I’m finding the comments of the chair of the NT Intervention Taskforce just a bit rich.
Dr Gordon said she would ask Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin, who meets the entire Territory Indigenous Intervention Taskforce for the first time on Thursday, to spell out how the takeover would proceed in the critical areas of health and employment.
“What we want to know is the direction the Government is taking,” Dr Gordon said.
“As the chairperson of the taskforce, I want to know: Do they have a plan for this next six months? Do we continue as we are? Do they have any new ideas?
“Everyone wants to know what is happening following the health checks; what is the next phase? That is what the Government will have to be looking at. There’s not much point doing health checks and then no follow-up.”
Indeed, there isn’t. And since the previous government provide funding for the first twelve months, presumably the absence of a plan is down to Mal Brough. And weren’t we told that the health checks were to detect child abuse? The point has been made repeatedly - by medicos on the ground - that no money was allocated for additional health services, and that the cost of the intrusive bureaucracy involved in income management and what not could easily provide some. The whole thing seems still to be characterised by confusion about its objectives, and a lack of clarity about what exactly is to be achieved. That’s hardly surprising, since it seems to have been characterised by mountains of rhetoric and policy ad-hocery right from the start.
Gordon does appear to be stuck in the “magic wand” syndrome that characterised this thing from the start. How could you conjure up health and employment programs at the drop of a hat when no money has been allocated and no planning done? I suspect the employment aspect of it, in particular, would be enormously difficult to work out - Mal Brough seemed to think that rhetorical exhortation would be enough to suddenly create economic opportunities to match the stick aspect of it all.
I’m sure Rudd knows all this - hence a comprehensive twelve month review.
But if Gordon is aware of the shortcomings of the whole thing, why doesn’t she have some planning in place?
It will be very interesting to see how they will roll it out right across the country!
“It will be very interesting to see how they will roll it out right across the country!”
I reckon that it would be a miracle to see the original inhabitants with half the basic services that the rest of us take for granted. Dr Gordon is just grumpy because she backed the wrong nag.
Her pin up boy is now playing golf.
As the leader of Howard’s national indigenous advisory body, Ms Gordon, a WA magistrate, would be aware that she is throwing down a challenge to Rudd on the future of that body, quite apart from what direction the NT intervention is likely to take. Since Labor joined in the sacking of ATSIC it has only itself to blame if indigenous leaders take the issues - in this case the Intervention Taskforce - and query what is the Federal Government’s policy. We’ve already had Jenny Macklin rule out any compensation for stolen generations with a policy that could have come straight from Howard. Let’s hope that Rudd can arrest the slide that a pre-election strategy of not making indigenous affairs a wedging issue and come up with a break through of sorts. You would hope that any interested indigenous advisor was champing at the bit to get in his ear on it, Ms Gordon included rather than waiting to be ‘consulted’.
Well, Gordon isn’t just an advisor, pablo, she has executive responsibility for the “intervention”. So there’s an onus on her as well to think through and plan for what to do next.
I recall Gordon being on a panel of Aboriginal spokespeople on SBS late last year. It was a forum on NT intervention. She was as I recall, way out of step with other Aboriginal represntatives and came across as some one who was being very cagy and trying too keep in Howard’s good books. So far as I’m concerned she’s a female version of Noel Pearson, and probably not to be trusted. If the e-mails I’m getting about NT Intervention, the Rudd Government and Aboriginal disatisfaction with Rudd from right across the political spectrum, Rudd’s mob have quite blotted their copybook. Kids, Australia Day/Invasion Day (depending on which side of the fence you’re on - I’m on the latter) is shaping up to be a real political corker. I haven’t seen Aboriginal people so mad with Government since the day they all turned their backs on John Howard back in the early days of his Government.
Yes, she too has a role to play.
I can’t fathom her choice of words. Didn’t Mal Brough’s intentions go beyond immediate health checks and bucketloads of extinguishment? In which case he would have provided his appointed body with a budget, a timeline, a list of milestones, etc. wouldn’t he?
Or did he say to her, “Look, Dr Gordon, you and I know this is an election-year stunt and all you have to do is pose in front of TV cameras and nod sagely when I speak. Anyway, we look like losing the election, so you’ll have to await further orders from Kevin Rudd and his people early in 2008.”
“Well, Gordon isn’t just an advisor, pablo, she has executive responsibility for the “interventionâ€?.”
She is likey just looking for advice and certainty for a chance in another power position. More than that given to those who were on CDEP who she did not seem to show much concern.
Methinks Dr Gordon protesteth too much. My understanding is that Rudd gave a solid commitment to maintain the current strategy, at least until it was reviewed. But then again that’s her role. As it is with every other interest group and lobbyist who is voicing concerns that the new Federal Government is moving either too fast or too slow, to overturn decisions and programs of the last government that they dislike.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Government develops overtime. Rudd has created a rod for his on back by agreeing to maintain policies and programs, including the NT Intervention, of the Howard Government at least until they can be reviewed. that are unpopular within Labor core constituency. So if there are any changes they are unlikely to be within the first 12 months if hey are under review or later if Rudd has given a commitment to maintain the present policies and programs.
This will cause frustration among many but I suspect that Rudd doesn’t want to be caught, as Howard was, with ‘core’ and ‘non-core’ promises, that overtime eroded Howard’s standing in the electorate.
It’s pretty obvious from what Gordon was saying that he was making it up as he went along. As we suspected all along.
So it looks like she has been left trying to work out what was written on the back of the envelope.
Yeah, and meanwhile, we get running commentary from Cap’n Brough every second day. Without any mention of the fact that the dude lost his seat with a swing of 10.3% against him, the fourth biggest swing to Labor of any of the 23 seats that fell. So much for tough love.
Meanwhile Ms Gordon will be out of a job as well.
[Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin has abolished the National Indigenous Council.
In a written statement, she says she has decided not to continue with the Council past its current term, which expired last month.
Ms Macklin says she believes the interests of Indigenous Australians would be better served through a different approach, and the Government will now consult Aboriginal people on developing a new representative body.
She thanked the National Indigenous Council for its contribution over the past four years.]
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/01/15/2139189.htm?section=justin
Nice work there, Jenny.
Any chance of abolishing and re-establishing the ABC Board?
[Any chance of abolishing and re-establishing the ABC Board?]
Nope, the ADHD Kid*(Conroy)has said that he will replace members of the board as their respecitive terms expire.
* Well, he reminded me of one when I attended a meeting with him, in my role as a member of the WA Friends of the ABC Committee.
Any chance of abolishing ABC news & current affairs, then re-establishing it as actual news & current affairs, as opposed to agenda-journalism as it is now?
Apology Kim the thread is about Dr Gordon who was very defensive on SBS, some time back and looked like a lib party hack.
Hope she gets work in another area, soon.
The ABC Board is established by legislation. The Board cannot be abolished unless the legislation is repealed.
Brough’s NT emergency, on the other hand, gave the Minister the right to impose his fiat. The situation was an “emergency” in the NT only because the Minister says it was an “emergency”.
Now a new minister has declared that there is no emergency. Ipso facto, the legislative machinery lapses.
The whole sorry farce was a horse and pony show. Bods in white coats chased Aboriginal children around the desert with speculums to serve a political purpose for the Howard government.
It didn’t work. Brough and Howard have been tipped out of parliament by their own electorates.
Good riddance.
An straight question for Mark:
Does he think that the Left-liberal program for indigenous affair - more self-determination, more civil liberties and more unconditional welfare - has produced satisfactory results?
Or is there something wrong with this program which has led to the partial break down of law and order, economic demoralization of men and the feralization of children?
I am not just trying to play gotcha! A political movement can only progress by practising the method of sci-tech: error detection and correction.
Anything less than that is not only intellectually dumb, it is morally wrong.
I think the question is framed according to a false ideological dichotomy, Jack.
Sue Gordons comments are particualrly inter4eswting given 1/2 page press release that she produced via the NIC from it’s first post-intervention meeting last year - it simply offered their full support.
That was the time to ask the questions about long-term planning and follow-up, not when the child health checks are more than half over.
I think Sue is a bit of a weather-vane.