6 August 2003, Cape York, Queensland, Australia
Video extract of speech from 2:17min. mark to 3:29min
Here I am: a young Cape York woman addressing the Prime Minister of Australia directly. The fact that you are here today, Mr Howard, is largely due to the hard work and vision of our leaders.
We are proud of their efforts. Especially I want to mention Noel Pearson. He has been my mentor and contributed to paying for my education. We are also proud of the efforts of our elders who have struggled to keep our culture alive.
I thank you for coming here today and acknowledge that your visit might signify the start of a new era in Cape York Peninsulas Aboriginal governance. I say 'might' because there is a huge job in front of us and if we are going to succeed we need your commitment as well as our own. I hope this is truly the start of a new relationship between Government and Cape York Peninsula people.
In less than 60 years the people of my tribe have gone from being an independent nation to cultural prisoners to welfare recipients. Is it any wonder that there are so many problems facing Indigenous Australians today? Prime Minister, I want you to gain a brief picture of the life of young people in our communities.
When I was growing up in Kowanyama there were 15 people in my class. Today I am the only one that has gone to University, let alone finished secondary education. I'm also the only girl in my class who did not have a child at 15. Of the boys in my class seven have been incarcerated, two for murder, rape and assault. Of the 15 there are only three of us who are not alcoholics. And, Prime Minister, one of the saddest things I must report to you is that four of my class mates have already committed suicide. I am 22 years old.
Now if this paints a grim picture of community life for you, it should. Life as a young Aboriginal person is not easy, in any setting. Life for a young Aboriginal woman is even harder. We have to fight for respect from everyone.
The story of my fellow students is a lesson in the magnitude of the problems that young Indigenous people in Cape York face. The two issues that, in my opinion, are central to changing this story are education and health. And your Government's policies affect these things.
Two months ago I told the Queensland Principals conference that the levels of literacy and numeracy are very low in Aboriginal communities. I told them that when I went to school in Brisbane it was as if I had missed out on my primary education.
There is a huge gap between what we get in communities and what other kids get in cities. I got straight As at Kowanyama but when I got to Brisbane I was getting Cs and Ds. It really goes to show that there was something seriously wrong with the education system in our communities.
One of the problems facing education in remote Indigenous schools is that teachers tend to be just out of training and generally stay for only a year or two. There was not one teacher who stayed for the whole of my nine years at school, even the principals. On top of the racism that Aboriginal people face every day of our lives this seeming lack of commitment by teachers makes you feel they don't care.
Prime Minister we need to review the curriculum in these communities because it's pitched at a very low level. I have had to draw the conclusion that Governments and educationalists see us as less than white people.
It was really sad to go to school in my community because the attitude in the whole community was that white kids are much smarter than me. How can the education being offered to our young people be justified?
Education should be uplifting not serve to reinforce lack of self-esteem and the heart wrenching low expectations that my mob suffer from. If we cannot get education right then we are doomed.
We need a massive re-assessment of education policies and an equally massive investment in education. Government let down most of my classmates. Noel Pearson helped me to an education, but most young people won't be assisted by a sponsor.
I got a chance in my life, worked hard with support from family and friends and today I stand before you as a qualified criminologist. All across Cape York I see and meet young Murris; smart, brave, compassionate, talented and beautiful. What is missing from their lives is an education that promotes self-confidence and drive.
With these qualities, hundreds of Cape York Peninsula Murris could be the next group of doctors, lawyers, painters, mechanics, criminologists or engineers. We have spent so long listening to some whitefellas telling us we are stupid, lazy no-hopers that the majority of my people actually believe it.
The relationship between poor education and poor health is clear. People whose self-esteem and pride have been decimated by a sub-standard education system and a social system that creates an addiction to passive welfare have little reason to live healthy lives.
Prime Minister, our health is getting worse not better. The policies that determine the delivery of health services are deeply flawed by a bureaucracy that does not want to let go and hear our voices. Health services are too often confined to the clinic. It's a patch ‘em up and spit ‘em out kind of health regime.
In Kowanyama we had the only doctor based in a Cape York Aboriginal community. She left two weeks ago because the Queensland Health bureaucracy did not support her. Her practice epitomised the sort of health system we need. She understood the relationship between physical, mental and spiritual health. She took health out of the clinic and into the lives and homes of community people. She took her responsibilities to serve the community seriously and now she's gone. Another blow to my community's already low morale.
Prime Minister, it's problems and challenges such as the ones I've described to you already that led me to stand in last October's ATSIC election. I decided to run because I believe ATSIC provides a great opportunity to advocate for my people; to have a say in distributing funding throughout Cape York Peninsula and influence State and Federal Government policy decisions that affect me and my people.
It is great privilege for me to represent my community and I hope that with experience I will be an effective ATSIC Councillor.
I know that in the coming months your Government will decide the future of ATSIC and I hope that you will understand that ATSIC is more than the Board of Commissioners and the Canberra bureaucracy. ATSIC is also people like myself and my Chairperson Eddie Woodley. People who are from community and work hard for community.
Prime Minister, we recognise that Governments cannot solve our problems for us. As young people we are trying to take responsibility for our future. We are working with our Elders to address the terrible problems of grog, illicit drugs and violence. We are working hard to create economic, training and employment opportunities for ourselves. We are supporting our fellow young people to achieve their potential.
Mr Howard, I ask not that you fix these problems for us but that you and your Government see us as equal partners in the huge task of rebuilding our families, communities and Cape York Peninsula.
You have demonstrated your commitment by engaging your government at the recent family and domestic violence summit and, for what it's worth Prime Minister, my own view is that the level of domestic violence and child abuse sums up all that has been wrong with Aboriginal Affairs policy.
We need a new relationship to address this frightening reality in our lives. Aboriginal people are reluctant to admit that young girls and women are being raped by their own people because of the blanket of shame. I am asking you to help lift that blanket.
The fact that you are here today is a good start in the process of change and I urge you, as a fair-minded man, not just as Prime Minister, to become part of the solution. I stand up here as a proud Aboriginal woman, a Kokoberra woman as well as a criminologist and I thank you for your time and attention.