Why Australia's Priorities are all Wrong!

The past couple of days have been a sad and tragic episode in Australian history.  We have now experienced, first hand, what terrorism can do after witnessing the hostage situation in Sydney and the subsequent pointless deaths of the terrorist and two innocent hostages.


I was not "on the ground" in Sydney, nor was I privy to the Police tactics or any discussions between the Authorities and the terrorist, so I am not qualified to comment on the conduct of the incident from the Police perspective, nor can I make informed comment on the terrorist's motivations or the outcome of the incident other than to say how sad it makes me feel that terrorism has reached our shores.


Notwithstanding the tragedy of the situation that unfolded overnight in Sydney, it serves to highlight just how wrong we, as a nation, have got it in terms of how we view the importance of domestic issues.  Do not be mistaken, despite the perpetrator's professed links with international terrorist groups and the obvious connections we can make to similar actions in foreign lands, this is a domestic issue.


The question I would like to pose is: When we refuse to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our Constitution, after 200 years of combined history, how can we expect "new Australians" to embrace our culture and become part of our society?  If you migrated to a foreign, non-English speaking, country and discovered that their Indigenous population were not recognised as part of that nation, were denied the opportunity to practice their own traditions and culture and, also play a role in the development of that nation, how confident would you be that you would be treated as an equal and be given the opportunity to build a new and prosperous life for your family?


I believe this is exactly what new arrivals in Australia see and this creates major security concerns on a number of levels.

1. For the disenfranchised Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are made to feel like second class citizens, or even interlopers in their own land, this can open the gates for them to be enticed into a world of crime and seduced to join terror groups who offer them the sense of belonging and chance to do something to grab the attention of the rest of the world.  Disenfranchised citizens are prime targets for terror groups and they make zealous followers.
2. New arrivals to Australia are pushed away from mainstream society and seek out the familiar and groups with similar backgrounds and language.  This can isolate them from the rest of society and, once again, disenfranchises them.  The adults who made the decision to escape to Australia are not the problem.  It is their children and grandchildren who do not clearly remember the horrors they escaped who, when isolated from society, create their own version of society and become open to influence and emotional control of criminal and terrorist masterminds.

This is not a story you read in a Robert Ludlum novel, this is our reality, in Australia, in 2014.  We can no longer stick our heads under the blankets and pretend that the rest of the world does not exist.  It is out there and it is becoming a part of the Australian landscape right now.


The key message I want to send out today, is that we can protect ourselves from home-grown terror but we must act now!  Give Constitutional Recognition to the First Australians and provide the Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islanders the opportunity to genuinely participate in the building of our nation.  Give them the rights and opportunities that non-Indigenous Australians and Migrants automatically receive and make them truly equal under the Constitution.


This simple act will take an enormous step toward Reconciliation and removing the prejudices that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have come to expect, but not accept, over the past 200 years. 


How will this end the terror threat on Australian soil?  If we eliminate the breeding grounds of terror groups, i.e. disenfranchised youth, poverty stricken and/or unemployed youth and people who are racially vilified and isolated from mainstream society, by giving them hope, opportunity and a sense of belonging, the terror group recruiters will not have a willing audience for their sick, demented railings against western society. 


I am absolutely astounded that fellow Australians become outraged at any sign of racial prejudice or mistreatment of asylum seekers (Boat People) or any "new Australian" but will turn away, or simply ignore, similar acts against our own Indigenous population.  This double standard must be stopped and it all starts with you.


We can beat the terror threat together.  But we will never be "together" until the inequities within our own nation have been satisfactorily resolved.

Copyright © 2014 by Drew Dale

All rights reserved. This article or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.