Aborigines and their Place In Politics :: social issues

Aborigines and their Place In PoliticsFor much of their history, Australias major parties did not perceive a need to have Aboriginal affairs policies, but this altered in the 1960s and 1970s as the Aboriginal interest came to carry a more prominent position. The policies of recent major governments, those being the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and the Coalition, consisting of the Liberal Party and National Party, have changed drastically since the confederacy of Australia. The approaches throughout history of these major parties will be discussed briefly in order to gain an understanding of the foundation of each partys beliefs and platforms in regards to Aborigines. The main political issues facing Aborigines in society today will be identified, and subsequently the main political parties approach and policies will be noble-minded in relation to each issue. Finally, recent policies and legislation introduced by the main political parties will be introduced and discussed. From 1937 , the approach of all governments was one of assimilation, whereby Aborigines would fork over to indoctrination in white ways before taking their place in the general Australian community. However, in time this policy came under intensifying flak on all sides, with critics claiming the policy denied these individuals of their Aboriginal culture, and enforced the notion of the superiority of the white culture. For a time, integration became a policy of the Commonwealth, though it was hard to set the distinction between assimilation and integration. As attitudes changed, State governments began to amend many of the laws that denied Aborigines equality with whites. In 1967, all parties maintained the proposed Constitutional amendment. Although attitudes had begun to change, little had been through with(p) to encroach such altered attitudes in definite government policies. The Labor Party made the most positive pitch for these interests, and at its 1971 Federal Conference, Gough Whi tlam direct the party into conceiving the most detailed Aboriginal affairs policy yet adopted up until this period, by a major party. This called for the establishment of a full-of-the-moon Aboriginal affairs department. Whitlam guaranteed that a Labor government would not falter to override any State laws which discriminated against Aborigines, or which supervised Aborigines, or which reduced the opportunities for Aborigines to bearing themselves as they wished. Shifting aside assimilation and integration, Labor adopted self-determination, a policy which spoke of Aborigines ultimately being able to get back the pace and nature of their future development, where they would take a real and effective responsibility for their own affairs.