Why do so few of the media reporters actually ask the Aboriginal demonstrators why they are so angry with being told to change tactics?
Closing the Gap
The intervention is dead, long live the intervention
The most recent data on progress suggests that the intervention is failing, at least if its aim is to close gaps of socioeconomic disadvantage between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians in the NT, writes ANU professor Jon Altman.
Economic rationalism hits the homelands
Outstations/homelands (the terms can be used interchangeably) represent a service delivery headache for the state, but this is mainly due to unimaginative policy approaches, writes Professor Jon Altman.
Questions Gillard should ask in Alice Springs, but probably won’t
It is four years this month since the Mal Brough emergency intervention in the NT and today the PM goes to Alice Springs to see the “progress” supposedly being made.
If PM wants to close the gap, why the silence on primary health care?
Next year in the Closing the Gap Report, we want to learn about what the government has been doing to show respect for Aboriginal people and their views and values, write Des Martin, CEO of the Aboriginal Health Council of WA and Gavin Mooney, a health economist
How to really ‘close the gap’
With all the talk about “closing the gap” between mainstream and Aboriginal health and life-expectancy outcomes in this country, the Shalom Gamarada scholarship program is a good start, writes Bob Gosford.
Rudd overpromised on indigenous unemployment
Tthe Australian government might have exacerbated the expansion of the Indigenous unemployment gap, report Professor Jon Altman and Dr Nicholas Biddle.
Aboriginal Australia: like the poorest of Africa, says Amnesty chief
The Secretary General of Amnesty International has likened conditions in Central Australia to the poorest parts of Africa and Asia, and described the gap between rich and poor in this country as the most stark she’s even seen.
Travel tips for media on the Close the Gap bus
In a lecture for Reconciliation Australia, Koori Mai Editor Kirstie Parker talks about the role that Australia’s media can play in helping to Close the Gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.
After the NT intervention: violence up, malnutrition up, truancy up
The latest, and arguably most comprehensive findings, on progress in the Northern Territory intervention are damning of its effectiveness and extremely disappointing, says Jon Altman.
Political snippets: The Barossa’s approach to a crushing problem
The beleaguered Australian wine industry gets some relief with the news that the crush during this year’s vintage was 5% less than in 2008, a cautionary tale from Paul Krugman, and why we’re still not “closing the gap”.
Is it helpful to think about closing the gap as an economic, rather than ethical, issue?
The question of how much to pay for “closing the gap” in Aboriginal health ought to be debated more on ethical lines than on economic lines — but the two inevitably intersect, writes Professor Gavin Mooney.
Indigenous smoking is finally out of the too-hard-basket
The federal government has put tackling high smoking rates amongst Indigenous people at the centre of its plans to “close the gap”, writes David Thomas.
Politicians alone can’t close the gap
Governments cannot fix the problems until they work with Aboriginal people in remote communities — not for them, says Rollo Manning.
“Closing the Gap” is like wrestling with smoke
As yet another round of headlines emerge about lack of progress on indigenous health and social indicators, the “Closing the Gap” initiative can look more than ever like wrestling with smoke.
Jenny Macklin explains her new Indigenous policy to Walter Slurry
Jenny Macklin on Closing the Gap, as told to Walter Slurry.
Indigenous life expectancy gap slashed
The ABS is about to dramatically intervene in the debate over the life expectancy gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.
Rudd turns his back on closing the gap
Labor’s rhetoric on Indigenous health is better than in the Howard years, but the reality from Rudd and Macklin is no different from Howard and Vanstone, writes Gavin Mooney.
Budget status quo will just widen the gaps
In its second budget, the Rudd Government’s Closing the Gap became more firmly entrenched as the over-arching policy approach in Indigenous affairs, writes Jon Altman.
Rudd’s office burnt over Closing the Gap
The Prime Minister needs to explain why his office falsely blamed the Victorian bushfire crisis for the delayed release of the ‘Closing the Gap’ report, writes Chris Graham.
Closing the gaps: Don’t lose the aspirations of communities
What we risk losing here is the aspirations of communities, of peoples, of nations, says Dr Steve Cornell.
