Pearls and Irritations

Patricia Karvelas’s article reflecting on the Labor government’s ‘timid’, ‘pragmatic’, ‘realistic’ change of course in pursuit of bipartisanship on Indigenous affairs made for uber-depressing reading (ABC News, online, ‘Timidity reigns as Anthony Albanese backs away from Makarrata at Garma Festival’, 5th August). It confirmed that the institutional racism prosecuted by the No campaign, is alive and well. In the Trumpian era to say such things is to create victims who cry out: ‘how dare you call me a racist?!’

Well, if the opportunity to take the generous, kind, principled and carefully thought out offer of a representative Indigenous advisory body to parliament was quashed (c/o disinformation and cruel and deceitful politicking), and if this reinforces a situation where institutional racism remains entrenched in Australian society, then how is this not racist?

A few days ago, the latest Closing the Gap report told us exactly why the Voice was called for in the first place! The continued maltreatment and suffering of Indigenous people are there for all to see.

And, by the way, have those advocating for a new cosy alliance with the Coalition forgotten the fact that under the latter’s ten-year watch the situation of Indigenous people was not exactly rosy? And have you forgotten too how that titan of the Liberal party, John Howard, spoke of the “black armband” view of history and how he screamed at Indigenous people who literally turned their backs on him? For Prime Minister Albanese to now advocate sanctimonious appeasement in pursuit of bipartisanship is, let’s say, hardly the stuff of courage and leadership.

I reckon Noel Pearson hit the nail on the head when he exposed the core problem here; namely, that three percent of the population, the traditional owners of this land, have attained “extreme minority status”. They are presided over by great swathes of the population who know next to nothing about the complexities of Indigenous presence on these lands, what happened to them during violent colonisation, and why a Voice was necessary.

As it happens, I’ve been reading Marcia Langton’s brilliant Welcome to Country. Every non-Indigenous Australian should read it. It’s a marvellous overview of the wisdom and wonders of a people who have inhabited this continent for tens of thousands of years. It remains their land. It was stolen from them. If there was a skerrick of decency in Peter Dutton and others like him, they would sit and listen with dignity, grace and respect to what traditional owners have to say on just about every policy area impacting their lives.

Dutton et al would humbly acknowledge the wrongs done, the lasting harms, and how they might be guided by Indigenous insights. They would share all this with the nation. But no. Instead, during the course of the referendum campaign, Indigenous people were subject to repeated waves of infantile idiocy and outright racism.

We shouldn’t be too surprised by this – just think for a second what happened to Adam Goodes and Stan Grant. To now hear Dutton reject the Makarrata Commission is not only disrespectful and cruel, it also reflects the widespread ignorance of how colonisers stole and plundered Indigenous lands – murdering tens of thousands along the way. Dutton et al are seeking to place power exactly where they want it: right in the lap of those with majority status.

Despite all the yahooing over our true-blue heroes at the Olympic games in Paris, there’s no escaping what has been done to Indigenous people. The shadows of cruelty and injustice will stalk this nation. What Albanese needs to do is to stand firm, talk about why those courageous and principled Indigenous leaders didn’t show at the Garma festival, and then tell the nation why a truth and justice commission is necessary: why it’s important for the soul of the nation. Dutton et al have no idea of what this means, they simply don’t care. They want to cloak the past and cement majority status. To do otherwise, according to them, is to stoke division.

Colonialism is alive and well in Australia.

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