Letters Blog | February 16, 2009 | 7 Comments
AS an Aboriginal man from the East Kimberley, I can say that your editorial ("Sorry symbols solved nothing”, 13/2) is spot on about the need for a “paradigm shift” towards the pragmatic approach espoused by Noel Pearson and others. In the East Kimberley, more than 80 per cent of our people are dependent on government for both income and for housing, and the social problems resulting from passive welfare are well known. In every way, remote Aboriginal Australians are in this worsening situation because the ladder of opportunity that other Australians take for granted remains out of mind and out of reach.
Housing, education and employment are the main rungs that Aboriginal people need to reach to climb out of their current malaise. Together, these are the main systems that drive Aboriginal success (or otherwise). At present, these systems do not support Aboriginal economic or social success, and in many cases they work insidiously to discourage progress. Fundamental changes are needed to welfare, CDEP and housing so that effort and responsibility, rather than passivity and dependence, are rewarded.
Progress towards independence for Aboriginal people at the individual and family level must be the first priority of government policy and investment—not just another one on a long list. Over time, this will reshape people’s expectations and behaviours—after all, it can only be Aboriginal people themselves, through higher expectations and positive action, who can truly close the gap.
Ian Trust
Chairman, Wunan
Kununurra, WA
THE article by Nicolas Rothwell ("Sorry state of affairs”, Features, 13/2) is a timely reminder that after the euphoria of the apology 12 months ago, there is still a long road ahead.
Having just returned from Alice Springs to assess the diabetes problem in the indigenous community there, I was appalled to see a Third World health disaster playing out in one of the world’s most prosperous nations. The consequences of diabetes are ripping through the community in Alice Springs and the remote communities. Kidney failure from diabetes is equal to the highest in the world and there are nearly 200 people receiving regular dialysis in this small community. Amputations, heart disease and deaths, and other devastating consequences of diabetes are frequent.
Rothwell makes the point that we still have a basic lack of understanding of the attitudes and needs relating to the shocking disadvantage of our indigenous community and how it plays out in us moving forward. And, in the meantime, more money is shovelled into a band-aid approach to solutions which go much deeper than our Western medical paradigms. And in the process, more of our indigenous community are struck down with early disability and death from diabetes, a potentially reversible disease. When will we ever learn?
Professor Paul Zimmet
Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute
Caulfield, Vic
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Mon 16 Feb 09 (02:05am)
Ian Trust: Well said, but you’re preaching to the converted. Tell this to the aboriginal “leadership” in our capital cities. Good luck with it, their raison d’etre is at stake. Noel Pearson, who’s tried for years to get the same message through some very thick skulls, hasn’t had much public support from anyone but Warren Mundine.
Professor Paul Zimmet: “When will we ever learn?”...?? With all due respect, I suggest you read Ian Trust, above.
Mon 16 Feb 09 (05:53am)
We continue, it seems clear, to make a rod for our own backs with this perpetual “them and us” mantra so clearly put (letters) by Professor Paul Zimmet who, this time, gets all teary-eyed about diabetes in a particular group of Australians.
Perhaps the professor hasn’t really looked lately but too many Australians, of all colours and genetic makeup, are suffering from that pancreatic disease and even the dogs are barking that it is caused by too much of the good life, for the want of a better term.
...too much booze, too much of the wrong food and bugger-all exercise is a recipe for diabetes type 2 - type 1 is usually hereditary and there’s not much one can do about that except stop giving insulin to sufferers who, in turn, bear children - and that’s, of course, totally out of the question.
In the well-meaning Professor Zimmet we have yet another example of the “pointers” in our overall community - learned folk who latch onto a cause.... and flog it to death while, sort of, self-flagellating..
The one or two percent of Australians who claim to be Aborigines are no more and no less than simply Australians and, in that vein the first letter writer, Ian Trust, is on the money in declaring that they need employment, housing and education - and not a fawning continuance of welfare, and then more welfare, paid for by their Oz fellows who actually contribute in this nation’s workforce..
Call me a bigot and racist; call me a pseudo-doctor of medicine (for my comments about diabetes) - call me what you will but I’m (still) here to tell you, dear reader, that we are on the wrong track if we continue to say one thing, because it’s “nice” while uselessly sitting on our hands - because it’s easier.
Mon 16 Feb 09 (08:20am)
Professor Paul Zimmet,
What are you doing to prevent diabetes and disability, other than flying into Alice Springs, ‘assessing’, and then flying out?
Mon 16 Feb 09 (09:37am)
I’m sure most Australians share Professor Zimmet’s anguish at the situation, but for many of us the difficulty is in identifying what to do. We’ve tried throwing money at the problem to no avail, ditto full integration, so there certainly is a need for a “paradigm shift” in our thoughts and actions.
But a shift to where? This issue seems to have more conflicting “experts” than global warming. How do we identify whom to listen to before forging ahead?
Mon 16 Feb 09 (10:44am)
Symbolism is important. What if everything was fine in Aboriginal society, yet the Prime Minister hadn’t apologised? There would still be calls for it today.
Everytime a politician opens his mouth, only 50 percent agree with him. Make no mistake, Noel Pearson is a politician.
Mon 16 Feb 09 (11:25am)
Sorry Ian but it is called ‘Initiative’; I think most of us want to see equal opportunities but we also want to see people take responsibility for their own lives (including their own children). Most Australians deal with terrible circumstances in their lives but move FORWARD, while most indigenous Australians dwell on the past, their problems and want handouts. Oh, and by the way, I’m getting sick of being called a ‘White C***’ whenver I politely refuse request for money, cigarettes, alcohol in towns, cities all over Australia. Adelaide, I’ve noticed has a massive problem around the CBD areas and I can tell you people are sick and tired of being abused, hassled, told to ‘get off our land you white c***. Take responsibilty for your actions and change your life.
Mon 16 Feb 09 (12:20pm)
Ever heard of google, Victoria?
Your post was more about being negative than genuinely seeking information.