Learning our way forward
Craig Ashby; 26/7/08
The Third World conditions in which the vast majority of my indigenous brothers and sisters live in this land of plenty and this age of economic prosperity are nothing short of shameful. The problems are the same in cities, regional and remote communities - poverty, passivity, unemployment, welfare dependency, drugs and alcohol - and these problems perpetuate a vicious downward generational spiral. The result is that our indigenous children are born into a seemingly hopeless vicious cycle. The challenge for our generation is to replace this downward vicious cycle with an upward virtuous circle. In the past half century there have been countless rays of light, hope and optimism. I think of the Freedom Ride led by Charlie Perkins in 1965 and the story of Vincent Lingiari and the Gurindji walk-off in 1966. I fast-forward 20 years and think of the Alice Springs address by pope John Paul II during his visit to Australia in 1986. I think of the Redfern speech by Paul Keating in launching Australia’s celebration of the 1993 International Year of the World’s Indigenous People.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24077645-5013172,00.html
Tags: Aboriginal, Australia, Reconciliation