Indigenous Affairs

23 August 2007

Lieutenant General John Sanderson AC

In this lecture, Lieutenant General John Sanderson argues that the national approach to Indigenous issues can broadly be described as ‘assimilationist’ – the belief that the only hope for Indigenous people is to become like mainstream Australia, taking on the trappings of a rationalist northern hemisphere culture that is increasingly at odds with the environment in which it finds itself. Recent initiatives are merely a market forces derived version of this paternalistic approach that has its origins almost from the time of the First Fleet. The cultural disempowerment associated with this approach has left Indigenous people in a state of trauma that is reflected in the appalling physical and mental health statistics and the increasing engagement with the justice and prison systems.

The alienation of Indigenous people from the mainstream in Australia is paralleled by the alienation of Australians from the continent itself and portrays a latent danger to the young country as the world power balance shifts towards Asia. Reconciliation is not simply about overcoming Indigenous disadvantage – it is about national unity and the redemption of the entire nation.

A commentary will be provided by Professor Mick Dodson AM, Director of the National Centre for Indigenous Studies at ANU.

Broad Topics: Arts and Social Sciences

Sub-topics: Indigenous Studies, Policy & Political Science, Society & Culture

Areas: University

Lieutenant General John Sanderson is the Special Adviser to the Government of Western Australia on Indigenous Affairs. He was Governor of that State from 2000 to 2005. General Sanderson had a 45 military career beginning at the Royal Military College in 1958 and culminating as Chief of the Australian Army in 1998. He is widely published on the philosophy of international intervention and the strategic dimensions of human rights, justice and reconciliation