Akerman: Voice won’t fix any of the serious problems

Linda Burney doesn’t need the Voice to provide priorities to Indigenous communities – she has the power to legislate now, writes Piers Akerman.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Burney hasn’t ruled out legislating the government’s Voice priorities as health, education, jobs and housing.

She doesn’t get it. She could legislate her priorities now. She is the minister. She has a vast department spending billions each year and has apparently just realised that something may need to be done about dysfunction in some sections of the wildly disparate Aboriginal community.

The reality is that she has been in federal parliament for the past seven years and before that was in the NSW parliament for 13 years.

In fact, identity politics and the fact that she’s a woman in politics seem to be some of her most lauded achievements.

According to the 2021 census, about 3.2 per cent (881,600 people) of Australians identified as Indigenous. Of these, an equally small number would live in the dysfunctional communities that attract the most publicity.

Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney at the Yes23 Campaign and Come Together for Yes event in Brisbane on July 2. Picture: Richard Walker

It is those unfortunates – living in areas where there are no economic opportunities and where the health, education, employment and housing statistics are so appalling – whom it is claimed will be the beneficiaries of a constitutionally embedded body that will advise ministers and the executive on anything it chooses, including foreign affairs (where there is already an ambassador for First Nations people – go figure).

That this is insanity goes without saying. It is obvious that the problems in each area of Burney’s priorities should be addressed by those who are affected. The simplest way to address the majority of health concerns begins with soap and water.

As ophthalmic surgeons, especially, but all medicos who deal with health problems in the bush emphasise, most problems begin with dirty hands and faces and can be easily remedied. What’s that, no water? The communities in which these people live have to take some responsibility for maintaining their own wells and sewerage systems and stop being reliant on fly-in, fly-out plumbers.

The same goes with housing. Vast sums are spent building accommodation tailored for multi-family living in accordance with cultural practices but they fall into expensive disrepair because no one will assume responsibility for their maintenance – often for cultural reasons.

As for jobs, well there are no jobs in most of the more remote areas.

When a resources company recently offered employment to locals, the response from the elders was that they couldn’t accept the work as they had never had jobs and weren’t anxious to train.

It’s been NAIDOC Week, yet another celebration of the proud Indigenous people, along with Sorry days and Welcome to Country and smoking ceremonies.

Like Ernie Dingo and Richard Whalley’s 1976 creation of the Welcome to Country, which Uncle This and Aunty That now get paid to perform at any occasion, so much of what is claimed to be traditional culture is of recent origin.

Women weren’t permitted to see a didgeridoo and the instruments were limited to the Alligator River area in the Northern Territory.

Traditional culture was big on ritual-scarring of men and women, incredible violence toward women, sorcery, tribal fighting and even forced group sex with young girls, sexual relations between old men and underage girls, and for the most senior of the elders, penile subincision.

The captains of industry who have been throwing millions of their shareholders’ money to support the Yes campaign should subject themselves to some real cultural practices if they insist on inflicting the ersatz variety on the nation.

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