Liberal politicians are telling indigenous people that in order to achieve prosperity they must turn their back on culture and community, a Northern Territory MP says.
It is the same message being pushed federally and in the NT, says Ken Vowles, Shadow Minister for Indigenous Policy.
He slammed the head of the federal government's Indigenous Advisory Council, Warren Mundine, for being "North Shore ignorant" and giving a "self-serving" lecture to indigenous communities living in extreme disadvantage across the NT.
Mr Mundine spoke at an indigenous employment conference in Darwin on Tuesday.
"Bludgers weren't welcome in traditional communities", he said, and welfare dependence and humbugging were not part of traditional culture.
Mr Mundine said Aboriginal people should not use cultural obligations like funerals to leave work and school for long periods of time, News Corp Australia reported.
"It's become almost a bullshit process, to be quite frank," he said.
But Mr Vowles has taken exception to Mr Mundine's comments.
"Rather than pontificate his theories from down south, Mr Mundine should be using his position ... to engage with indigenous Territorians, and experience the cultural practices he has questioned and understand that living conditions are set to get worse from the severe cuts to indigenous affairs in the federal budget," Mr Vowles said in a statement on Wednesday.
Chief Minister Adam Giles agreed that cultural norms around indigenous employment needed to change.
"Warren does have a point that we have to be mindful of the fact that there are competing priorities between school, employment, training and also cultural obligations and family responsibilities," he said.
"You've got to make sure you get that balance right and in a lot of cases the balance isn't right, and a kid's education or a person's employment does suffer as a result of that."
