It was with disappointment and some bitterness that I read the Crikey article by Bob Gosford, which quoted great chunks from a document purporting to be minutes of a meeting I had attended. The first word which came to mind was “verballed”, but in truth the comprehensive misrepresentation that was achieved was the result of selective and self-serving omission of key aspects of the dialogue which took place between myself and the other Aboriginal persons present on that day.
I have had other things on my plate, and I had decided to just let it pass as one more salvo from a particular cabal of self-important whitefellas with an empire to defend and important people in high places to complain to. But when I was told that your contributor had posted a further rant based around the same meeting, I thought it was time to say something.
The meeting on 2 February 2009 involved a constructive and respectful dialogue between myself and the four Yolngu people referred to in Gosford’s blog post, Yalmay and Mandawuy Yunupingu, Djuwalpi and Rarriwuy Marika. It was an opportunity to explain my position to them. I am adamantly in favour of preserving Aboriginal languages and literacy. I explained to them very clearly that I have and always will be supportive of language classes in our schools, but in a structured time in the afternoons.
I will be pursuing an apology from Leon White for the outrageous and vulgar abuse he put in a letter he wrote to me that referred to a woman I considered a friend and a great leader — Dr Marika. As well as being a woman who understood the importance of retaining Indigenous culture and language she understood the importance for Northern Territory Aboriginal kids of learning proper English, and she educated her own children accordingly.
As regards the petition from Maningrida, my response was to point out that the view of the Djebbana traditional owners of Maningrida as expressed to me by an authoritative spokesperson was that they did not have any confidence in the bilingual program at the School (built up over years with a focus on Burrarra) and wanted their children taught English in the classroom.
No mention in Mr Gosford’s article about how I set the record straight about closing down a bilingual program at Numbulwar — a community where the reality of bilingual for kids is Kriol and English. It was me that sat down with the old people when I visited them to talk about education and language and worked out a plan through which their traditional language of Nunggubuyu could be revived and maintained.
I firmly believe that it is crucial for core curriculum subjects to be taught in English from the beginning of a child’s school years for the four hours in the morning. I will again point out again that non-Aboriginal linguists who had come to the Northern Territory to study and make careers out of Aboriginal languages had not left formally qualified Aboriginal linguists in their place, and that the only way that we could address that problem was for Aboriginal students to become fluent in English so that they themselves could obtain the formal qualifications possessed by those linguists and ultimately replace them.
Despite the suggestions from Gosford to the contrary, I believe that at the end of our meeting all five of us were in substantial agreement.
There are many other details of correction I could add. But I am tired of the nitpicking. Too much ongoing misinformation from whitefellas who can just walk away from the plight that faces our people.
As for Gosford saying “Hopefully this will be my last few words on the brief tenure of Marion Scrymgour as NT Education Minister”. They may be Mr Gosford’s last words on myself as Education Minister but I will be making damn sure that there will be more words from me on the substantive issues in this debate.
I am really disappointed in the Minister’s response to genuine concerns raised in Bob’s article
Minister, you could try properly resourcing remote schools. The NT Government claims it spends more money on education than other jurisdictions and this is true – as an average – but lets take the mainstream schools out of the equation so that we can clearly see the miserable amount you spend on remote schools in the NT.
Let’s compare SA Government funding of schools on the APY Lands with the NT. For a start NT funds schools for attendance whereas SA funds for peak enrollment. Furthermore, SA Schools all have global budgeting so the School Principal’s in SA generally employ at least 1 AEW per class. The end result is that in a school of 60 odd kids you will be lucky to get 2 teachers and 1 AEW in the NT, whereas in SA you will get 4-5 teachers and as many AEW’s as the Principal wishes to hire.
As to other resources – I wonder how many remote schools in the NT have interactive whiteboards?
But then you couldn’t help yourself, you had to try to deflect criticism of your handling of the portfolio by claiming reverse discrimination? “Too much ongoing misinformation from whitefella’s who can just walk away from the plight that faces our people”
It pains it say it, but this is really disgraceful.
It was with disappointment and some bitterness that I read Marion Scrymgeour’s response to Bob Gosfords’s articles. I’m one of that “particular cabal of self-important whitefellas with an empire to defend…”. I’m also one of the “whitefellas who can just walk away from the plight that faces our people”.That I haven’t done so in 35 years is a moot point.
The assertion that “non-Aboriginal linguists who had come to the Northern Territory to study and make careers out of Aboriginal languages had not left formally qualified Aboriginal linguists in their place” whilst true, is highly unfair. These “places” no longer exist.
I was in Yuendumu when the Yuendumu Social Club (which is presently being denied a licence by the Intervention) paid for the late Prof.Ken Hale to travel from the U.S. to help set up the bilingual program at our school. That was 1974. Ken Hale was as far as I know the only adult whitefellow ever to achieve native speaker fluency in Warlpiri. The first thing he did was to gather a then young and enthusiastic group of Warlpiri and teach them (in their own language) the principles of grammar and linguistics.
From that bright hopeful start several decades of struggle ensued culminating in the final victory of the ‘monolingual mind-set’ : 4 hours of English-only and as Ms Scrymgeour puts it: “in favour of preserving Aboriginal languages and literacy.. but in a structured time in the afternoons”
We pro-bilinguals aren’t talking about ‘preserving’ the languages. We are talking about respecting and valuing them and USING them (among other things to teach English).
From a linguist for every bilingual school the bureaucracy have managed to whitle it down to several (two?) based in major urban centres. As for qualified Aboriginal linguists, until their ability in their own language is recognised and given the status it deserves and counted towards such qualification, it will never happen.
To blame the non-Aboriginal linguists for this is disingenous.
Gozer, the ‘whitefella’ reference did not read to me as racist. In an Australian political context, I have found the terms ‘blackfella’ and ‘whitefella’ to be references to different viewpoints rather than racist put-downs. I think they are good labels which are widely understood. Scrymgour’s reference to Gosford as ‘whitefella’ was her suggestion that his point of reference is affected by his own upbringing, and the implications for his view of the world, rather than an attack. As an urban white guy from an urban white community, I feel I could similarly use the term ‘blackella’ to describe Aborigines in the context of political discussion without being racist. I’m prepared to be corrected if anyone takes offence.
I have to comment on Marion Scrymgour’s article in today’s Crikey. Her rationale about learning English strikes me as sound, as a non-NTer. And Gosford may well be a total knob. But how is it acceptable to dismiss someone, generalising them in with a group of “whitefellas”? I really don’t mean to be trite when I ask, “isn’t this racism?” And from a Government Minister? Apart from the erudite tones, this doesn’t seem much different to me growing up getting threatened for money and cigarettes by Aborigine youths at the local train station. Only “whitefella” is now some acceptable enculturated term to replace the more commonplace “white c-nts”. No wonder so many white Australians find it hard to get past their own generalisations to deal with the people behind the race issue as people. And Scrymgour (of that delicious name, oh please, someone tell me the etymology) has done that issue a further disservice.