Pitfalls and Pipelines - Philippine Indigenous Peoples Links

152 Pitfalls and Pipelines: Indigenous Peoples and Extractive Industries
progress in ensuring that the wider indigenous community were benefiting
from the deals being struck. The government, through its actions, was
attempting to unduly influence the outcome of agreements. In doing this it
was punishing everyone, for the sake a few, which directly undermines the
right to self-determination.
Unfortunately, however, self-determination has become the scapegoat in
an ongoing debate in Australia between those advocating a rights-based
development approach and those preferring to pursue what we came to
know under the former Howard government as “practical reconciliation.” 41
This debate has been dividing the indigenous leadership, and it has
been perpetuated by the conservative media as well as the opposition
party. Practical reconciliation in its simplified form is about the Australian
government’s “closing the gap” policy agenda—the fight for improving
health and education outcomes for indigenous communities and moving
people away from passive welfare and into the mainstream economy.
This is an enormous task and certainly worth supporting. But it must not
be done at the expense of people’s rights and the right for Aboriginal selfdetermination.
There is general agreement that self-determination is about the right of
indigenous Australians to make decisions on issues relating to them,
and to manage their own affairs. But the government is introducing new
policies and programs into communities in almost rapid fire succession,
and it is being done without the real and effective engagement of
indigenous peoples. Indigenous communities are not being listened to
and they are suffering the consequences. It is clear that the gap between
people’s rights and practical reconciliation needs to be closed.
For most indigenous peoples in Australia, there is a belief that it would
be impossible to succeed in improving people’s lives in such areas as
health and education without acknowledging and respecting people’s
rights. Equally, however, it is impossible to acknowledge and respect
people’s rights without implementing programs that improve their lives. In
essence, the disadvantage gap between indigenous and non-indigenous
Australians will not be closed through practical measures without having
an equitable system of rights for all citizens.
Clearly, it is time to get back to basics. And the central requirement for
getting back to basics is land rights.
Noel Pearson, a leading indigenous activist, said in an address at the
Brisbane Writer’s Festival that “over the course of the past 20 years,
we’ve made great gains in restoring the land rights of our people, and