Widen the lens
(Letter, The Age, 23 June 2008)
Your coverage of the 19-20 June Bennelong Society conference on Commonwealth intervention in the Northern Territory to deal with Aboriginal violence towards children (The Age 20/6) omitted very important issues raised by prominent individual speakers.
Warren Mundine emphasised the need to create a situation in which, rather than being welfare dependent, Aborigines are able to engage with the real economy through private enterprise. Society president Gary Johns saw the importance of first developing an economic strategy, and former Treasury Secretary John Stone argued the need to abandon rather than reform the Commonwealth Development Employment Program.
It quickly became clear that overcoming the identified problem will require a comprehensive strategy involving much more than improved education, health and policing and including such matters as property rights and welfare policy. The review of the intervention headed by Peter Yu seems ill-equipped to handle this and is sadly lacking in the Treasury input Prime Minister Rudd promised would be used.
Des Moore,treasurer/secretary
Bennelong Society, South Yarra.
(Letter, The Australian, 23 June 2008)
Your coverage of the 19-20 June Bennelong Society conference on commonwealth intervention in the Northern Territory to deal with Aboriginal violence towards children, omitted very important issues raised by prominent individual speakers.
For example, Warren Mundine emphasised the need to create a situation in which rather than being welfare dependent Aborigines are able to engage with the real economy through private enterprise. Society president Gary Johns saw the importance of first developing an economic strategy and former Treasury secretary John Stone argued the need to abandon rather than reform the Commonwealth Development Employment Program.
In short, it quickly became clear that overcoming the identified problem will require a comprehensive strategy involving much more than improved education, health and policing and including such matters as property rights and welfare policy.
The review of the intervention headed by Peter Yu seems ill-equipped to handle this and is sadly lacking in the Treasury input Prime Minister Kevin Rudd promised would be used more than by his predecessor.
Des Moore, Secretary,Bennelong Society
South Yarra,Vic