NO WONDER THEY'D RATHER TALK ABOUT 'RECOGNITION' INSTEAD
Hmm. So let's talk instead about white racism or indigenous recognition: "Aboriginal children under five-years-of-age are still dying at twice the rate of non-indigenous kids." Or should we just shift the goalposts?: "Morrison will say ... 'The targets... don’t tell you how realistic or achievable these targets were in the first place.'"
When we pretend that the culture is brilliant and just the programs need changing, this is what you get:
Scott Morrison is expected to warn against adopting a “deficit mindset” towards progress on Indigenous disadvantage, when on Wednesday he presents the twelfth “Closing the Gap” report, which shows disappointing results on key targets...
Among the current seven targets, those not met or not on track are for child mortality, school attendance, literacy and numeracy (where there is improvement), employment (which is stable), and life expectancy...
In 2018, the Indigenous child mortality rate was 141 per 100,000 —twice the rate for non-Indigenous children (67 per 100,000).
Hmm. So let's just dismiss the tyranny of these statistics:
“Until recently Closing the Gap was never a partnership with indigenous people: we believed we knew better. We don’t,” Mr Morrison will say, according to an extract from the speech.
“We must see the gap from the viewpoint of indigenous Australians before we can hope to close it, and make a real difference. That is the change we are now making together with indigenous Australians through this process.
“But I still see shortcomings in how we are doing this, in this kind of reporting, and the process as a whole. The targets don’t celebrate the strengths, achievements and aspirations of indigenous people.
“They don’t tell you what’s happening on the ground, or stirring under it. They don’t tell you how realistic or achievable these targets were in the first place. They reinforce the language of failing and falling short and they mask the real progress that has been made.”
Hmm. What is the different "viewpoint of indigenous Australians" on the much higher mortality rates of their children? On their much higher rates of skipping school?
Of course, it would be much easier for activists to keep talking instead about white racism, changing the constitution to "recognise" Aborigines, scrapping Australia Day or scrapping the national anthem.