Last week, Jenny Macklin, the Minister for Indigenous Affairs in a 21st century Labor Government led by a prime minister from the left of the party, announced a new raft of welfare measures for Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory.
To her credit, Macklin has long conceded that the Howard Government Intervention was implemented in a ham-fisted, culturally insensitive and racially discriminatory manner.
But last Monday she said: 'School attendance in these new sites is particularly poor, and it is clear that our efforts in these townships must be strengthened to ensure children are getting a decent education and go to school every day.'
She was joined by Education Minister Peter Garrett who said parents must 'understand that their income support entitlements may be affected if their children are not going to school'.
When interviewed by Fran Kelly on ABC Breakfast, Macklin said: 'It may be that we have to address bullying at school, it may be making sure that a child is helped to get up in the morning and walk to school. What we want to do is work closely with parents, work closely with the Northern Territory Government, to make sure that children do get to school every day.'
Special measures for Indigenous Australians should be imposed only on those individuals or communities which seek them, and with provision for individuals to opt out if they do not wish to avail themselves the special community measures being imposed.
There is no substitute for relationships and respect for human dignity when designing welfare measures for the assistance of the poor and the excluded of our society, especially Indigenous Australians in remote communities.
The historic Apology by our national parliament provided the basis for the ongoing building of that relationship. But it ended last Monday with ministerial calls for the racially targeted docking of welfare payments for parents whose children are not regularly attending school on remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory.
Legislation is to be introduced to the House of Representatives this week. Presumably this will require the placement of truancy officers, rather than additional teachers, in remote Aboriginal communities.
Where is the evidence based approach which shows that this could possibly work? There have been no trials with demonstrable results.