MDFF 30 March 2019 Carrots and Sticks

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This Dispatch contains a significant error.  The correction came the next day and is published below
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The phrase “carrot and stick” is a metaphor for the use of a combination of reward and punishment to induce a desired behaviour. … Attracted by the sight and smell, the donkey steps forward to bite at the carrot, but of course, as it is attached to the stick, the carrot also moves forward and remains out of reach.

The above, extracted from the internet, epitomises the relation between Indigenous Australia and the authorities. I thought stopping work would give me more spare time- I was wrong. I therefore will simply list a series of recent events, and leave it up to you to ponder and analyse these and identify the carrots and the sticks:

1963 Bark petition
1967 Referendum
1975 NT Landrights
1987 Royal Commission- Deaths in Custody
1988 Barunga Statement
1992 Mabo
1992 Redfern Speech
1993 Native Title
1996 Wik decision
1997 Stolen Generations inquiry
1997 Ten point plan
2000 Sydney bridge walk
2001 Reconciliation
2007 The Intervention
2008 The apology
2008 Closing the Gap
2009 Australia endorses UN Declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples
2009 NT Four Hours English only
2010 Generation one
2012 Stronger Futures
2013 Recognise Campaign
2016 Closing the Gap Refresh (no kidding- just like a TV advertisement for detergent)
2017 Royal Commission-Don Dale
2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart

In this timeline, the ultimate betrayal was the dismissal of the Uluru Statement from the Heart by Malcolm Turnbull https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtEOu7CJtEM (Richard Flanagan– Garma Festival 2018) Malcolm could have gone down in history as a great visionary leader instead of the patrician capitalist who was knifed in the back by his own. He blew it.

From a 1922 speech by Mahatma Gandhi:

The greater misfortune is that the Englishmen and their Indian associates in the administration of the country do not know that they are engaged in the crime I have attempted to describe. I am satisfied that many Englishmen and Indian officials honestly believe these are the best systems devised in the world, and that India is making steady, though, slow progress. They do not know, a subtle but effective system of terrorism and an organized display of force on the one hand, and the deprivation of all powers of retaliation or self-defense on the other, has emasculated the people and induced in them the habit of simulation. This awful habit has added to the ignorance and the self-deception of the administrators.

The carrots are- justice, self determination and respect.

The stick is enforced assimilation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYLKGIf68So (Black fella, White fella- Warumpi Band)

Chau,

Frank

Correction. MDDF OOPS

Hiya friends,

You got me thinking, maybe I should put a deliberate mistake in every time. The response was almost instantaneous. A dispatchee informed me it is known as “collocation”
Of course it was Malcolm Turnbull and not Malcolm Fraser.
Both Malcolms prove that a leopard can change its spots. I won’t bother talking about Malcolm Turnbull who changed from being the voice of reason on climate change to a man who can’t see an olive branch when it is offered to him.
Whilst Vincent Lingiari and Gough Whitlam are known as Land Rights pioneers (and who hasn’t seen that iconic picture?), the NT Landrights Act  was actually legislated in 1976 during the Fraser Government. Malcolm Fraser later in life became a champion for Indigenous Rights, He was an active member of Concerned Australians who fought the Intervention, and continue to do so.
So embarrassed am I at confusing the two Malcolms that I’ll regale you with a tale about Malcolm Fraser (may he rest in peace) when he conspired with Charlie Perkins:
The bush telegraph told us Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser would visit Papunya. Proud residents of Yuendumu reacted with dismay at this news. Why didn’t he come to Yuendumu instead? We are a better community, after all!
A delegation of Yuendumu important men was assembled and set off on the back road due South to Papunya to tell Malcolm Fraser he’d made a mistake and should come to Yuendumu. On arrival they were intercepted by Charlie Perkins who assured them there was a good reason to choose Papunya. Charlie dissuaded them from approaching Malcolm Fraser.
That evening on the ABC radio we heard Malcolm Fraser launch into a tirade. He’d witnessed third world conditions in the middle of our great nation Australia. Rubbish everywhere. A totally unacceptable situation. Heads will roll. No, he was not blaming the local Aboriginals who were powerless to do anything about it. The fault lies entirely with those within DAA (Department of Aboriginal Affairs) who were responsible for running these communities….

DAA’s response? They hired an Alice Springs contracting firm to go to Papunya and clean it up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQna4f9b4OU (Tina Turner, Come together and respect.)

Humbly yours,

Frank