Indigenous advisers slam Tony Abbott's 'lifestyle choice' comments as 'hopeless, disrespectful'

Updated

Tony Abbott's key Indigenous advisers have slammed his description of living in remote communities as a "lifestyle choice", saying the statement is "hopeless", "disrespectful" and simplistic.

Yesterday, Mr Abbott backed a plan in Western Australia to close more than 100 remote communities and move more than 1,000 people, saying "what we can't do is endlessly subsidise lifestyle choices".

The Opposition has demanded he apologise but Mr Abbott has defended his use of the term, saying he was "making a pretty obvious point".

But Indigenous leader Noel Pearson told the ABC remote Indigenous communities deserved an "extensive" explanation and not "off-the-cuff" comments.

"I think it's a very disappointing and hopeless statement by the Prime Minister, quite frankly," he told The World Today.

Remote communities at a glance: There are 274 remote communities in Western Australia and 12,113 Aboriginal people live in them

507 people live in 115 of the smallest communities - an average of 4.4 people per community

Premier Colin Barnett flagged the closure of up to 150 communities but has not named them

The last community to shut down was in 2011, when Oombulgurri in the East Kimberley was shut down after a host of social problems

The state and federal governments contributed $30 million per year to fund services, but the Commonwealth will cease its funding contribution in two years

"I just think it's very disrespectful to cast fear into these communities through a kind of policy thought bubble rather than a considered position from the Commonwealth Government as to the future — the anxious future — of these remote communities.

"He has got no plan for the future of these communities in the event that they close down. And I'm just bitterly disappointed to hear this deranged debate go on in the substandard manner in which it's being conducted."

Chair of the Prime Minister's Indigenous Advisory Council Warren Mundine said it was not as "simple" as the Prime Minister had described.

"These people are actually living on their homelands and it affects a lot of things, it affects their cultural activities, it affects their native title, it affects a number of areas," he told Radio National.

"It's not as simple as... if someone from Sydney decides to have a treechange and go and live in the bush. It's about their life, it's about their very essence, it's about their very culture."

One Coalition frontbencher said it was a "poor phrase" as it was "not a lifestyle choice to be living there [in remote Australia]".

The MP said he did not have a problem with the sentiment that it was difficult to have people living a long way from employment, but said the point should have been made without using "language that can sometimes be seen to vilify them".

Mick Gooda 'baffled' by comments

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda said he was "baffled" by the comments.

"I think they're poorly thought out," he told ABC News 24.

"I think they will cause offence in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community."

He added to calls for a thorough policy discussion.

"What are we going to have? More communities on the fringe of our towns like we've got in places like Kalgoorlie and Darwin and Alice Springs already?" Mr Gooda said.

"We're going to make a situation that's pretty bad already in those places even worse."

Mr Pearson called on the Prime Minister to "get serious about policy".

"There was a time in our history when they kicked us out of town, and now they want to bring us back in — just by a flick of the policy switch," he said.

"Who is going to welcome these people in the country towns and suburbs of this country, as if there's a big welcoming mat for Aboriginal people from remote communities to be welcomed into the social and economic mainstream of Australia?"

Mr Abbott said he was focused on the practical impacts of living in remote settlements on access to schooling, jobs and services.

He says he's the prime minister for Indigenous Australians, but he just wants to move them off the land. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten

"I was making the pretty obvious point that you or I are free to live where we choose, all Australians are free to live where we choose, but inevitably there are some limits to what we can reasonably expect of the taxpayer when it comes to supporting these choices," he said.

"Now I am absolutely passionate, absolutely passionate and have been for all of my public life, about trying to ensure we do the right thing by Aboriginal people."

Mr Abbott pointed to his decision last year to set up Government in a remote community in Arnhem Land.

"I'm very comfortable with my credentials when it comes to doing the right thing by the Aboriginal people of Australia," he said.

But Labor leader Bill Shorten said he should apologise.

"Tony Abbott is a prime minister stuck in the 1950s," he said.

"He says he's the prime minister for Indigenous Australians, but he just wants to move them off the land."

Cabinet ministers Malcolm Turnbull and Joe Hockey have backed Mr Abbott's stance.

Mr Hockey said the Prime Minister used the "right" phrase.

"It's right because it is the lifestyle that they want," he said on 702 ABC Sydney.

"Do they want that lifestyle to live in a remote area? Some of them do. Some of them say it is part of their tradition. That is their lifestyle — that is the way they live. The way they live is a lifestyle."

Mr Turnbull said very few politicians had as much knowledge of Indigenous Australia as Mr Abbott.

"I think he does have a very good understanding," he said on 612 ABC Brisbane.

"I think it's important that we talk about the issue thoughtfully and rationally, rather than as is often the case with the Prime Minister — you know, whenever he opens his mouth his critics leap on him."

'You have to be on your country to look after it'

Western Australia's Premier Colin Barnett said while the Prime Minister's comment was poorly worded, he believed he and Mr Abbott were "on the same page".

"Unfortunate choice of words, but Tony Abbott has a lifetime of commitment to Aboriginal people, and would be more knowledgeable about Aboriginal people and their conditions and their history than probably almost anyone in Federal Parliament," he said.

We're not funding lifestyle choices, we're funding lives, in fact. Northern Land Council chief executive Joe Morrison

"Children aren't attending school, young children are being abused both physically and sexually, there are no employment opportunities, and I can't look the people of Western Australia in the face and say as Premier, I'm going to ignore that.

"In that regard Tony Abbott and I are on the same page."

But Indigenous leaders across WA criticised the Prime Minister's comments.

The chairman of WA's Kimberley community of Djarindjin, Brian Lee, said it was a cultural obligation to live on traditional country and it could not be a "lifestyle choice".

"We are obliged to look after our country and that's why a lot of us are out here on country," Mr Lee said.

"Unless you live out here, you really can't make any judgement on that.

The Kalgoorlie-Boulder Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Hugh Gallagher said the Prime Minister should be concerned about the profound impact it would have on Aboriginal culture and the business community.

"I would ask him where that fits within the Government's policy on closing the gap?" Mr Gallagher said.

"Because it is just so important that regional culture is retained and sadly it begins to shrink when it's in capital cities."

In the Northern Territory, Northern Land Council chief executive Joe Morrison warned against similar closures there.

"We're not funding lifestyle choices, we're funding lives, in fact," he told AM.

"I would argue against that it's a 'choice' that people have got deep-rooted connections to their country, it's a 'choice' that they've lived there for generations and generations."

Mr Abbott, who has said he wanted to be the prime minister for Indigenous affairs, was criticised last year for saying in a speech that Australia was "unsettled or scarcely settled" when British settlers arrived.

This latest statement has led Mr Pearson, who has long been a political ally of Mr Abbott in relation to Indigenous issues, to question the Prime Minister's commitment.

"I don't doubt his high-minded intentions, but I've got to say 18 months into the life of his Government, I don't see a great deal of proof of his intentions in this regard," he said.

Topics: indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, government-and-politics, abbott-tony, wa, australia

First posted