Editorial: 1/10/08
Convened as it was by the Howard government as a rapid response to the Little Children are Sacred report last year, the specific provisions of the Northern Territory intervention are not holy writ. Nor are the recommendations of the board handpicked by the Rudd Government to review the intervention. In pressing forward with the practical reconciliation that is the only way to close the quality-of-life gaps between remote Aborigines and other Australians, Kevin Rudd and Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin, wisely, have set ambitious tangible goals. In his February apology to the Stolen Generations, the Prime Minister aspired to halve the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians on infant mortality, literacy, numeracy and employment in a decade. He promised to close the life-expectancy gap within a generation. The Australian wholeheartedly supported the goals and will continue to do so until they are achieved.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24427857-16382,00.html