Enough of Closing the Gap. It only shows how governments of all persuasion can get away with fatal incompetence when it comes to the First Australians

Enough. This yearly political charade, Closing the Gap, is not saving Indigenous lives, getting more First Nations kids through school or keeping more young black people out of prison. Indeed, the very arbitrary determinants of “the gap” do not even include a measure on the number of incarcerated Indigenous Australians.

A big part of this largely whitefella process is, after all, managing expectations. And were you to start measuring Indigenous outcomes in terms of the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people behind bars or who continue to die in the most hideous ways in custody, you might have to actually admit that you’d already ignored the best advice on how to change things.

Related: Closing the Gap report shows life expectancy and child mortality targets are not being met

Related: Victories for Indigenous people are always short-lived. That's why we need a treaty – now

Continue reading...