Coercive governance and remote Indigenous communities: The failed promise of the whole of government mantra
Coercive governance and remote Indigenous communities: The failed promise of the whole of government mantra Journal Article
Australian Indigenous Law Review
- Author(s): Greg, Marks
- Published: 2008
- Volume: 12
Abstract: The Rudd Labor Government elected in November 2007 endorsed, to some extent at least, the previous Government’s Indigenous policy settings and programs. Examples include the Emergency Response to Protect Aboriginal Children in the Northern Territory (’NTER’) and the Welfare Reform Project in selected Cape York communities. The expressed desire by Labor for a bi-partisan approach to Indigenous policy through a joint policy commission may also indicate that previous policy settings will not necessarily be repudiated. The question is whether the assimilationist and paternalistic assumptions and premises underlying the Howard Government’s approach still have resonance. To the extent that assimilationist assumptions may continue to have valency there is the potential for policies and programs to fail despite the best of intentions. Such failures are likely to present as failures of governance. This article canvasses in section II the general policy context in respect of responding to Indigenous disadvantage. The particular situation of remote Indigenous communities, so much at the centre of public concern and discussion, is described in section III. Section III notes the strong theme of hostility to remote communities (including a particular animus against small decentralised communities - often referred to as “outstations”) evident in the policy pronouncements and program settings of the previous government. Reminiscent of the 1950s and 1960s view of the role of remote Indigenous communities as staging posts to urban “civilised” living, the vulnerability of such communities to government policy whim and administrative competence leads directly to considerations of governance in section IV. Whilst noting the importance of Indigenous governance (section V), this article focuses in particular on “government governance” (section VI) and the “whole of government” mantra that has become the central motif of government policy and service delivery in respect of remote Indigenous communities in Australia in recent years (section VII). The efficacy of “whole of government” is considered in section VIII, whilst an account of aspects of one practical manifestation of this approach, viz the NTER, is provided in section IX. Sections X and XI put the Australian experience into an international context, noting the need to reference “government governance” to international standards and practice. It is concluded that only by observing the basic human rights obligations set out in international law, and by reflecting basic canons of respect, will Indigenous policy outcomes be successful, equitable and sustainable. The tendency towards coercion, benign or not, can only work to maintain inequality.