Barriers of identity politics, wokeness & political correctness persist among those who profit from Aboriginal suffering

Anthony Dillon I 01 March 2025 I Spectator Australia

Given the recent release of the 2024 Closing the Gap Annual Report and 2025 Implementation Plan, I thought I would weigh in. I wish to provide some ideas that I believe will contribute to government attempts to close the gap in health and wellbeing between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. I am not writing this piece in order to play politics. The politicisation of Aboriginal affairs has been happening for far too long and must stop. By politicisation I mean political leaders and media commentators using the suffering of any Aboriginal Australian to score points for themselves.

With a federal election looming, this point is even more relevant today. Disagreements are fine when discussing Aboriginal affairs, but all discussions should be conducted with respect and must be about achieving better outcomes for Aboriginal Australians, not personal point-scoring. The release of the Closing the Gap report is an opportunity to look at what is working and what needs improving. While the ideas I discuss here I have presented in the past, it is worth repeating them given that the latest Closing the Gap report shows slow progress.

If there is a common theme that unites these ideas, it is the need for greater focus. By greater focus, I mean government needs to focus on those Aboriginal Australians who are most disadvantaged. It is clear that not all Aboriginal people are suffering, in fact many are thriving. While there are exceptions, generally, the suffering seems more concentrated in less urbanised parts of Australia. Let’s face it, when we read stories about high unemployment rates and crime waves, we know where these are most likely to be.

This is nothing new. In 2013, Nicholas Rothwell reported in the Australian newspaper that Tony Abbott broke new ground by distinguishing between remote and urban Aboriginal societies. Rothwell’s article had the catchy title of ‘Place, not race, is key to the gap’. Therefore, to close the gap, we must focus where need is greatest, which, as we know is generally in remote areas.

Following from this recognition that not all Aboriginal people are suffering, it is apparent that we’ve been focusing on the wrong gap. Rather than the standard practice of focusing on closing the gap between the Aboriginal and the non-Aboriginal population, I have for many years advocated that we focus on closing the gap between those Aboriginal Australians who are suffering and those who are doing very well.

These two gaps I refer to as the ‘between gap’ and ‘internal gap’ respectively. Focusing on the ‘between gap’ – which is what Closing the Gap reports focus on – is of limited value and fails to recognise the many Aboriginal Australians who are achieving success, completing school and higher studies, owning homes, occupying leadership roles and starting businesses. Focusing on the ‘internal gap’ allows us to identify known examples of success and replicate them. In recognition of the need to focus on those Aboriginal people living in less urbanised areas, it is encouraging to see this current government commit to remote-area Aboriginal investment funding of nearly $843 million.

These funds must focus on programs known to empower people with the means to close the gap. The words of Warren Mundine are highly relevant here: ‘Any policy which does not increase economic participation and independence is a waste of time and money.’ Mundine is of course, talking about employment.

Having a job enables the breadwinners to buy the necessary goods and services for their families. But perhaps more importantly, a job, according to a former Northern Territory minister, Aboriginal woman Alison Anderson, ‘is not just about the money… it is about status and respect, about responsibility and dignity’. This is a necessary reminder, that Aboriginal Australians have the same fundamental needs as all other Australians. So, in modern-day Australia, it would seem that Aboriginal Australians are just like other Australians in that they need to participate in a sustainable economy.

Well, who would have thought! So why have successive governments failed in closing the gap? Perhaps they have bought into the poisonous ideology that Aboriginal Australians are fundamentally different from other Australians? A corollary of this ideology, one that has dominated Aboriginal affairs for decades, is that only Aboriginal people can understand and help Aboriginal people. This is done in the name of ‘self-determination’ and ‘culturally appropriate’ but is, actually, separatism. Separatist practices perpetuate the ‘us-them’ mentality, which can only ever produce failure.

When planning services for Aboriginal Australians, whether it be in housing, education, childcare, or health, it should not be mandatory that Aboriginal people run those services, as is often now the case. I have no problem with Aboriginal people helping Aboriginal people per se. If they want significant involvement in service planning and delivery, that is commendable. I have met many great Aboriginal Australians who do a fine job helping other Aboriginal Australians. But it is their character and competence, not their colour, that makes them effective. I am optimistic that we are turning a corner.

The defeat of the Voice proposal back in 2023 demonstrated to me that a majority of Australians believe that seeing Aboriginal Australians in terms of what they share in common with other Australians, rather than focusing on differences, is the fastest way to close the gap. Yes, I am optimistic, but I am cautious. We may be turning a corner, but the obstacles of identity politics, wokeness, and political correctness are still present in the many people who have built careers for themselves out of Aboriginal suffering.

We must not allow ourselves to get distracted by debates about flags, Australia Day and other nonsense. We have enough successful Aboriginal people to know that success is achievable. Those Aboriginal people who are suffering need what their more well-off brothers and sisters have, which is essentially access to modern services and the skills necessary to participate in modern-day Australia. This is how we close the gap.

Author: Anthony Dillon