Still Black and White

The debate about the Federal Government’s take-over
of Aboriginal land in the Northern Territories to address the problem of child abuse continues. The gulf between the Government’s “something must be done” position and those who say that what is proposed is paternalistic, opportunistic and purely political is caused by the conflict between those who still feel guilt at what happened when the European settlers arrived, and what has happened since, and those who believe that feeling guilty will not turn back the clock or improve the lot of a single abused child; and between those who believe that a traditional way of life can be resurrected or preserved and those who believe that integration is the only way forward.

These articles by Noel Pearson and Germaine Greer
(I don’t think the latter has appeared in the Australian press) sum up the debate.