(Transcript from World News Australia Radio)
The federal Aboriginal Affairs Minister says significant improvements can be expected in Indigenous affairs under the Abbott government.
As Karen Ashford reports, Mr Scullion says the government is prepared to be tough to achieve breakthroughs, using welfare cuts as a tool to tackle truancy.
(Click on audio tab above to listen to item).
In his first official outing, Nigel Scullion revealed to a conference of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander educators in Adelaide the frank advice he gave his boss, Tony Abbott.
"Every time the Prime Minister wants to go out and tell a good news story, he will be confronted by 'you're the prime minister for Aboriginal affairs, what's happening here, why isn't this happening'. And I said you have got to be careful what you wish for mate, but he said no no, I understand that. I understand that I'm going to be responsible, and I should be."
Mr Scullion says Aboriginal Affairs having the PM's special attention means things will get done.
He says education priorities include employing 16,000 more indigenous teachers, closing the 24 per cent gap between Indigenous and mainstream students' numeracy in year 3, and boosting school attendance - even if that means tough action.
"I certainly would have had no education whatsoever had it not been for the assistance of the Queensland police force I can assure you. They knew where I'd go fishing, it was quite an intense thing, if you wanted to wag school you'd get away for a little while, but not for long - they were on to us. And that was the convention when I was around and sadly not so much now days. But I do think it's a very effective strategy and we need to look to those programs that are an effective strategy."
It was an approach that made conference delegates uneasy.
Dean of Indigenous Scholarship at the University of South Australia, Professor Peter Buckskin, says educators would prefer the focus to be less about compulsion and more about creating a desire to learn.
"Well it's not about punitive measures, it's about building the capacity and understanding within communities and changing the culture of schools, because clearly young people are voting with their feet, they're not going because they don't find it interesting, or it's not relevant to them. So they need to have innovative ways to be creative in the classroom so that the children do want to come to school and find learning exciting - and that needs resources, it need experienced teachers and that needs to be done in consultation with parents."
Later, Mr Scullion toned down the prospect of police rounding up children, acknowledging truancy laws across Australia are the province of the states and territories.
Nevertheless, he remains keen to ensure that families get government assistance to ensure their children are schooled, and to ensure that enforcement measures are applied to those who fall short.
"The government are playing a friend's role, we come and put our arm around the family and say what sort of help do you need? It might be that you haven't got transport to go to school, it might be an issue about uniforms, it might be an issue about bullying, but at the end of the day, there are no excuses. We will assist you best we can, but there are no excuses. Every kid must go to school, and at the end of the day, the sharp end of the deal is we have all sorts of leverages that we can, say, we can manage their income if they're on welfare benefits those sort of things. But they should be a last resort."
Professor Peter Buckskin sees little merit in that approach.
"I think there's better ways to work with parents rather than punishing them because they're failing to live up to those rights that children are entitled to have."
Watch the video report on YouTube below:
Share
