Heeding Obama's message

I believe Dad was referring to the Pearsons, Langtons, Yunapingus and Mundines of the world who the media gravitate towards for all commentary on Indigenous specific issues. Although he didn’t use their names - he is far too respectful to furnish names liberally - I suspect they were the names he alluded to.

Take for instance The Australian newspaper’s story under the bold headline “Dole cut call if Aborigines won't work” on August 21, 2008, attributing Mundine’s words of wisdom to alleviating Indigenous youth unemployment.

"There has to be tougher rules, because indigenous people just aren't taking up the jobs,” Mundine said. “If you're not prepared to put your hand up for a job, no matter where it is, we shouldn't have to continue paying the dole.”

Respected Indigenous legal academic Megan Davis, in a December 2005 On Line Opinion article, highlights in unflattering terms Mundine’s political leaning well before he came to national prominence: “He preaches to conservative think tanks and a salivating, uncritical mainstream press an approach to Indigenous poverty that renders government, and Australians, invisible in the equation, and Indigenous peoples as the ‘deadbeat’ architects of their own misfortune.”

The well worn mantra “criticism is cheap” is one way of summing up the views of Davis but it’s what outspoken people, including myself, have to put up with if they dare to raise controversial topics. Shutting down CDEP, taking welfare off negligent parents and trading in land rights for essential service could well fall into the controversial category that has caused suspicion and angst among the broader Indigenous community of our outspoken few.

Perhaps the words of Barrack Obama, US Democratic Presidential nominee, from his recent Denver, Colorado speech could be taken on board by “our mob” while waiting for our nationally elected body to emerge to champion our cause:

… each of us must do our part to make our homes and businesses more efficient. Yes we must provide more ladders to success for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair. But we must also admit that programs alone can’t replace parents; that government can’t turn off the television and make a child do her homework; that fathers must take more responsibility for providing the love and guidance their children need.

Obama’s message is a simple challenge to individuals to take more responsibility for their family and to take on challenges that confront them through hard work and determination. It is also a message of being self sufficient and independent of government.

It is a message that should be followed by Indigenous Australians if they want to get ahead. If Barrack Obama can rise to the top in American politics from a single parent home - African father deserted his white American mother when he was a toddler - then it’s possible for others to do likewise in other parts of the world, including Australia.

We would be negligent in our duties if we put all our eggs in one basket in hoping the revised national elected representative body will be our saviour.

What if it never happens?

The response to a logical question from the floor late in the day by Geoff Richardson, about the time frame of government for the new body to be up and running, was met with dismay by all participants who travelled to Brisbane with great expectation.

“There’s been no commitment made by government or the opposition - I can’t answer that question,” was all our most senior Indigenous bureaucrat could offer.

Perhaps we ought to replay Barrack Obama’s Democratic presidential nomination acceptance speech made recently in Colorado, with specific reference to individual responsibility, as the pathway to success out of our difficult times.