[With thanks to Graham Young who was kind enough to fax me the article ---
Trudy]
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The Australian [Print Edition]
Tuesday, May 11, 1999
OPINION
Pain but no gain for Aborigines in Pearson's posture
by Pat O'Shane
As a sociologist, Noel Pearson makes a great Hansonite. His comment that welfare
turns Aborigines into "drunken parasites" reminds me of Frantz Fanon's writings
in "Black Skin, White Masks" (Grove Press, 1967), where he describes the
insidious allienating effects of colonialism on the black man, who changes his
speech patterns in an attempt to become more acceptable to the coloniser, who
tries to ingratiate himself in a variety of ways.
Fanon notes that not only does that black man no longer "understand the dialect
of his own people" but "above all he adopts a critical attitude towards his
compatriots".
"Confronted with the most trivial occurrence, he becomes an oracle. He is the
one who knows. He betrays himself in his speech".
And so it is with Pearson. His uttenrances betray him to be a person who knows
little, or cares less, for the history of blacks' experiences with whites in
this country.
For all his lawyer's rhetoric during the native title legislation debates, his
comprehension of the depth of dispossession suffered by generations of our
people seems minute. His pronouncements seem hedged with an eye to the main
chance, which he has publicly expressed as a desire to become a politician ---
one who apparently expects to be handed a seat without putting in the hard
yards.
There is nothing in what he has said recently that indicates his being informed
by a profound understanding of our history, and in particular the level of
dispossession (including loss of sense of self within the community and as
individuals) by our people.
The Macquarie Dictionary defines parasite as "one who lives on others or another
without making any useful or fitting return, especially one who lives on the
hospitality of others".
"Hospitality" connotes that one is a guest or invited stranger in the
home/hearth or community of others. Given the history of dispossession of our
land, which continues as I write, Pearson's use of the word parasite is
especially offensive.
There is no excusing someone such as Pearson who is highly educated, who moves
among the power elites of this country and who uses the language with great
flourish. He can hardly be said to be someone who doesn't know what he is
talking about.
The fact that he said these things in the company of the Minister for
Aboriginal Affairs, who then encouraged him to go public with his views, simply
compounds his sins; the present Federal Government is the most anti-Aboriginal
we've seen since the 1880s, when Australian governments put in place a ragbag of
"protection" legislation to ensure our forebears were not completely
exterminated.
Governments since that time have adopted a variety of policies towards
Aborigines, including welfare policies. It must be remembered that these
measures were implemented after people had been removed from their lands, shot
and poisoned, had their children taken away, their languages condemned, their
other cultural practices scorned and derided --- and they were left bereft.
Welfare policies had a lot going for them, notwithstanding that in many respects
their implementation led to disempowerment, thus rendering Aborigines (in common
with many other recipients) as abject mendicants.
To refer to Aborigines, then, as parasites is a gross example of blaming the
victim.
When I was permanent head of the NSW Aboriginal Affairs Department (1981-86), I
was to be heard regularly decrying the disempowering effects of welfare policies
and the fact that people had been stultified by the dependency such policies
breed. As one of the few people anywhere in Australia at the time to talk about
the issue, I was constantly trying to develop an understanding in the minds of
all Australians that if Aborigines were to become self-determining (in
accordance with the catch-cry of the day), then governments at all levels and
their bureaucracies had to develop policies and programs that enabled our people
to develop, maintain and practice certain skills.
That required clearly articulated, practically oriented programs of education
and employment training. The Department of Aboriginal Affairs, with the
encouragement of the Wran Labor government, tried to do that and was successful
in the endeavour. Almost nobody else listened to my warnings at the time.
Given the deleterious effects wrought on people by the uncritical application of
welfare policies, clearly we need sharp and critical anylyses of the policies,
the manner in which they have been implemented over time, the benefits and the
negative aspects.
The challenge for all of us who seek to build better communities in which
members can participate fully and functionally is to improve upon the gains that
have been made and to build on those. That is a far cry from what Pearson has
said, let alone proposes.
Indeed, it is significant to note that there was no positive proposal put
forward in what he had to say. Some leader!
The Canberra contagion, perhaps? Was he simply grandstanding? Is there a hidden
agenda --- to wit, political ambitions --- in relation to which he believes he
must appeal to the same, mindless, superficial and willful ignorance that the
Coalition and Labor forces in this country now wish to pander to?
Or was it some even meaner political opportunism? Whatever it was, he should
know --- and the reader should beware --- that he doesn't speak for us!
Dr Pat O'Shane is Chancellor of the University of New England.
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