there were people in Australia when Europeans arrived to colonise it.</p>
<p>There is no possible doubt that the Australian Aborigines were in Australia when Europeans arrived. Whether there were people in Australia before them is irrelevant to the recognition of Aboriginal people in the Constitution.</p>
<h2>Verdict</h2>
<p>As previously <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-we-should-recognise-as-first-australians-in-the-constitution-38714">discussed</a> on The Conversation, there is a <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/334/6052/94.ful">strong research case</a> for the biological continuity between pre-European and modern Aboriginal populations of Australia. </p>
<p>It is true that there has been, historically, a small number of claims that there were people in Australia before Australian Aborigines, but these claims have all been refuted and are no longer widely debated. The overwhelming <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0018442X07000121">weight</a> of evidence supports the idea that Aboriginal people were the first Australians.</p>
<p>The disagreements that can be found in the literature are normal in the accumulation of knowledge but do not undermine the strength of the modern consensus that the first people to live in Australia were ancestors of the Aboriginal people who lived here when Europeans first arrived and colonised.</p>
<p>Although there is a small amount of truth in the Senator’s claims about what is in the literature, the claims do not stack up against modern knowledge of the evidence.</p>
<p>The Senator’s claim is irrelevant to the question about recognition in the Constitution.</p>
<hr>
<h2>Review</h2>
<p>This is a sound analysis. The evidence from DNA of today’s Aboriginal populations, as well as those from the past recovered through ancient DNA is revealing new insights into the complexity of the First Australians population history. What we see in the DNA is <a href="https://theconversation.com/ancient-dna-sheds-light-on-the-origin-of-europeans-33907">evidence</a> of an <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-we-should-recognise-as-first-australians-in-the-constitution-38714">unbroken Aboriginal lineage</a> for well over 2,000 generations. </p>
<p>Attempts to recover the ancient DNA from Mungo Man reported over ten years ago were subject to considerable critique. Consensus generally agreed that the reported results probably represented contaminated DNA, and not ancient DNA dating back over 40,000 years. The Elders of the Mungo Lake today have given consent for Griffith University researchers, under the direction of Professor David Lambert, to see if ancient DNA can be recovered from Mungo Man and numerous other individuals from the ancient Willandra Lakes system. This work is currently underway but really is at the edge of what is possible in ancient DNA studies. </p>
<p>The anatomy of the very first physical records for the First Australians also complements this picture. We see a morphology in the remains of Mungo Man and Mungo Woman, from some 42,000 years old, that would not look out of place in Aboriginal Australian populations today. Mungo Man and Woman are fully modern people in every sense of the word, and indeed represent some of the earliest modern human remains within the whole Australian-Asian region. Europe at this time was still the domain of the Neanderthals.</p>
<p>Finally, the study cited by Senator Leyonhjelm’s spokesperson seems to be misquoting the research of UQ Professor Hamish McGowan. While Prof McGowan does note that climatic conditions in the region around the Gwion Gwion rock art complex in northwest Australia probably meant that Aboriginal people abandoned the region for 1,500 years, he does not suggest the region was populated by an entirely different non-Aboriginal population. As noted above, there is no evidence to support such a proposal. <strong>-– Michael Westaway</strong></p>
<hr>
<p><div class="callout"> Have you ever seen a “fact” that doesn’t look quite right? The Conversation’s FactCheck asks academic experts to test claims and see how true they are. We then ask a second academic to review an anonymous copy of the article. You can request a check at checkit@theconversation.edu.au. Please include the statement you would like us to check, the date it was made, and a link if possible.</div></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/43911/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Iain Davidson has received funding in the past from the ARC, AINSE and the Australian Heritage Commission.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Westaway receives funding from the ARC and Griffith University.</span></em></p>Liberal Democrat Senator David Leyonhjelm has said that Aboriginal people may not be the first occupants of Australia. What does the research say?Iain Davidson, Emeritus Professor, School of Humanities, University of New EnglandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/384662015-03-12T06:13:44Z2015-03-12T06:13:44ZWhy there are calls to boycott a BBC drama about the first convicts to colonise Australia<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/74505/original/image-20150311-24181-8d78ch.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">No Indigenous people feature in the drama.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">BBC/RSJ Films/Mark Rogers</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A drama about the first convicts to colonise Australia in 1788 gave BBC2 a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/mar/06/banished-bbc2-ratings-victory-russell-tovey">rare ratings win</a> over BBC1 and ITV after its first episode. But despite attracting over 3m viewers, Jimmy McGovern’s Banished was not so well received by the <a href="http://if.com.au/2015/03/08/article/Banished-premiere-wins-UK-viewers-but-not-critics/NCTWVTHVZM.html">critics</a>, and some in Australia are even <a href="https://newmatilda.com/2015/03/10/boycott-banished-all-white-drama-about-black-part-our-history">proposing a boycott</a> of the show when it airs there this June.</p>
<p>Towards the end of the first episode governor Phillip asks Mrs Johnson – the Reverend’s wife – if she has ever been robbed or raped by a native or convict. No, she hasn’t. That, Phillip explains, is because she has been protected by soldiers, and soldiers need to be kept happy. </p>
<p>So the empire portrayed – apart from governor Phillip – is cruel and violently sexist. Storylines are driven by the fury of abused, outnumbered women, and the humiliations of lonely, despised men. On the one hand, it is difficult not to see this as another disturbing case of sexual violence as <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/use-of-rape-as-plot-device-is-shifting-sympathy-from-victim-to-perpetrator-warns-academic-10093655.html">plot device</a>. </p>
<p>But empire was not nice, particularly for women. From the highest authorities, imperial masculinities and policies reflected anxieties about what would happen among men if women were absent, how to control them when they were present, and the need to protect them from native “others”. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/74510/original/image-20150311-24203-59azlu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/74510/original/image-20150311-24203-59azlu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74510/original/image-20150311-24203-59azlu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74510/original/image-20150311-24203-59azlu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74510/original/image-20150311-24203-59azlu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74510/original/image-20150311-24203-59azlu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74510/original/image-20150311-24203-59azlu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sexual violence was the norm.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">BBC/RSJ Films/Mark Rogers</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Empire relied on the creation of class, race and gender hierarchies. And convict women were very close to the bottom of this patriarchal ladder. But stereotypes of these initial colonist convicts as hardened criminals, and women in particular as depraved whores skilled only in vice, have been overturned by historians since the 1970s. </p>
<p>So arguably, the programme has captured something of the essence of colonialism, but it is a shame to see the depiction yet again of female convicts as little more than prostitutes.</p>
<p>The show almost entirely fails to capture another side of colonialism. And this is, in the main, where the complaints have come from. A number of <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/bbcs-banished-jimmy-mcgovern-defends-allwhite-cast-20150309-13z0fy.html">reviewers</a> (not to mention historians on Twitter) have highlighted the omission of any indigenous cast members. </p>
<h2>Eora on the shore</h2>
<p>McGovern has defended this decision, pointing out the importance of doing the portrayal justice, which he felt was not possible in a time frame that focuses only on the first two weeks of the landing. </p>
<p>Adding indigenous characters in the name of accuracy may not be easy. As Grace Karskens noted in <a href="http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Colony.html?id=fEH0okroLiUC">The Colony</a>, a brilliant history of early Sydney, governor Phillip apparently chose his camp because it was the one place “where there were no Eora waiting on the shore”. But there were numerous and well-documented encounters in these first days. The Europeans gave hatchets, trinkets and red cloth. The men spent days trying to entice the women to converse, as <a href="http://statelibrarynsw.tumblr.com/post/74537663810/first-interview-with-the-native-women-at-port">painted by lieutenant William Bradley</a> in his journal.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/74509/original/image-20150311-24191-48ymw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/74509/original/image-20150311-24191-48ymw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74509/original/image-20150311-24191-48ymw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74509/original/image-20150311-24191-48ymw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74509/original/image-20150311-24191-48ymw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74509/original/image-20150311-24191-48ymw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74509/original/image-20150311-24191-48ymw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Governor Arthur Phillip chose the camp for being ‘the one place with no Eora’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">BBC/RSJ Films/Mark Rogers</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But it is one thing not to include Aboriginal characters, quite another to virtually ignore their presence altogether. And the future episodes of the show won’t do much to appease critics. The next few episodes of Banished contain only fleeting references to “the natives”. The odious private Buckley comes to admit that he came to New South Wales because of the “native women, all naked, carrying bowlfuls of fruit, all willing to fuck me”. </p>
<p>One sign of their existence comes when the company’s fishing nets are cut, apparently in retaliation. But the colonists would also have lived among the ashes of burnt out fires, huge shell middens, trees showing marks of fire, carved sea creatures adorning rock platforms. From the safety of the water, the expert Eora fisherwomen might have watched the beach scenes as they manoeuvred their canoes. </p>
<p>It is true that violent conflict did not come immediately. But for two centuries, until the landmark Mabo decision of 1992 recognised Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander’s rights to the land, the legal fiction was maintained that Australia had not really been owned by its Aboriginal inhabitants before “civilization” arrived in 1788. </p>
<p>During the 1990s bitter political, public and academic debates known as the <a href="http://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2009/november/1270703045/robert-manne/comment">History Wars</a> fought over how to present this troubled past. Banished is clearly aimed at a British audience less aware of this recent debate; governor Phillip comes across as an enlightened and moral leader founding a nation against all odds. In Australia, by contrast, the First Fleet’s arrival is increasingly remembered as a dispossession. </p>
<p>Banished was a real opportunity to set an agenda for the portrayal of this crucial moment in Australian history. Unfortunately, in bringing old stereotypes of women and indigenous people to the fore, it has missed that boat.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/38466/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katherine Foxhall does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Banished is clearly aimed at a British audience less aware of the recent debate about Australia’s history.Katherine Foxhall, Lecturer in History, University of LeicesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/180852013-09-13T04:10:08Z2013-09-13T04:10:08ZWhat will the West Papua flotilla mean for Australia-Indonesia relations?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/31206/original/smq9v997-1378949117.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">West Papuan refugee Amos Wainggai is on board the Freedom Flotilla, headed for Papuan shores from Australia. What will it mean for our relations with Indonesia?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Cleo Mary Fraser</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Given the extreme sensitivity with which the issue of West Papua is viewed in Indonesia, the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-11/an-papua-flotilla-approaches-indonesia27s-marine-border/4951834">“Freedom Flotilla”</a> heading from Australia to the Indonesian-controlled territory is sure to create tension. </p>
<p>The question now is how much tension and how it will be handled by all involved.</p>
<p>West Papua refers to the western half of the island of New Guinea that has been under Indonesian rule since 1962. Indigenous Melanesians living there have continued to call for self-determination. Recently, Australian Aboriginal political activists have entered the fray. One result of this is the Freedom Flotilla, which is aimed at bringing this issue into the mainstream.</p>
<p>The Aboriginal link is important. The genesis of the Freedom Flotilla was in the Aboriginal Tent embassy in Canberra in 2000, when the newly-arrived West Papuan exile Jacob Rumbiak met with Aboriginal elder “Uncle” Kevin Buzzacott and explained the dilemma facing the West Papuans. </p>
<p>This struck a chord with Buzzacott. It resonated with the long history of Aboriginal occupation, dispossession and marginalisation. Buzzacott saw the connection as deeper than shared victimhood. He traced their ancient historical and cultural relationship back to prehistoric times with its common past and ancestry.</p>
<p>The Freedom Flotilla started in Blanche Springs, adjacent to Lake Eyre in Australia’s arid heart. Carrying water from this spring and ashes from the Tent Embassy fireplace, the quest came to symbolise a re-connection of these two ancient peoples. The group travelled from the desert to Cairns and boarded the flotilla for the final leg to Merauke on Papua’s southern coast. Two of the vessels subsequently broke down, leaving only the flotilla’s flagship vessel, The Pog. </p>
<p>Flotilla members were issued with Aboriginal passports and given entry visas by Rumbiak in his self-proclaimed capacity as “Foreign Minister” of the “Federated Republic of West Papua”.</p>
<p>Flotilla spokesman Ruben Blake says the flotilla hopes to draw attention to the situation in West Papua and pave the way for journalists and independent observers to have greater access. Pointedly, the flotilla also hopes to highlight Australia’s silence on West Papua and its complicity through its funding of the Indonesian military.</p>
<p>But no-one knows how this will end. The Indonesian government has <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/20/indonesia-west-papua-flotilla-force">signalled its intention</a> to stop the flotilla from landing in West Papua and its armed forces have been told to intercept the vessel. The best outcome would be if the boat is peacefully “turned around” - but other, less benign, outcomes are also possible. The worst would be the use of armed force by the Indonesians, which seems unlikely but given the the military’s violent reputation, it is not impossible. </p>
<p>Another scenario involves The Pog being impounded and the crew arrested, if for no other reason than travelling without valid passports and visas. This could mean a long spell in jail and loss of the vessel. </p>
<p>The possibility also remains for a major diplomatic incident.</p>
<p>Former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr has withdrawn diplomatic support for people who intentionally break other country’s laws. He also <a href="https://www.indymedia.org.au/2013/08/27/bob-carr-publicly-attacks-west-papua-activists">dismissed</a> flotilla members as being engaged in a “cruel hoax” in promoting the “impossible” dream of an independent West Papua. But this will not put the story back in the can. </p>
<p>Incoming Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop will be left to deal with seething anger felt in Jakarta at what it sees as a direct threat to their sovereignty coming from Australia shores. After Australia’s involvement in East Timor’s liberation, distrust and suspicion of Australian motives remains high. The possibility of a freeze in bilateral relations, as occurred in 2006 over Australia <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/papuan-boat-arrival-fuels-crisis/2006/04/04/1143916526871.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1">accepting West Papuan refugees</a>, persists.</p>
<p>Given all the areas in which Australia and Indonesia must engage, such as on asylum seeker policy, this relationship is of first order importance for both countries. But whichever way this episode ends, the Freedom Flotilla has highlighted one of the most fraught issues between Australia and Indonesia.</p>
<p>Also seeping into the collective consciousness is the notion that West Papua is the “new” East Timor. Increased militarisation, massive resource development and a huge influx of non-Melanesian Indonesian migrants has intensified the situation.</p>
<p>This bodes badly for the bilateral relationship. </p>
<p>If Australia’s future relations with Indonesia hang on the thread of West Papua - as the diplomatic frenzy created by six people on a leaking boat seems to imply - much more attention must be devoted to the grievances of the West Papuan people. This has now become a matter of regional security.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/18085/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jim Elmslie does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Given the extreme sensitivity with which the issue of West Papua is viewed in Indonesia, the “Freedom Flotilla” heading from Australia to the Indonesian-controlled territory is sure to create tension…Jim Elmslie, Visiting Scholar, Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/172272013-08-24T23:10:40Z2013-08-24T23:10:40ZUnfinished business: reducing Indigenous incarceration<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29748/original/yvm34qz7-1377154809.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Koori women are the fastest-growing group in the Victorian prison population.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image from shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every two years, the Productivity Commission <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/gsp/indigenous">releases a report</a> on the level of Indigenous disadvantage in Australia. These reports make for fairly bleak reading: most indicators show no change, and in some areas the “gap” between Indigenous and non-Indigenous outcomes continues to grow. Indigenous imprisonment is one such area. </p>
<p>From 2000 to 2010, the Indigenous imprisonment rate <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/111610/key-indicators-2011-overview-booklet.pdf">increased</a> by 52%, while non-Indigenous rates have hardly changed.</p>
<p>This will come as no surprise to anyone involved with Australian justice systems. Indigenous over-representation at all stages of the justice process first made headlines during the <a href="http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/fact-sheets/fs112.aspx">Deaths in Custody Royal Commission</a> in the early 1990s and has been flagged as a serious problem in report after report in the decades since then.</p>
<p>The most recent contribution to this depressing debate is <a href="http://www.humanrightscommission.vic.gov.au/media/k2/attachments/Unfinished_business_-_Koori_women_and_the_justice_system.pdf">Unfinished Business: Koori Women and the Justice System</a>, released by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission on Monday. The report shows Koori women are the fastest-growing group in the Victorian prison population and are imprisoned at a higher rate than non-Koori women and Koori men. </p>
<p>According to the report, this over-representation in arrest, conviction and imprisonment is driven by family violence and sexual abuse, inter-generational trauma, mental illness, drug and alcohol abuse and, tragically, high rates of re-imprisonment. </p>
<p>The authors call for the development of effective diversionary options for Koori women, arguing that the existing suite of programs available to offenders are neither culturally or gender appropriate. Importantly, the report doesn’t stop with a “more should be done” set of recommendations, but argues specifically for a residential community-based service model (the “hub”) linked to a range of case management and treatment services (the “spokes”). </p>
<p>But if the past two decades have taught us anything about this problem it’s that recommending solutions in the form of more and better programs doesn’t necessarily change anything. In the last year alone there have been reports addressing this issue by the <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/senate_committees?url=legcon_ctte/completed_inquiries/2010-13/justice_reinvestment/report/index.htm">Senate</a>, the <a href="http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/mr/1-20/20.html">Australian Institute of Criminology</a>, the <a href="http://www.nidac.org.au/images/PDFs/NIDACIpublications/revised_bridges_and_barriers.pdf">Australian National Council on Drugs</a>, the <a href="http://www1.lawcouncil.asn.au/lawcouncil/images/LCA-PDF/mediaReleases/1333_-_Law_Council_calls_on_COAG_to_deal_with_unacceptable_Indigenous_imprisonment_rates.pdf">Law Council of Australia</a> and a variety of academic and non-government organisations. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29774/original/jqxsh7sm-1377217730.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29774/original/jqxsh7sm-1377217730.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29774/original/jqxsh7sm-1377217730.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29774/original/jqxsh7sm-1377217730.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29774/original/jqxsh7sm-1377217730.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29774/original/jqxsh7sm-1377217730.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29774/original/jqxsh7sm-1377217730.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Juvenile Indigenous offenders have been the focus of a great deal of attention.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Flickr/publik16</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So why is the problem of indigenous imprisonment so intractable?</p>
<p>The pessimistic view is that as a country we have elected, in the last two decades, to go down a route of “penal expansionism” – imprisoning people at ever higher rates on the basis that this is justified by the improved security for the community - and that Indigenous Australians are particularly disadvantaged by this strategy. </p>
<p>In effect, the system-wide changes associated with the “politics of insecurity” (zero-tolerance policing, longer sentences, more restrictive bail and parole policies, targeting of repeat offenders) overwhelm any marginal changes to justice processes designed to limit their impact on Indigenous offenders. Criminology expert Chris Cunneen <a href="http://www.ilc.unsw.edu.au/sites/ilc.unsw.edu.au/files/articles/AILR%2015-1%20Chris%20Cunneen%20-%20Penal%20Expansionism.pdf">refers to this approach</a> as “governing through crime” and argues that it has meant that the goal of reducing Indigenous imprisonment has become increasingly insignificant.</p>
<p>On a more positive note, there has been an increase in the range of diversionary programs for Indigenous people or specifically for Indigenous women. The Australian Institute of Criminology <a href="http://www.aic.gov.au/documents/E/C/7/%7BEC7ECE38-209C-4FAA-876A-246D2F6A5DCF%7Drip13.pdf">identified a range of programs available</a> to Indigenous women offenders across Australia, and there is even larger number of programs for Indigenous male offenders. </p>
<p>Juvenile Indigenous offenders have been the focus of a great deal of attention and there is <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/111609/key-indicators-2011-report.pdf">some evidence</a> that diversion efforts are having an effect – Indigenous juvenile detention rates were stable from 2000 to 2006, increased in 2007 and 2008 and then declined again in 2009. </p>
<p>However such programs are typically relatively small scale and often suffer from inconsistent funding. A key problem is that there are few proven intervention models for Indigenous offenders and scant evaluation evidence about what forms of intervention are effective. </p>
<p>In the last two years, <a href="http://justicereinvestmentnow.net.au/">Justice Reinvestment</a> has been promoted as a solution for Indigenous over-representation in prison. Justice Reinvestment is the idea that funding currently directed into custodial services is reinvested into education, programs and services that address the underlying causes of crime, and that this investment is justified by the savings derived from lower crime and imprisonment rates. </p>
<p>The United States is widely regarded as the exemplar of penal expansionism. But in August, attorney-general Eric Holder called for a fundamental change in approach, <a href="http://www.justice.gov/iso/opa/ag/speeches/2013/ag-speech-130812.html">arguing</a> that “we cannot simply prosecute or incarcerate our way to becoming a safer nation”, and citing Justice Reinvestment as the vehicle for reform.</p>
<p>The social and institutional problems the US faces as a result of its decades-long commitment to penal expansionism are no less significant than the ones that Australia faces. If they can change, so can we.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/17227/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stuart Ross was a former supervisor of Simone Gristwood, a co-author of Unfinished Business.</span></em></p>Every two years, the Productivity Commission releases a report on the level of Indigenous disadvantage in Australia. These reports make for fairly bleak reading: most indicators show no change, and in…Stuart Ross, Director and Senior Researcher, Melbourne Criminological Research and Evaluation, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/147712013-08-19T20:25:21Z2013-08-19T20:25:21ZExplainer: Indigenous policy and the 2013 federal election<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/24675/original/c9g9ymjk-1369890326.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Neither party should lose sight of Indigenous issues ahead of the federal election.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>With the federal election in our sights, we are reminded of the long journey ahead in addressing past wrongs and present challenges for Australia’s Indigenous peoples.</p>
<p>Historically, the similarities outweigh the differences when comparing the positions of the two major parties on Indigenous issues, and the current policy approach is remarkably bipartisan.</p>
<h2>NT intervention</h2>
<p>Most obvious among these policies is the controversial <a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1658795/Factbox-The-Stronger-Futures-legislation">Northern Territory intervention</a> in remote communities, introduced by the Howard government in 2007. It was <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2007-11-03/labor-wont-roll-back-nt-intervention-rudd/714904">encouraged by the ALP</a> in opposition under Kevin Rudd and then continued in government. </p>
<p>In 2012, the Gillard government extended the policy for another decade with the <a href="http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/our-responsibilities/indigenous-australians/programs-services/stronger-futures-in-the-northern-territory-0">Stronger Futures legislation</a>, focusing on employment, education, community safety and policing, alcohol management and welfare payment income management.</p>
<p>Observers protested the government’s discriminatory, punitive measures and the lack of meaningful consultation with the targeted communities. From the opposition benches, the Coalition <a href="http://www.nigelscullion.com/media-hub/interview-richard-margetson-darwin-abc-radio-afternoon-program-federal-indigenous-affairs-">criticised</a> implementation aspects but has broadly supported all measures.</p>
<h2>Closing the gap</h2>
<p>Labor’s second important Indigenous policy is the <a href="http://www.coag.gov.au/closing_the_gap_in_indigenous_disadvantage">Closing the Gap Strategy</a>. Originally negotiated by Rudd in 2007-08 through the Council of Australian Governments, the strategy is primarily implemented by the state and territory governments under <a href="http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/our-responsibilities/indigenous-australians/programs-services/closing-the-gap/closing-the-gap-national-partnership-agreements">National Partnership Agreements</a>. </p>
<p>The six target areas covering health, education and employment reflect federal priorities but are generally state responsibilities. Progress has been <a href="http://www.pm.gov.au/press-office/statement-house-representatives-closing-gap">limited</a> so far, with increased pre-school access and infant mortality rates overshadowed by poor NAPLAN results and fluctuating employment participation. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, as Indigenous affairs minister Jenny Macklin has <a href="http://jennymacklin.fahcsia.gov.au/node/2314">argued</a>, real results will only be achieved with a long-term commitment made by all levels of government and guaranteed funding which goes beyond the life of each government’s electoral cycle. </p>
<p>The Coalition has supported these targets, and committed to continuing to develop the Australian Employment Covenant and <a href="http://www.fiftythousandjobs.com.au/">GenerationOne</a>. Over the weekend, opposition leader Tony Abbott <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-17/abbott-pledges-45m-for-indigenous-job-scheme/4894172">pledged A$45 million</a> for the GenerationOne scheme, which provides for training and employment for Indigenous persons.</p>
<h2>Constitutional recognition</h2>
<p>Another policy area with significant bipartisan support is the planned referendum to <a href="http://www.recognise.org.au/">recognise</a> Indigenous Australians as the First Peoples in Australia in the Constitution. Opposition leader Tony Abbott is firmly in favour of the vote and in a notable break with Coalition policy under former prime minister John Howard, he recently <a href="http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/genpdf/chamber/hansardr/e1b9741b-6117-42e6-bb54-219d93714fe7/0025/hansard_frag.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf">praised</a> the symbolism of Rudd’s <a href="http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/our-country/our-people/apology-to-australias-indigenous-peoples">apology</a> and Paul Keating’s <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/sadly-the-redfern-speech-is-still-the-highwater-mark-for-inclusion-20121209-2b3gd.html">Redfern speech</a>.</p>
<p>Abbott <a href="http://liberal.org.au/latest-news/2013/03/15/tony-abbott-address-sydney-institute-sydney">acknowledged</a> that: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>…practical and symbolic reconciliation are two sides of the same coin.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Indigenous land and developing the North</h2>
<p>The size and potential of the Indigenous land estate has long been an area of contention. The intractability of the native title system has slipped off the policy agenda for all but the <a href="http://greens.org.au/policies/aboriginal-torres-strait-islander-peoples">Greens</a>, however both major parties support the funding of conservation activities on Indigenous land on declared <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/indigenous/ipa/index.html">Indigenous Protected Areas</a> (IPAs).</p>
<p>In one of the few detailed policy announcements from the Coalition to date, the policy for <a href="http://lpaweb-static.s3.amazonaws.com/Policies/NorthernAustralia.pdf">developing Northern Australia</a> promises to deliver investment in education, employment, health and infrastructure, along with increased migration, but pays little heed to Indigenous priorities in the region. In a tone reminiscent of the Howard era, the Coalition notes with disapproval the “red tape” faced by mining companies and other commercial interests seeking access to Indigenous land. </p>
<p>The Labor party has announced a <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/tax-cuts-economic-zone-part-of-kevin-rudds-plans-to-develop-northern-australia-20130815-2rybz.html">similar plan</a> to develop the Territory but no details have been released.</p>
<h2>Coalition policy: new engagement?</h2>
<p>Abbott is noted for his passionate concern for Indigenous issues. Annually visiting remote communities, particularly in Cape York, Abbott demonstrates an unusual commitment to understanding Indigenous perspectives. His closeness to socially conservative Indigenous leaders <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/national/abbott-may-be-best-hope-on-hot-issue-8230-on-noel-time-20111016-1lrlk.html">Noel Pearson</a> and <a href="http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/warren-mundine-ready-to-assume-position-of-power-under-tony-abbott/story-e6frfkp9-1226645684587">Warren Mundine</a> has been widely noted. </p>
<p>While announcing the Liberal Party’s <a href="http://www.liberal.org.au/latest-news/2013/08/10/tony-abbott-establishment-prime-ministers-indigenous-advisory-council">Indigenous affairs policy</a> ahead of the election, Abbott named Mundine as the Chair of his proposed Prime Minister’s Indigenous Advisory Council, which will “focus on practical changes to improve the lives of Aboriginal people”. </p>
<p>This hand-picked body looks very similar to the Howard government’s National Indigenous Council, and marks a departure from the Labor government’s <a href="http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/australianlaborparty/pages/644/attachments/original/1376012601/Closing_the_Gap_Policy_Statement.pdf">pledge</a> to support “community-led initiatives” and encourage Indigenous leadership at the community level.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/25127/original/bg47rb5f-1370486878.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/25127/original/bg47rb5f-1370486878.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/25127/original/bg47rb5f-1370486878.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/25127/original/bg47rb5f-1370486878.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/25127/original/bg47rb5f-1370486878.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/25127/original/bg47rb5f-1370486878.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/25127/original/bg47rb5f-1370486878.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Opposition leader Tony Abbott has a close relationship with prominent Indigenous figures like Warren Mundine - will this affect his policies on Indigenous issues if he wins government?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Alan Porritt</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In a <a href="http://liberal.org.au/latest-news/2013/03/15/tony-abbott-address-sydney-institute-sydney">speech</a> to the Sydney Institute in March, Abbott reconfirmed the 2010 Coalition election commitment to bring Indigenous affairs under the prime minister’s portfolio, with a dedicated Minister for Indigenous Affairs, marking a “new level of engagement” for government. </p>
<p>The opposition’s shadow Indigenous affairs minister Nigel Scullion explains that this will <a href="http://tracker.org.au/2013/04/the-man-who-stands-to-be-minister/">improve cross-portfolio coordination</a>, with oversight from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.</p>
<p>The Coalition’s current focus on budget restraint may raise concerns about Indigenous-specific programs future and government-funded organisations. It has criticised wasteful spending and targeted state and territory governments for inefficient policy implementation. </p>
<p>Scullion <a href="http://issuu.com/first_nations_telegraph/docs/scullion_warns_congress_on_funding">challenged</a> the ongoing government funding for the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples, which was established by Labor to engage in consultation and policy advocacy. The Coalition promised to “overhaul” the Indigenous Land Corporation and Indigenous Business Australia.</p>
<h2>Unexplored issues</h2>
<p>Most Indigenous affairs funding (an estimated <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/gsp/ier/indigenous-expenditure-2012">78% of expenditure</a>) is allocated through mainstream programs, rather than Indigenous-specific programs. Indigenous Australians are more intensive users of mainstream services on a per capita basis, having greater needs in terms of health, employment, education and housing. </p>
<p>Mainstream policy initiatives of the current Labor government in the lead-up to the election - such as the National Disability Insurance Scheme and the Better Schools (Gonski) funding program - may have significant implications for Indigenous Australians.</p>
<p>Important issues also remain unexplored in Indigenous policy. As both parties focus resources on remote communities, the 75% of Indigenous Australians living in regional and urban parts of Australia are neglected. Statistical inequality, as observed in the Productivity Commission’s <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/gsp/indigenous">reports</a> on Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage, cannot be addressed without increased concentration on the social and economic disadvantage of many Indigenous peoples living in urban areas.</p>
<p>Closing the Gap absorbs much focus in funding terms and reporting for Indigenous Australians. It reflects priorities determined by governments, and neglects what is important to Indigenous communities. There is a need to consult with the communities for policies to reflect the needs and priorities of Indigenous communities.</p>
<p>Indigenous policy is notorious for its complex delivery structures with multiple agencies working across different levels. This complexity means that there is a lack of transparency in terms of <a href="http://blogs.crikey.com.au/croakey/2012/10/09/beware-the-simplistic-headlines-on-indigenous-spending/">actual expenditure</a>.</p>
<p>Inconsistent <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/navigating-the-funding-maze-20130428-2iml1.html">data collection</a> makes it impossible to know whether funding has been spent or if it has had the intended impact. In a 2010 <a href="http://www.finance.gov.au/foi/disclosure-log/2011/docs/foi_10-27_strategic_review_indigenous_expenditure.pdf">confidential report</a> to Cabinet, the Department of Finance observed the “dismally poor” outcomes despite substantial expenditure due to duplication and poor coordination, threatening Indigenous policy effectiveness across all levels. </p>
<p>Governments of all parties at all levels have a responsibility to address these concerns and create better policy for Indigenous Australians.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/14771/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Diana Perche does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>With the federal election in our sights, we are reminded of the long journey ahead in addressing past wrongs and present challenges for Australia’s Indigenous peoples. Historically, the similarities outweigh…Diana Perche, Lecturer in Politics and Public Policy, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.