Pearson slams victimhood
10.09.2009



By: Tony Koch


THE opportunity to share in society's gifts through education and employment was being denied to indigenous youth because they were constantly told they were ``victims who had an entitlement to continued welfare dependency'', Aboriginal reformist Noel Pearson said last night.
Mr Pearson, who has spent 10 years pushing policies that encourage indigenous Australians to accept responsibility for their own lives, including educating and protecting their children, said in his opening address at the Brisbane Writers Festival that talk of ``victimhood'' was an obstacle to progress.
As the next phase in his reform agenda, Mr Pearson will soon suggest a radical reform of the education system in remote indigenous communities, which would seek to achieve positive outcomes not being achieved under current methods.
He has had extensive discussions with unions and federal and state government representatives, including Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin, to establish what is achievable and able to be implemented quickly.
Proposals up for discussion include longer teaching days, longer semesters, boarding schools for high school students and improved financial rewards for teachers prepared to live and work in remote communities.
In last night's address, Mr Pearson accused ``the empathetic and sympathetic'' of promoting a climate ``calculated to prevent us from taking our rightful place in the country''.
``We have been sucked in by too much shallow thinking,'' he said.
``Does anybody truly believe that down and out people such as our Aboriginal Australians don't want to share in the bounties that are available -- including providing a better life and education for their children?
``I have had the privilege of a good home and a good education, and that is the very least I wishfor my children that will form the basis for them getting employment.
``Everybody here would be devastated if we didn't have work, if our kids didn't go to school and get educated, or even if they had to go to bed hungry or were unsafe in their homes.
``I want the situation to change right now. I want the situation where Aboriginal people get $12,500 a year on welfare to change so they get $50,000 a year like other Australians doing a meaningful job.''
Mr Pearson said his mother, father and grandfather, who were kept in the Hopevale community north of Cooktown in Cape York, had been victims but had risen above that obstacle, provided for their children and given them an example of how to lead a fulfilling life.
``The world has been my oyster, just as it is today for so many indigenous children who are prepared to grasp the opportunities and who can be guided by their parents and those other people in positions of responsibility,'' he said.
``There is racism in society and there are barriers to success, but don't encourage young indigenous people to imagine barriers to be bigger than they really are, or that they are insurmountable.
``Racism is the racist's problem, not ours.''