ADDRESSING PROBLEMS LONG IGNORED

And in greater detail...

The Good Party supported a Yes vote in the Voice-to-Parliament referendum. While the referendum was resoundingly defeated, many of the issues facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders were discussed in public forums. Our hope is that Indigenous homelessness, abysmal education outcomes, pervasive domestic violence, shorter life expectancy, high rates of infant mortality, and the general feeling of hopelessness the many First Nations Australians struggle with are properly and comprehensively addressed by Parliament.

The Uluru Statement from the Heart calls for Voice, Treaty, and Truth. That the Voice referendum failed shouldn't also negate the need for Treaty and Truth. The Good Party believes in truth-telling and the requirement for a treaty that sets out the mutual obligations and shared responsibilities between Europeans and Indigenous Australians. 

The Truth-Telling Commission

The Good Party will advocate strongly for a Truth-Telling Commission. Such a commission is long past due. All Australians must become aware of how catastrophic European settlement has been for the people who had lived and thrived on our continent for more than 60,000 years before Captain Cook landed in Botany Bay. The details of documented historical events adversely affecting First Nations Australians do not show our forbears in a good light. Still, we believe that the process will be cathartic and lead to a genuine understanding between Indigenous and European Australians.  

The Truth-Telling Commission will undoubtedly add to Australia's history if not completely rewrite it. The Good Party would see the truths revealed contained in a compulsory unit of education taught in all Australian high schools. Providing our children with truth tools will be essential if we want a broader and deeper understanding of our nation.

Treaty will follow Truth

The Good Party further believes that once the broader community understands the historical context for the burden carried by Indigenous Australians, a formal treaty with the people who were dispossessed of the land by European settlers will be more readily accepted.

Education is the key

The Good Party believes in the power of education to shape an individual's future. To quote the Uluru Statement from the Heart, "When we have power over our destiny, our children will flourish. They will walk in two worlds, and their culture will be a gift to their country." This expresses a central truth — First Nations Australians do have to live in two worlds. Education is the only way to achieve this harmoniously.

We believe in the power of education to shape an individual's future. To quote the Uluru Statement from the Heart, "When we have power over our destiny, our children will flourish. They will walk in two worlds, and their culture will be a gift to their country." This expresses a central truth — First Nations Australians do have to live in two worlds. Education is the only way to achieve it harmoniously.

However, the curriculums in the various states and territories don’t consider this. In primary schools where the students are more than fifty percent indigenous Australians, the Good Party proposes a new curriculum. This curriculum would include the "three Rs" (reading, ’riting & ’rithmetic), but also First Nations languages, culture, and history, and be weighted more towards these. Aboriginal children must be armed with choices when they leave school, just as ”European” Australians do. An education that provides a keen awareness of their history, dreaming, and culture will help children who have to walk in ”two worlds” on their way.

Providing mentors

The curriculum would also include mentors from First Nations people and Australians of European descent, men and women who have been successful in their careers, from tradespeople to professionals, plumbers to pilots. This would give First Nations kids goals to strive for by providing a practical, real-life window on the opportunities that await, delivered by people who are succeeding. This program would be introduced at the end of Year 6.

The importance of communications

Too many indigenous communities are bereft of communications. With the advent and introduction of products and services like Starlink, there is no excuse now for communities, no matter how remote, to be excluded from the Internet. Those of us with access to the World Wide Web, which has to be over ninety-five percent of the Australian population, know how important internet access is. The infinite information, the countless opportunities... This digital lifeblood cannot be denied to First Nations Australians. The Good Party would see the internet extended to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, no matter how remote.

Employing Indigenous police officers

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Indigenous Australians are the most incarcerated globally (2,346 per 100,000). If you identify as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, you are ten times more likely to see the inside of a jail than a non-indigenous Australian. There is a multitude of factors that account for the reasons why, but we could eliminate several of them by employing people who identify with the individuals committing the crimes. More indigenous Australians policing indigenous Australians would have to impact the incarceration figures positively. How many arrests get out of hand and escalate simply because neither party has an understanding of the other?

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, indigenous Australians are the most incarcerated globally (2,346 per 100,000). If you identify as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, you are ten times more likely to see the inside of a jail than a non-indigenous Australian.

Indigenous law reform

The law as it is understood in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities is markedly different from the law as it's understood by people living in suburban Sydney or Perth. For these remote indigenous communities, the Good Party would like to see punishments for non-violent crimes assessed differently. For example, First Nations Australians who commit offences would have their charges overseen by tribal elders rather than the conventional criminal justice system. The punishments administered to the guilty would also align with non-violent tribal practices. A system such as this would raise the esteem in which tribal elders are held by lawbreakers (and potential lawbreakers) in their communities, providing aunties and uncles with the tools to minimise crime in their own backyards. A system like this would undoubtedly lower the number of incarcerated Indigenous Australians, and it might also see a drop in the deaths in custody.

Addressing health problems

Too many indigenous children suffer from fluid build-up, burst eardrums, and other hearing issues that can seriously hamper their learning and development. Also, common infections like strep throat that can be easily cured are re-infecting First Nations children so that they then require open heart surgery.

The Good Party would address these health issues plaguing Aboriginal kids by seeing that specially trained health professionals are federally funded to regularly visit Indigenous schools and settlements and provide treatment. (To see more about how the Good Party would improve the health of indigenous Australians, go to our Health Policy [link])

Fostering Indigenous entrepreneurship with the Australian Future Fund

It's hard enough for anyone starting a new business, but Indigenous Australians also endure discrimination. Despite this, however, according to the latest Census, more and more First Nations people are having a go.

The Good Party would like to see Australia get behind these start-ups with a percentage of the sovereign wealth fund, the Future Fund, dedicated to helping them succeed. As the Fund is, in its own words, "responsible for investing for the benefit of future generations of Australians", getting behind our burgeoning indigenous businesspeople the Good Party would see as a worthy endeavour.