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Will an Aboriginal Prime Minister solve our problems? by Anthony Dillon he Australian newspaper has been promoting discussion about the possibility of an Aboriginal PM. While it would be good to have an Aboriginal PM, I think there would be huge expectations that he or she could fix the problems facing many Aboriginal people. I will return to that point shortly. I wish to see Aboriginal people in many different professions, including the top job. In addition to an Aboriginal PM, I want to see Aborigines working as plumbers, taxi drivers, teachers, life coaches, journalists, jugglers, cooks, air traffic controllers, etc. Many already are. But far too often Aboriginal people are placed in ‘pretend’ jobs. I agree with what Alison Anderson of the NT has said: “We need to phase out all the jobs we created for Aboriginal people: … the special positions … and all the rest. They imply that Aboriginal people cannot do normal jobs. We need to replace them with real jobs that require real education, jobs that are not dead ends but that could lead on to other jobs, including jobs in other places if that is what some people want.” The expectations on an Aboriginal PM will be enormous. No doubt there will be many who think that an Aboriginal PM can solve all the problems facing many Aboriginal communities and people simply because he or she is an Aboriginal person. I wish to know what it is that an Aborigine in the top position can do that a non-Aborigine cannot. Can someone please tell me? If Aboriginal people were vastly
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different from non-Aboriginal Australians with vastly different needs (many are indistinguishable from other Australians) then perhaps an Aboriginal PM would be useful, even necessary. But if there is such a difference, would an Aboriginal PM be able to understand the needs of nonAboriginal Australians? Australia’s first head of government, NT Chief Minister, Mr Adam Giles said he won’t use his Aboriginality to address the problems facing Aboriginal people. That is likely because Mr Giles sees the problems facing Aboriginal people as people problems, not Aboriginal problems. The biggest challenges facing an Aboriginal PM (or any PM for that matter) when trying to ‘close the gap’ is to address the problems of unemployment, and the victim mentality embraced by some Aboriginal people. With regard to unemployment, there are parts of Australia (particularly remote parts) which lack a private sector. Consequently there are very few unskilled jobs, for those with low educational standards. Further, unskilled jobs are becoming less and less – a problem impacting across the world. Where there are accessible jobs, it is often the victim mentality that holds Aboriginal people back. With regard to the victim mentality, some Aboriginal people believe that many (if not all) of their problems are due to colonisation and/or the white government. Following this view to its logical conclusion, it follows that they are victims, powerless to effect any change in their lives; hence they sit and wait (and die waiting) for the government to fix
all their problems. They talk about ‘oppression’, ‘sovereignty not ceded’, ‘this government have done nothing to us’. For an Aboriginal PM to change that mindset will be a huge challenge. The best evidence that these factors (colonisation and the white government) are not the ineluctable forces they are made out to be is the many Aboriginal people who are doing exceedingly well in this country. This is an inconvenient truth to those who promote the Aboriginal victim syndrome – usually sidelined, or ignored outright, or actually suppressed. Fortunately there are many Aboriginal Australians who have the ‘champion mentality’. And I am not just referring to our world class Aboriginal entertainers and sports stars. I am referring to the everyday folk who see the glass half full and view non-Aboriginal Australians simply as fellow Australians. Now for those who assume I am ‘blaming the victim’ please consider this: A doctor may suggest some lifestyle changes (losing weight, giving up smoking, etc.). Giving such advice is not ‘blaming the victim’ and neither is it paternalism. It is simply telling people how they can make a difference in their own lives. I thought that was called empowerment. To use the worn out cliché of ‘blaming the victim’ is a cop out and only further disempowers Aboriginal people. Yes, let’s celebrate if we get an Aboriginal PM, but let’s not promote the toxic message that an Aboriginal PM is what is needed to solve the problems facing some Aboriginal people today. The time to start solving problems is now.
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