Indigenous Australia

Page 5 of 14 pages : significant questions (jump to page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14) :

Commenting on the (Federal Education Minister’s) history debate : “While I back the push to teach more Australian history, I would not want to see an Eastern States version taught in WA schools. Australian history is more than Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson, the First Fleet and the Eureka Stockade. West Australian history is a very important part of our national story and should feature in all Australian schools. It is important that students are taught about the highs and lows of our past and the context in which events occurred.”

Mark McGowan, Minister for Education, WA Extract : West Australian (Page 52), 17 Jan 2007

“The Australian Government, in partnership with state and territory governments, is preparing a nomination for World Heritage listing of 11 of Australia’s convict sites. The 11 convict sites were an exceptional example of the global story of forced migration. The convict sites tell the unique story of the exile of convicts from one side of the world to another and their critical role in developing the economy and cultural life of a new nation.”

Senator Ian Campbell, Federal Minister for Environment & Heritage Media Statement : 21 Jan 2007

Prime Minister John Howard and most of Federal Cabinet travel to Perth, Western Australia : “What we will see in Perth next week is the prostitution of democracy in this country where ministers sell their time to the community. That leads to the question of whether our democracy is for sale and it allows ordinary members of the community to legitimately ask why they can’t have such intimate access to ministers. Of course both major parties employ such tactics, but it is much easier to fundraise as a Government than it is from Opposition. The ironic paradox is that by bringing his Cabinet to Perth to win marginal seats, the Prime Minister will expose the tactic of how open his ministers are to the highest bidder.”

Dr Peter van Onselen, Lecturer in Politics, Edith Cowan University Extract : West Australian (Page 1), 13 Feb 2007

International city expert Charles Landry (Comedia, UK) arrived (in Perth) as Thinker in Residence with the Creative Capital project run by cultural group, FORM : “The two issues which have resonated the most strongly with me were his observations on Perth as the ‘city that says no’ and last weekend‘s analysis of the way we are swamped by suburbia. Interestingly, one of them is psychological and the other physical, showing that town planning alone cannot correct a city’s problems, which are often more deep-seated than bricks and mortar and open spaces. These are uncomfortable truths for many people in Perth. We don’t like to admit that we are over-run by the Nanny State. Or that our isolation has allowed us to grow a culture that is stifling for many people. But because it’s our culture we regard it as the natural scheme of things, when really it’s just a transitory set of mores.”

“I have thought for some time that Perth has recently developed a nasty sense of jealousy that spitefully works at stopping other people having things or doing things. This is what Mr Landry refers to as ‘the one-person complaint action team waiting to clamp down on anything untoward’. How familiar is that in Perth affairs? Why must Perth always say No?, Mr Landry asked. The rules and regulation clutter of Perth has enveloped me and led me into a maze of laws and by-laws. It is like a rules spaghetti with over-lapping jurisdictions where each has something to say, turf wars abound, and there is no streamlining and clarity. No wonder I perceive a huge inertia, culture of fear and risk aversion in the bureaucracies. Is there no trust in the citizens of Perth? Metropolitan Perth seems to be the place where everything is forbidden unless it is allowed, rather than everything is allowed unless it is forbidden.”

“When I met Mr Landry for a chat this week, I asked him if he had encountered this culture of repression in any of the many other cities he has assisted over the years. It was clearly a question with which he was uncomfortable and which he realised would cause him problems if he answered honestly. But, in the end, the answer was that this attitude was something he had never seen to such an extent before. Mr Landry has been engaging with the city’s bureaucrats, trying to assess their ability and willingness to forge the changes needed. It has been a sobering experience and he says he has met overwhelming conservatism and a pedestrian lack of vision.” (from ‘Critical eye is a fresh breeze in our city.’)

Paul Murray, Columnist, The West Australian Extract : West Australian (Page 19), 3 Mar 2007

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The Western Australian Planning Commission is formally briefed on the Albany Waterfront Project : “All significant aspects of the proposal were assessed. Many comments and communications from members of the Albany community and visitors were considered and taken into account. The WAPC will request advice from the Heritage Council and further submissions from LandCorp on the appearance of the proposals viewed from the water and Stirling Terrace. It is desirable that the proposals contribute to the outstanding townscape of Albany and form well-designed new elements in the harbour landscape. This may require modifications to the detailed configurations of the structures. The WAPC did not expect the structures on the waterfront to be small or insignificant. For the new waterfront to contribute to Albany’s attractions and facilities, it will need to reach a critical mass in scale and activity. The boat harbour, the entertainment centre, the hotel and other buildings should be designed as striking landmarks for the city. The WAPC recognises that this is consistent with the memorandum of understanding between the State government and the City of Albany. The MOU envisaged a lively waterfront with major facilities to make the most of the city’s settings and to restore the significance of the historic city centre.”

Jeremy Dawkins, Chairman, WA Planning Commission Extract : Albany Advertiser (Page 5), 8 Mar 2007

In the lead-up to the Federal Election 2007 : “I refer to your letter of 16 February 2007 containing details of your Rainbow 2000 planning strategy (incorporating Albany Anzac 2014-18 and Albany Bicentennial 2026-27). I have discussed your proposal internally within the ACNT and we do not believe that this is a project to which we can accord any of our scarce resources or to which we can allocate any priority. We also note that you have made representations to a number of federal and state ministers and members, and it is our judgement that it would be prudent to see if these representations bear fruit.”

Colin Griffiths, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Council of National Trusts Letter : 13 Mar 2007

“The hottest town (city) in this year’s (Australian) survey is Albany on Western Australia’s south coast where the job market expanded by an estimated 11% last year. In the same period the local population rose by close to double the Australian average at 2.4%. As a consequence the local unemployment rate in Albany dropped 1.3 percentage points to reach 4.9% last June. Albany property prices responded : median house prices jumped 29% in 12 months to reach $445,000 by June 2006. The rise and rise of Albany is curious. After all it is hardly within a convenient driving time of Perth. It could be that Albany is evolving as a sea-change destination for the West’s miners. There is also the fact that the local economy is ticking along nicely, especially following recent developments in the timber industry.”

Bernard Salt, Demographer & Partner, KPMG Australia Extract : The Australian (Page 24), 15 Mar 2007

The West Australian can reveal one of the first pictures of Perth’s most anticipated urban redevelopment, the Mounts Bay Foreshore Project. The plans, which have been drawn up over the past 18 months by the office of urban innovations in Alannah MacTiernan’s Department of Planning and Infrastructure, include two hotel sites, jetties, boardwalks, and boat moorings. They also show intensive multi-storey development around the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, including apartments, public car-parking and a public open space dubbed ‘Anzac Square’ immediately west of the belltower. There is a so-called ‘sky-bridge’ that would link the convention centre to the public spaces on the waterfront, and provision for a new public ferry terminal.

Alannah MacTiernan, Minister for Planning & Infrastructure, WA Extract : West Australian (Page 9), 24 Mar 2007

From his address to the Order of Australia Association in Sydney, and as a prelude to government report : “Aboriginal fertility rates are well above those for the non-indigenous community and we are heading for a new era when they (Aboriginals) will once again be more than half the population in the north (of Western Australia) – a very much younger and more fertile majority. Long before we can shift the dynamics of this to a more positive relationship, we can expect the number of young Aboriginals in our prison and social welfare systems to increase markedly – at great cost to our economy and image abroad. We should expect that our moral authority as a middle power-broker will be diminished as a result. The poverty, poor health, lack of participation in the education systems, family violence, infant mortality and alienation of the young is said to be Third World in nature and magnitude. In fact, I find that it is worse than Third World. In any other state in the world, such figures would be seen to constitute a state of civil war – such is the alienation they represent. The challenge is to overcome ignorance and disengagement among non-indigenous Australians and build trust among Aboriginals. A big part of the country has been increasingly neglected and, for a significant number of people in the bush, governance was weak and intangible. Such is the evolving nature of our Federation under the extant philosophy of market forces that government is receding from the country to what I describe as pockets of indulgence and indifference in the south-east and south-west corners.”

Lieutenant-General John Sanderson AC, Former Governor of Western Australia Extract : West Australian (Page 5), 26 Mar 2007

Albany, Western Australia