Every picture tells a story … |
As a former Northern Territory public servant who spent over 20 years dealing with policy development and program management in a range of fields relating to Indigenous people, I wont dwell on my anger at the way the Brough/Howard plan was announced or my occasional fury at some of the ill informed commentary. Rather, I will look at what experience might tell us about the chances of success of the plan.
Success in this area requires more than dramatic statements. If the Brough/Howard plan had been put up by officers working for me I would have sent them away to come back with:
- a process that offered some chance of a positive result;
- clearly articulated outcomes that relate to the issue at hand; and
- an approach that set out the strategies and actions that would deliver the outcomes sought;
in the context of the cross-cultural environments in which it must operate.
The Environment
Shared trust and understanding are not notable characteristics of the environment in which governmentsFederal, Territory and localare interacting with Aboriginal people in remote communities. There, the experience is often marked by the development of expectations of government action that either never happens or takes so long that the original undertaking is long forgotten. Some in governments find it hard to appreciate that what works in other parts of society doesn’t achieve the same traction in remote Aboriginal communities, or from one community to another.
The lack of a shared understanding is often at the heart of this lack of shared trust. Many politicians and bureaucrats seem to be unaware that the assessments and judgements they make are based on their own cultural mores. This lack of awareness is, perhaps, one thing that they do share with the Aboriginal people they seek to influence. Both ‘sides’ appreciate that the other mob are different; neither necessarily appreciates the extent to which their own culture dictates their decisions.