2020 summit, still got tunnel vision

Indigenous delegates express frustration with 2020 summit
By Adam Gartrell

CANBERRA, April 21, 2008: Several Australian 2020 delegates examining Indigenous issues have expressed frustration with the weekend's summit, with some complaining ideas were watered down.

Increased formal recognition of Aboriginal people - possibly in the form of a treaty - was a top priority for many delegates.

The need for a new representative body and a new watchdog to oversee the government's approach to Indigenous issues also proved popular.

Delegates also pushed for better partnerships between Indigenous people and business, wider use of boarding schools for Indigenous students, and the establishment of a future fund for Indigenous children.

Indigenous leader Patrick Dodson called for a change to the assimilationist ethos which continued to underpin Aboriginal affairs, urging the need for a "new national dialogue".

But other delegates such as West Australian Indigenous artist Brenda Croft took exception to such terms.

"It just sounds really namby pamby to me, what does it mean?" she told her fellow delegates.

"I think there's a level of frustration that we're not getting to a ... point where we can come up with anything concrete," she said of the summit.

A number of delegates also expressed dissatisfaction with a document meant to sum up the group's ideas, and urged changes and additions.

Former Australian of the Year Fiona Stanley said the document had "watered down" delegate's ideas and failed to capture the passion in the room.

"This is just wishy-washy," she said, generating applause throughout the room.

Prof Stanley later helped Minister for Indigenous Affairs Jenny Macklin make changes to the document.

Queensland Indigenous leader Noel Pearson did not turn up to the summit yesterday, after criticising Saturday's sessions for failing to generate new ideas.

Mr Dodson called Mr Pearson's assessment "a bit harsh", but said he feared the ideas generated at the summit may be eaten up by the same political machine which repeatedly failed to act on reports into Indigenous disadvantage.

"(Ideas) will be put back into the same framework, and it will be responded to on a convenience basis, rather than on a reformist agenda," Mr Dodson said.