D'Souza, Carl --- "Linda Burney MP: An Interview" [2003] IndigLawB 46; (2003) 5(26) Indigenous Law Bulletin 8
Linda Burney MP: An Interview
by Carl D’Souza
The New South Wales (‘NSW’) Parliament has ruled over the Indigenous owners of its territory for 156 years. Through most of that period Indigenous people have been denied their human rights. In particular, Aborigines were not recognised as citizens nor allowed to vote. Therefore, it was a significant historical milestone when Linda Burney became the first Indigenous member of the NSW Parliament at this year’s state election. Moreover, she is only the fourth Indigenous woman to be elected to any Australian parliament. Linda kindly agreed to an interview about the lessons she has learned through three decades of struggling for Indigenous rights.
Linda passionately expresses the view that Aboriginal people must no longer be boxed into ‘Aboriginal affairs’ at the margins of mainstream politics. She says that non-Indigenous Australians must understand that Aboriginal people are just as involved in the community as they are: ‘We are teachers, doctors, lawyers and tradespeople ... we use public transport and the health system ... and we raise our families in the same country that you do’. Therefore, she argues Indigenous people must have a role in all mainstream political issues, and Linda is leading the way. She has vowed to serve all the citizens in her multicultural Sydney electorate of Canterbury. However, Linda maintains her passionate struggle against the social injustices facing Indigenous people.
Linda wants us to understand that through an Indigenous worldview the goal of social justice is about:
what faces you in the morning. It is about having the ability to feed your child by cooking them a meal on a working stove, and turning on a tap that runs clean water to wash them. It is about being able to send your child to school to receive an education of equal quality to non-Indigenous children’s, where the child’s self-esteem and culture is reinforced by the experience and not demoralised by it, and where the child is given the capacity to obtain a job, and have a life of choice and chance in Australia.
Linda argues that the way Australian governments make Indigenous policy is misguided and has therefore failed, as evidenced by worsening statistics of Indigenous disadvantage. Her first criticism is that governments only develop one term policies with an eye on the next election. However, only a long-term approach can successfully address the complex problems facing Indigenous people. Linda’s second criticism is that federal, state and local governments do not work together, and often work against each other. The three tiers of government fight each other for funding, do not accept responsibility for dealing with problems, and blame each other. Linda decries ‘policy silos’, where every government agency is a separate operation. ‘Different departments operate on islands, and it is impossible to get them to join up’. Furthermore, local government gets almost no input into policy development, even though they are the level of government that most directly and significantly affects the daily lives of Indigenous people in many communities.
Linda advocates a better way to make policy. She advises governments that the foundation for any policy development is Aboriginal culture. ‘You could put in clean water until the cows come home and you can build new houses and health centres. It will not improve anything if designed from a white perspective and not grounded in Aboriginal culture’. Linda identified a $240 million housing project undertaken some years ago as an example of culturally inappropriate policy that was bound to fail. The project built two-bedroom houses, with no porch or facilities for outdoor living, and used regular materials. The design did not take into account that there would be overcrowding, each house often holding two or three large families. It did not take into account that Aboriginal families do much of their living outdoors. Stainless steel cabinets and fittings would have been more appropriate than ceramics to withstand intense wear and tear. The design of the houses should have started by consulting the community and not an architect in the Sydney CBD.
Linda rejects the idea that action by government bureaucracies is the answer. Instead she argues that over the next 20 years there must be a long-term investment into Indigenous communities to build their capacity to take control of their community and achieve self-determination. The capacity for leadership is particularly important but does not exist in many communities.
If you have lived for five generations in a small, very racist community; you only received citizenship 30 years ago; there is no permanent work in the town; there are no educational programs; nobody in your family finished school; you can’t read properly; and there are lots of teenage mums – what is the capacity for leading your community?
Linda advises that capacity building will only work if done community by community, and not through national ‘broad sweep’ policies. Governments need to work out each community’s needs and address them.
When Linda speaks about the ‘human tragedy’ in Indigenous communities, the moistness in her eyes reveal the pain behind her polished manner. She urges policymakers to understand that every Indigenous community in Australia is in permanent grief because there is an untimely death in their extended family every two or three weeks. This affects whole communities due to the closeness of extended families in Indigenous culture. Linda expresses her sadness at the statistic that Indigenous life expectancy is 20 years less than for non-Indigenous people. But she says that this is no mere statistic but a fact that is devastating real people and real families on a daily basis. It is of continuing shock to her that the life expectancy of an Aboriginal man in Wilcannia is only 33 years.
Linda reveals that she is personally affected by this human tragedy, contrary to the popular view that ‘Indigenous people who have made it are okay’. Most Indigenous people have relatives who are in jail, or have died extraordinarily early. Linda’s cousin, who was one of the first Aboriginal doctors in the country, died at the age of 35. Linda describes the incredible emotional and mental strain on someone in her position. She says that ‘to keep going with all the tragedy and despair going on around you is really, really hard. It drains you, it upsets you, it’s personal. And yet you are still expected to perform brilliantly, and be detached. But I can’t be’.
Linda Burney is a charismatic champion for her people. But, as she says, her people are not just Indigenous. Her people are the citizens of her Canterbury electorate. The history-making MP proves her point that Indigenous Australians are a valuable and integral part of Australian society. Linda is working hard to make this society a just one for all of us.
Carl D’Souza is the Editor of the Indigenous Law Bulletin (‘ILB’).