TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW WITH CHERIE PRYOR, TOWNSVILLE
ABORIGINAL AND ISLANDER MEDIA ASSOCIATION ( TAIMA)
PRE-RECORDED, 23 NOVEMBER 1989
BROADCAST 27 NOVEMBER 1989
E OE PROOF ONLY
PRYOR: On the 12th of June 1988 you signed a negotiative
statement. Is your Government still committed to that?
PM: This is in regard to the Treaty?
PRYOR: Yes.
PM: Absolutely. I'd like to say these things about that
Cherie. Firstly, as I've said, a total commitment to the
concept. Some people may wonder why there's been such a
long period since then with nothing concrete emerging.
There's been a lot of informal discussion among the
Aboriginal communities because of the raising of this
issue and we are giving very careful thought to the best
way in which we can ensure that the Aboriginal
communities spread around Australia have the maximum
opportunity of saying exactly what they want. Because I
don't want on behalf of the Government to impose
something. What's got to come out of this is a view from
our friends in the Aboriginal community as to what they
want the Treaty to say. And importantly also we've got
to educate to a proper level of understanding the non-
Aboriginal community. Gerry Hand wants to make sure that
these processes of consultation and education are
undertaken in a most effective manner. The other point I
want to make is that of course Gerry's time has been very
very much taken up since then with having to deal with
the strong continuous opposition by our political
opponents in the Parliament which has occupied just about
the whole of his time. They've opposed very strongly all
our Aboriginal Affairs initiatives in the Parliament, the
enquiries into Aboriginal administration and we've had
enormous difficulties with time and energy in getting the
ATSIC legislation through. That simply has meant that Mr
Hand hasn't had the time that he would've liked to have
had to deal with this. But now that we're getting some
of those things behind us he will be giving it the more
concentrated attention that he hopes for. I hope to see
some real progress on this issue during next year. 06)
PRYOR: Aboriginal people are wary of a Treaty because
any negotiations leading up to a treaty, your Government
or any government, must recognise sovereignty. I'd like
to quote on something that you said at the Barunga
festival last year, that Aboriginal people were the prior
occupiers of this land. Why hasn't your Government
signed say like anything saying that?
PM: Well we have first of all the statement by the Prime
Minister to that effect and the statement by the Prime
Minister is significant. We also had some attempts to
approach this issue in regard to the preamble of the
ATSIC legislation and we're not able'to achieve agreement
on that which was unfortunate. Because what you've got
to remember, when you're moving to a legislative position
in our Parliament it's not just the House of
Representatives which the Government controls but the
Senate which we don't control. There we have consistent
opposition to any progressive idea in regard to
Aboriginal Affairs from the Opposition. So we don't
control that area. But the important thing in our
judgement Cherie is that We've really got to get a level
of understanding in the total Australian community out of
which we will get a Treaty which is meaningful and will
represent a recognition by non-Aboriginal Australians of
the injustices of the past. And reciprocally a
recognition from the Aboriginal and Torres Island
communities that that is a meaningful recognition by non-
Aboriginal Australians. So from that basis that we can
move to what is important and that is to implement the
range of programs in the areas of education, employment,
health and housing which are going to do the things which
need to be done to lift the standards and quality of life
of the Aboriginal community.
PRYOR: What can the Aboriginal people who live in
Queensland expect from the next State election in regard
to deeds of grant in trust in Aborignal reserves?
PM: I can't speak for the State government of
Queensland. All I do know is that the Aboriginal
community in Queensland, as indeed the non-Aboriginal
community, will get infinitely better government from the
incoming Goss Labor Government than they've received in
the years of darkness of conservative rule.
PRYOR: In 1968 the Australian people voted
overwhelmingly in favour of the referendum giving the
Federal Government power over States to legislate laws
regarding Aboriginal people. As Prime Minister can you
give me an example of when the Federal Government has
exercised that power?
PM: Well, yes. The situation of our sacred sites
legislation for instance. In that we have been prepared
to be available where the States haven't exercised their
power adequately. That has in fact been done and the
next point of course is the fact that the Commonwealth
legislation is there acts as a constraint upon States who
may not wish to act in this area in a way that we think
is appropriate.
PRYOR: Last question. The Australian Government is
helping and supporting other third world countries. What
is your Government doing in relation to helping the
indigenous people of this country who are in a similar
situation besides inadequate funding with Aboriginal
housing, health facilities etc?
PM: The answer really comes in a number of parts.
-Firstly Cherie the increase in funding under this
Government has been staggering. There's no area of
Commonwealth expenditure which has increased so much in
real terms as in the area of Aboriginal Affairs. If you
just take the last two years for instance where there has
been in aggregate terms a reduction in Commonwealth
outlays on its total programs, a reduction in real terms,
we have given prominence to Aboriginal Affairs which has
meant that in the last two years in succession there's
been a 16% and an 8% increase in real terms in funding.
In other words we have given a special priority to the
needs of that group of Australia which we recognise as
the most disadvantaged. So that's the first thing a
massive increase in real terms in expenditure. But I
think you appreciate, as well as we do, that it's not
simply sufficient to spend more money. What we've been
trying to do is initiate a range of programs which with
the use of more money and the use of more understanding
is going to mean that you address the real issues. There
is nothing more fundamental in my judgement than the
education and employment opportunities for our Aboriginal
communities. And that's why we have launched a number of
programs to increase the educational opportunities for
Aboriginal Australians and under this Government there
has been a significant increase in the participation rate
by Aboriginals in both the secondary and tertiary
education system. But we haven't been content just to
rest on that achievement and last month John Dawkins
initiated a further education program which is calculated
to increase the opportunities for Aboriginals to get into
and remain in the education system. Because that in the
end is the basis upon which will be determined the
capacity of the Aboriginal people to get fulfillment not
only in employment but in other ways of participation in
the total community. Of course the other thing that
we've done, against a lot of opposition from our
political opponents, is to press through with the ATSIC
legislation. With that legislation for the first time in
the whole history of this country we will have an
arrangement embedded in legislation which is going to
i4. 4
ensure that the Aboriginal people themselves can do two
things. First, have a process of communication, a formal
process of communication and consultation with the
Government of this country as to what their priorities
are in their communities and secondly then through the
ATSIC apparatus to be associated with the implementation
of those programs. Never before has this happened. What
has happened in the past is that successive governments
in Canberra have themselves tended to determine what is
good for the Aboriginal people and impose it. Our view
is that that's not the right way, that we have to
maximise the opportunities for consultation. And then
may I say that just today I have chaired a conference in
the Cabinet room here in Canberra at which there were
representatives of the Aboriginal and Torres Island
people and of the major business organisations and of the
trade union movement together with Mick Miller and Fred
Miller who have been there to Fred Hall I mean, who's
been the Chairman of the Aboriginal Action Committee.
The purpose of that meeting was to commit the resources
of the private sector employers and of the trade union
movement to our Aboriginal Employment Action program.
That really has two bases. One is to emphasise again our
commitment to the educational opportunities for
Aboriginal and Torres Islanders. But secondly and most
importantly to have the private sector employers of this
country give a commitment, which they have, to
facilitating the expansion of employment opportunities
for Aboriginal and Torres Islanders in the employment
sector. Now if you take all those things together,
importantly what that means that under this Government is
that we have done more than has ever been done before to
not simply spend more money, which is important, but to
increase the sense of understanding within the community
generally of the national obligation that exists to
improve the condition and quality of life of the
Aboriginal people.
PRYOR: That's all I have.
PM: Thank you very much Cherie.
ends