Work scheme ‘killing Aborigines’
Monday, August 11th, 2008Natasha Robinson; 11/8/08
Arnhem Land leader Galarrwuy Yunupingu has called for the abolition of the federal Government’s longstanding Aboriginal employment scheme, labelling it a welfare trap that is “killing Aboriginal people”. Heated debate about the future of the Community Development Employment Projects, currently under review by the Government, dominated the annual indigenous Garma festival which wraps up tomorrow in East Arnhem Land. Mr Yunupingu sparked furious debate among academics and those working in the Aboriginal service industry yesterday when he labelled CDEP a “weapon” that had been used to trample Aboriginal people’s rights and deny them access to the real economy. The employment project — founded in the late 1970s and designed to be a welfare-to-work transition scheme — was premised on the belief that “money spoils blackfellas”, Mr Yunupingu said at an economic development forum at the festival yesterday.
