Timing, as they say, is everything in politics. Here’s a Churchillian Kevin Rudd at the Monday launch of the National Australia Bank’s Reconciliation Action Plan, a program run by Reconciliation Australia which aims to convince corporate Australia to help blackfellas through the creation of real jobs:
Lighting the candle of hope is one thing. Building a bridge called respect between indigenous and non-indigenous communities is another thing. Crossing that bridge and then embarking on the practicalities of reconciliation — that is something else.
It is indeed. All we need now is a “bridge too far” and a “fork in the road” and we’ll have the makings of a small village.
Now here’s the State of the Service Report, the annual Australian Public Service report card, released last Thursday. It’s not as flowery, but it’s just as interesting:
The representation of Indigenous Australians [in the APS] fell slightly during 2007-08.
That’s right, while Kevin Rudd is waxing lyrical to corporate Australia about the merits of hiring a blackfella, the ‘corporation’ he’s in charge of – the APS – is driving them away. And at record rates.
The proportion of Indigenous workers as a percentage of the total APS workforce is now the lowest it has been in more than a decade. It’s lower than it ever was under Howard, and he was the master at whipping the black worker.
From 2007 to 2008, the APS grew by about 5,000 workers (to 160,000). At the same time, the number of black workers shrunk by 49 — from 3,108 (2.2 percent of the total workforce) to 3,059 (2.1 percent).
Granted, Rudd is only responsible for part of the period (December 2007 to June 2008), but it adds up to seven months, which is more than half. He should also have performed better, given Labor’s pedigree on this very issue.
Shortly before Paul Keating was booted from office in 1996, his government instituted a series of reforms to ensure a boost in the number of black workers being engaged by the APS. Keating’s actions were sparked by a landmark report from the late 1980s (the Miller report) which showed that in order to engage Indigenous people in the ‘real economy’ and lift them from poverty, it was crucial for government to lead the way by employing more black workers.
The net result was that by the time Howard arrived, two black workers were joining the APS for every black worker that left: that’s an “engagement to separation rate” of 2:1. A good thing, and it led to significant growth.
It took Howard just four years to turn it around. The 1999-2000 State of the Service report revealed that Indigenous workers comprised 4.5 percent of total separations from the APS, but just 1.4 percent of engagements.
In 2005, the government realised it was in some trouble — the percentage of the workforce that was black had peaked at 2.7 percent, but was now down to 2.2 percent. So in August, Howard announced a major push by the government to fix it.
So how ridiculous did it all get? Well, the Department of Transport and Regional Services (DOTARS) launched a ‘cultural diversity program’ to attract more black workers. It ran for three years, and by 2005 DOTARS had managed to more than double its black workforce … from one to almost 2.5 workers.
And how did the Howard government go across the board? In 2004, there were 2946 Indigenous employees in the APS. Today, there are 3059.
The million-dollar question, of course, is how much did this farce cost the Australian taxpayer? Well, $6.4 million for the plan Howard announced, but individual government departments also blew their own money (God knows what DOTARS’ three-year cultural diversity program cost).
The truth is some “tens of millions of dollars” was expended for a net gain of just 113 black workers over four years, or about 28 workers each year. Can you imagine the blood bath if an Aboriginal organisation had wasted money like that?
Which brings us back to Kevin. Many of the Howard rats who presided over this farce have jumped ship. But quite a few remain. They should all be hung drawn and quartered.
All up, it’s a pretty disappointing picture, particularly given the “passion” of ALP members on this very issue while in opposition. Here’s former shadow spokesman on Indigenous Affairs, Senator Kim Carr following the release of the 2005 State of the Service Report, which revealed a mass exodus of black workers:
The government claims the whole thrust of their Indigenous Affairs policy is to bring Indigenous people into the mainstream economy. The (State of the Service Report figures) make a lie of those claims. This reflects the tragedy of the administration of Indigenous Affairs under this government. It is setting us back 30 years … the whole Howard government approach is characterised by an historical trend backwards.
Indeed. And the good news is that with Labor retaining the NT intervention and driving workers out of the APS, it appears to be only slightly worse.
Kevin Rudd can wax lyrical about “building bridges” and then “crossing them” all he likes, but can I respectfully suggest there needs to be less “lighting of candles of hope” and more “setting of fires under the a-ses” of some Canberra folk.
The Aboriginal people need to walk the road, us Australians walk, because they are part of us, and Lets get down to business and make sure we make the Aboriginal not just walk the \walk, but talk, the talk,. They are good at so many things, we need to come to terms, with this matter, and not just put them on the rubbish, heap, as no hoppers, lets show rest of the world we care,
With the Federal Government departments shedding workers as a result of efficiency dividends there probably isn’t much hope for extra Aboriginal staff while the departments have a recruitment freeze. There are plenty of good Aboriginal workers but many don’t have the stomach for government policies which are negative and create problems for Aboriginal communities.
As long as the Government Ministers rely so heavily on out of touch and scared but top down command control Canberra bureaucrats to advise them and implement policy little will change.
Sorry Jenny, the world won’t wait. The only responsible message that we can convey to Indigenous people is “get a job, get a good education for your kids, find a place where you can do this”. Where we are able to, we should help them do so.
To do anything else (such as delude them into thinking that there is an easy or practical alternative, or that the rest of the world owes them a living, or that capitalist society will ever invest enough in their rural enclaves to really make a difference, or that passivity and reliance on charity & welfare is healthy) is treacherous and irresponsible.
If the sins of the captains of capitalism’s infancy can be atoned for now in the form of compensation for other sins together with self-government, it would still be too late for the present generations, as such atonement is by no means near.
Besides,these benefits are likely to be as deadly (or more so) for habitual hunter gatherers as those of invasion, settlement, colonisation, christianisation, assimilation, imposed under-educated & under resourced self-management, welfare dependency, alcohol fuelled faux self determination, post-modern value-free theorising, & Mal, Tony, John & Kevin’s neo-paternalistic boot camps.
Even the offspring of the luddites, levellers & diggers fell into line & joined the working class when urban standards of living started to rise after the struggles of the Chartists; and the emancipated slaves soon saw the bright lights of Memphis & the Commodore Hotel.
It was not without reason that Frederick Engels said in his “Housing Question” in 1873, (Pt. III, Chapter 3): economic development “will be able to deliver the rural population from the isolation and stupor in which it has vegetated almost unchanged for thousands of years”, but only in the context of socail upheaval, technological development, thoughtful organisation & ongoing struggle.
Catullus, you have put your finger on one of the very basic differences between Aboriginal cultures and whitefella cultures – Aboriginal cultures were hunter gatherer until very recently, and as you point out, are still hunter gatherer in their orientation to making a living. Cultures with a few thousand years of agrarian background are far better suited to take advantage of opportunities afforded by 21st century living. However, may I point out that at the beginning of the industrial era, the captains of the new industries had alot of trouble persuading formerly agrarian populations of the “dignity of labour”, and that it took the removal of every other option or resource the peasant populations had in order to draft the new workforces. The history of contact with non-Aboriginal culture in remote regions is, in some places less than 100 years. The sorts of changes you are recommending Aboriginal peoples need to make are going to be multi-generational, much as it was for non-Aboiginal people. The dismantling of Aboriginal cultures has been disastrous so far. How is more of the same going to help? And where would these people move to?? It’s difficult enough for poor non-Aboriginal people to find jobs, afford rents, transport, food for children, childcare (if they do find jobs), etc. In remote communities, it is family who provide the resource base and the services needed. In the local towns, and the early days of settlements such as Papunya, alot of problems arose from bringing formerly dispersed groups into close proximity to cpmete for scarce resources. It is not as simple as making the sorts of choices you recommend.
so, it took Keating from the report of the late 1980s until 1996 to implement a policy – that was good. it took Howard more than 4 years to undo the emplyment/departure ratio – evidence of evil.
Rudd has seven months of the last 12 months – and is responsible for the falling rate of Aboriginal employment. What a sad bunch of virtual critics we now see positioning and preening themselves as the holdres of virtue. How many articles did the Canberra times run on this 1996 – 2007? yeah, sure.