Brough Demonstrates Ignorance Of Aboriginal Realities

Member for Lingiari and Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Indigenous Affairs and Northern Australia Warren Snowdon said today Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough was the strongest candidate yet for the Dr Who Award for Parliamentary Time Traveller of the Year.

Mr Snowdon said the Minister's description of clan-based Aboriginal councils as 'communist collectives' took Australia right back to the heyday of the McCarthyist crusades.

'This statement is infantile, ignorant and just plain wrong and resurrecting the Cold War is a curious strategy for people who say they're about making a difference to Indigenous disadvantage' Mr Snowdon said.

'Whatever the Minister might think, the only member of the Marx family who made an impact on the Aboriginal world was Groucho.

'And the most commonly read book in bush communities is not Das Kapital: it's the Bible.

'This Minister must recognise that the suggestion is insulting to the intelligence of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians alike.

'His lamentable ignorance about Australia's Aboriginal domains could be cured by reading the report of the Woodward Royal Commission.

'But it doesn't have any pictures, which would make it extremely challenging for a man who obviously thinks in comic book clichés.

'Using reds under the bed to justify assimilationist policies is the clearest indication we've had yet of the intellectual and moral bankruptcy of this Government,' Mr Snowdon said.

2006-08-24