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Oddly, the decision-makers most often employed to “improve” the lives of First Australians are from cities thousands of kilometres away. Some may have Indigenous heritage, but most suffer from a palpable absence of connectedness to the people and the places on whose behalf they claim to advocate.

This has far too often led to grossly inaccurate assumptions on the capacity and aspirations of these people, as I have witnessed firsthand.

Most of the interactions I have had over the years in the remote Indigenous Gulf communities I represent, such as Doomadgee and Mornington Island, invariably lead to an appeal for more access to local jobs.

First Australian people were historically employed in strong proportions in the cattle-grazing industry, railways and main roads, but successive government decisions over the past 40 years have delivered dire consequences for workers in these industries.

In 1972, under Gough Whitlam, the cattle stations were made to pay Indigenous stockmen parity wages; a proposition that seems only fair but, when considered in a broader context, was narrow-sighted.

One cattle worker told me that on the large family station that he resided on, he worked with predominantly First Australian stockmen. They had about 10 workers every day; they weren’t always the same workers, but the family leaders always ensured that 10 reliable workers were there.

There were, however, close to 100 family members associated with those workers also domiciled on the property that were fed, clothed, housed and educated. When Whitlam forced employers to pay full wages to those workers, it became unviable and families were forced off stations in droves, often against their will, and sadly never returned.

Then, in the 1990s, the Queensland Labor government rationalised the Queensland Rail workforce, leading to nearly 800 workers being displaced in North-West Queensland.

The continual moves towards the use of private contractors on main-roads crews has also historically led to less local and therefore less Indigenous employment.

Today, most of the traditional jobs have been destroyed and the most likely opportunities in communities these days are government or government-funded jobs.

The fact is, in 2022, almost all these jobs require a Blue Card.

This card was developed to protect children. However, the over-reach and inadvertent consequences of a well-intended policy have had dire consequences for First Australians.

Today, most people applying for jobs in these Indigenous communities have offences of varying nature, such as home-brew consumption (in communities with alcohol bans), drink-driving, assault or minor drug offences.

The sad reality is that, for whatever reasons, these types of offences are common in these parts and, therefore, allowing them to pose a barrier to employment ensures there is no hope of ever ending the cycle of intergenerational dysfunction.

Beyond assuring employment, the next logical stage of community development is to empower further the person who has kept his job. This would typically mean buying a car or even a house, which are very real desires of many Indigenous people.

Sadly, becoming a homeowner is yet another natural aspiration that the faraway academics ignore. The result is that in all First Australian communities in Queensland you can’t just “buy a house”.

Entire Indigenous townships currently exist under a Deed of Grant in Trust and individual land parcels need to go through an exhaustive process, one that most non-Indigenous would baulk at, before one can even get to the starting line of buying land to build a house.

Now, let’s put that in context. The persons that do get a job in these communities or do start a business have no collateral to offer to a bank to advance themselves. To buy a grader to tender for the local council roadworks or cattle for your home block would typically require some security. This privilege – largely considered a “right” across the rest of the country – is not available to the First Australians.

In place of a pathway to accessible Blue Cards, meaningful work and property ownership, we have offered our Indigenous brothers and sisters a “Pathway to Treaty” and a vote on the establishment of a non-binding parliamentary “Voice”.

Practically recognising these natural aspirations and helping fulfil them would have observable and positive impacts on the futures of First Australians and their communities, yet these all too obvious solutions remain ignored in place of platitudes and virtue-signalling.

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