Opinion: Where to Now For the Rudd Government's Indigenous Policy?

By Rich Bowden

Img: Sorry. Credit: Spud Murphy/flickr

The release of the recent Productivity Commission's report into the state of the Australian Government's policy on closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians has provoked consternation in Government ranks and brought condemnation from the Australian media.

As this PM report of Thursday 2/7/09 explains, the extensive 700-page report shows there has been little progress - if any at all - in the key issues such as health, education and imprisonment rates.

The Government has gone into damage control with the Prime Minister admitting candidly that all was not well though pointing out that the results of his Government's policy may take some years before real results can be seen.

Despite the damning report, the Productivity Commission's Gary Banks praised the effort of the Rudd Government in tackling Indigenous problem areas: "The most significant thing is that this report is happening at all. It is the first time governments have not only expressed a strong desire to do better but have created a reporting vehicle that will hold them accountable," he said.

"This is an important break with the past. Despite decades of well-intentioned spending programs and policies, we learned very little about what was working and what wasn't."

But is all it seems? The Opposition has said the Prime Minister's mea culpa and offer of an olive branch to the Opposition to put aside ideological differences and work together to find a solution to the crisis is all too familiar.

They contend that such an offer to be part of a working committee on Aboriginal health has been offered before by the Government, only to have the plug pulled from a proposed joint committee.

They accuse the Rudd Government of cynically pretending to be bi-partisan over the issue only for the benefit of the media only to ignore vital Indigenous issues.

So what do you think? Is the Government genuine in its efforts to close the Indigenous gap? Or are critics correct in that its much-vaunted new approach to Indigenous Affairs is falling apart at the seams?

Can the crisis be resolved by the formation of a bi-partisan approach or will Indigenous policy always be thrown on the backburner when times get tough?

Have your say.