A great opinion piece by Nyunggai Warren Mundine, Stop the waste: let our people govern, in The Australian this weekend commenting on the inadequacies in the mainstream policy approach to remote indigenous communities.
Mundine cites the donkey-
Mundine muses that, "If you ever wonder how governments could have spent more than $40 billion in the past decade on indigenous-
Mundine opines that his recent visit to Ampilatwatja "confirmed that we’ve got indigenous affairs and spending all wrong for the past several decades. Social housing in Ampilatwatja is just one illustration of this".
Mundine notes that "The abysmal state of housing in Ampilatwatja isn’t from a lack of spending. It’s from poor planning and management by people who aren’t from the community, don’t understand its needs, frequently don’t follow through and who don’t think locals are capable of doing it themselves".
"Last year, government built nine new houses in Ampilatwatja. In an environmental health assessment earlier this year, 31 houses in Ampilatwatja were inspected, including six of the new houses. Not one of those 31 houses has a compliant effluent-
"The nine new houses replaced nine existing dwellings, which were demolished and dumped at the tip. They were solid structures that could have been repurposed. This would have been sensible in a community where some small homes sleep 30 people. No one asked the community if they wanted the existing houses demolished".
"The attitude to communities such as Ampilatwatja hasn’t really advanced beyond the mission-
Mundine considers that "There can be a future for Ampilatwatja where people have real jobs and there’s a real economy. It can start with the activities already happening in the community which are performed by outsiders".
"Saying there are no locally skilled people isn’t an excuse. Instead, identify what has to happen to ensure those skills do exist in the community. This may involve an Alyawarr-
"Saying locals don’t want to work isn’t an excuse either. Quite frankly, I don’t believe this; and the health centre’s success at local employment suggests otherwise".
Mundine cites the donkey-
Mundine muses that, "If you ever wonder how governments could have spent more than $40 billion in the past decade on indigenous-
Mundine opines that his recent visit to Ampilatwatja "confirmed that we’ve got indigenous affairs and spending all wrong for the past several decades. Social housing in Ampilatwatja is just one illustration of this".
Mundine notes that "The abysmal state of housing in Ampilatwatja isn’t from a lack of spending. It’s from poor planning and management by people who aren’t from the community, don’t understand its needs, frequently don’t follow through and who don’t think locals are capable of doing it themselves".
"Last year, government built nine new houses in Ampilatwatja. In an environmental health assessment earlier this year, 31 houses in Ampilatwatja were inspected, including six of the new houses. Not one of those 31 houses has a compliant effluent-
"The nine new houses replaced nine existing dwellings, which were demolished and dumped at the tip. They were solid structures that could have been repurposed. This would have been sensible in a community where some small homes sleep 30 people. No one asked the community if they wanted the existing houses demolished".
"The attitude to communities such as Ampilatwatja hasn’t really advanced beyond the mission-
Mundine considers that "There can be a future for Ampilatwatja where people have real jobs and there’s a real economy. It can start with the activities already happening in the community which are performed by outsiders".
"Saying there are no locally skilled people isn’t an excuse. Instead, identify what has to happen to ensure those skills do exist in the community. This may involve an Alyawarr-
"Saying locals don’t want to work isn’t an excuse either. Quite frankly, I don’t believe this; and the health centre’s success at local employment suggests otherwise".
Article sources:
No comments:
Post a Comment