Abstract
Australian governments are committed to closing the gap between Indigenous and other Australians, yet progress is slow. This paper draws links between these policy efforts and a study of a remote shire in Western Queensland where indicators suggest better than usual socioeconomic outcomes for Aboriginal people. The study conducted over a three year period, and with significant input from Aboriginal people, examines the pathway through which these outcomes have been achieved. Local accounts suggest relations between long term families of both cultures have been a significant factor and are the outcome of an iterative dynamic between people, place and resources, that has a long history, and path dependence. Despite almost full engagement of Aboriginal people in employment over the past 100 years however, indicators do not yet converge, suggesting policy targets are ambitious. The persistent ‘gap’ may be the effect of insistence on making equality conditional on acceptance of settler norms, at significant cost to the lived expression of Aboriginal culture. Whilst this community has managed these tensions, nevertheless their experiences imply that access to community services in remote areas, rather than being a right, is precariously dependent on the vicissitudes of relationship, and these may often depend on the choices Aboriginal people make in response to assimilatory pressures. Keywords: 'Closing the Gap', remote settlements, Aboriginal, Indigenous, intervention, governmentality
Highlights
Australian governments are committed to closing the gap between Indigenous and other Australians, yet progress is slow
In the light of this espoused commitment to ‘closing the gap’ across Australia, and the intractability of disadvantage, especially in remote Australia, it may be instructive to consider what can be learned from remote communities where Aboriginal people1 are doing comparatively well on conventional indicators and are enjoying significant levels of inclusion
There is less than usual stratification on some dimensions in the case study site, it will be no surprise that here, as elsewhere across Australia, the tensions of two cultures coming together were long ago resolved in favour of the settler culture
Summary
Aboriginal people hold the above stories alongside a parallel version of events. They acknowledge Aboriginal people are accepted, but Aboriginal culture is not. They learned to live the settler way, speak settler language, engage with Christianity, and observe Christian holidays They do wonder why so little interest has been shown in their culture, why so few settler families appreciate the significance of Aboriginal Law of Land and related stories and ceremonial life, why there is so little interest in the pre-settler history of the area, or of their part in history since European settlement. Anthropologists and linguists associated with the Native Title research have shown strong interest in culture, language and the long association with place This has occurred whilst there are still some people alive who were born in the desert, spent their growing years there and who remember well the rhythms, practices, songs, stories and language of their Country. Council has become more conscious of ensuring that there are funds and support for celebrating days of significance to Aboriginal people and encouraging Aboriginal guests and celebrities to visit town
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