CO!!MONWKIL'rH OF AUSrnALIA.

PARUAMENTARY DEBATES. (HANSARD.)

SESSION 1950.

FIUS'f SESSION OF TIW Nf;.mTEENTII PARLIAMEKT. (1'" •. .,. pu!Oll.)

14 GEO. VI.

VOL. :lOll.

SENATE AND DOUSE OF REPRJo:S ~NTATlVI>~.

ABORIGINES. Mr. HASLUCK (Curtin) [11.451 .-1

move--T hill this HOUHe is of the o[liniotl t1mt the

("',UIII4>nwclllti. G,'vernlllcnl. ,'x(',..,j" in::- II nnt.inultl r('lIpunsibility for t he wclf.lrt! o'r the wlul l(~ .<\u>(trn.li!w people, ",11f1uld (:fHlllCratc ~' ith till: t-;tAte GVI\·ernmcnt.~ in IIU!" _~ lIreK fnr t.he tju('ial lldvllllt'{'II1CUt lUI well liH llU' prlttt.'(:tion " r 10('0'pll· "r the all<'lrj~illlli r:lC~e thrull,g'hnllt the Alls tralillll mainland, IIl1ch cU~llCrn.ti(tn to inchldc addi t ional fillRllcilll aid to thnll(~ StJttdl ou whnm the bu rden of l1A.tivc ad ll1iniRtrnti"n falll< 1II""t .I,cft vily; and tI le Rom',! TfiJll f"IU

[8 J UI'IJr;, 1950.] A'-'~ -' ....... 3977

&.he UV\erllln~llt to pr~pare prup .... sal. ffOr sub. milll!inn at the earJie~t "I'portunl ty to n meeting (If :3 tl1te Premiers and, in preparing 1111('1, I' rvl"'"111", tAl pny dill.' reg-nnl t" the I'rill rl ple~ .. r (<I J State administ ratiun "r nllth'(' alf"i n ' li nd (/, ) ",, ·opt·r!.ti" l1 with the Chl'i"ti:lll n.i~ , j. , IlI'.

I pl'OpOse, first, to attempt to gil'e a broad dcseriptioll of the present circumstances of uborig-iues ill AUBtl'alia, and, seeondly, to I lIlI forward sel'erRI general propoBi· tioll.'. and on the ba5ill of those proposi. tions 10 pllSB to an (,xplanation of the pr('('it'(' terms of tbe motion and the pllrposes which it is intended that it ~ lw! 1 "I·(·" Il:pli .• J.. . \ ~. 11Iul,'r til ,! Stand­jn~ Order~ I shall lIot Illl \'e ' sufficient t ime to give A comprehemive description of ,Il(' conditioll!> of ahorigines, I shall be bold enough to make the initial flSI>llfllptioll that Il0nOfllble members arc nnt ~ !ltisficd with the present treatment of IIhorigine.s in Australia and the con­ditions under which they are obliged to li,'c at present. J am confident tha t honorable membcrs who in thei~ OWII clec­torates or fro m per90nal interest bal'c .dircct contact with and first-hand know­,,·rl,c'" of the probll'm will rf'8(li l,v entl m'I;(' flilil ,· Iall·melll.. f usk til nee hOllorable 1II1 ' lI l bN~ who 11111'1' li nt firl' t-hRud kllOw­

II ·d!;,· " f Ill(' p.·u!JlclI1 to la:" ,'pt I.lll' :1 ~8Ur ' .n n, ·,· " f 1 .ho~c who 1111.\,1', nn(1 u\;.o to a("('cpt flU' " ,or.liet ",h i('h IIH'Y lI' ill find rf!f'(}I',led : 11 : H " I' rOlUl j!ltp(' rs li nd report.~ inoli,oa,ing th ll l native ud ministrntors, g<l\'ernmenf d,'partment& Imd aboriginal welfare IllISO­

eiutions nrc by no means I"atisfi ed with th e cOllditions of ::tborigines at present. ] do not intend to raise a ilCalidal or to IIJlportion blame in any particular quartor. If · there is calise for blanie, I -do not think tlill t it ca n he placcd IIpon .Any administration or officia l. Thc n cglcet of th is sociul problem in the past has been neglect 'on till' flar l of the :\ll ~ l ~n lill n community II ~ 0 whole. The I:olllltlunity as a wllOl,· IIIII.~I , tiU'ff 'forr, bear the hlame. Thl:' ]1111'])0"'" or l 'W

mot.ion i!: not to plae<' t.he hlalnc Il)lOli

adminstration~ but to arouse the Aus­tralia n nation to somc sen~ of its l"Cllpon­Bibjlity for ils short.~millgs in this matter.

According to Ihe censull that WIl1

taken in 1044, therc were then in Australia 71,895 purson! who were

elaSiiified all aborigine". That total in." cluded 24,881 who were classified aa half­ea l;te~. Appro;o;imately one-third were rlusdi~ 8JI 1I0madic and slightly less ~h a ll one-third were classified as being III employment.. Of the remainder al.90 a.Jlprox.im nte~y one-th.i rd , the majority ~ erc. either III superv~ed camps or were look.lng ~f.tcr them selves in vnriou.s stage! of tranSItIOn from bush life to the Hfe of the wlJite rommlmi ty. Those fi gu rea do not give an accurate picture of present c~lIl ditiolls. of 8?originc!, but they under­line certain pamts. The first is that at least.. 'two-thirds of the aboriginal and half-caste popu lation in Australifl have alr(>ady come 80 closely in touch with the ' ways of Em:opean Hfe that their future cann9t .M conaidered any l on~er as heing that of a primitive people til' ing their own tribal life in thc remote parts of ~his country: They are all'(!ady closely In touch With the wllys of Europeans nllll arc Ih,jng on thl' outQkirh or ~hi tc settlements. For citller good or ~IJ . the (uture of those aborigines lies III close association with the whi te com· munil.y. IIl<iec(l, many o( tllc rema inder wll(~ arc ('Iassificn as nomarlic have com­menced tile process of transition (rom Iribnl li(c to lire in contact with white H·Ulers, ·tllld alrl'ady the tribal practices n.nd helie(s which give vitali ty to a prim i­t,,·~ pcopl~ arc bein'" sapped and aro losmg thcir force. TilCrcforc-alld this ~s my $C.eolld point-the problem to--<lay 111 not a prohlem of protcction. In the olrl days when they wcre a primitive p?~ple living under primitive bush COli­(htlOnJJ, thc prohlem thieAy was to set lip a barrier bCtivcen them lind tlte innHling white community. Tholl6 days have ;l!'Olle, and tho nation must move to II new era in whidl the social advance-

. Til,o" t rather" than ' the crude protection fir th ~ 1 n:1 t ivel; sJ(ould be the objective of n!1 I.hat is dOlle in this svhcre. We must f'lth('r work for tIle /;ocial ndvancement d t ilt' :rhu rig!I;(,;; or be content to wit-• !"~-.~ tlwil' cOllt inllp(i r,('Ic ial degrndation.

.Tllel·" is 110' po~sibi1ity now of our being ahla to put at lellllt two tllil'ds of the nborigi nes bar-k into bush life. Their (uture l ies in association with us, and they must eitber associate with UI on !ta~dard9 that wilJ give them full opper. tUlllty . to live worthily and happily or

[REPRE8ENTATIVES.]

be reduced to the 80cial status of pariahs and outcasts living without a firm place in the community. In other words, we either permit this social evil to continue or we remedy it.

The third point is that a total of approximately 72,000 aborigines living in an expanding community of approxi­mately 8,000,000 whites is so small that it is manageable. We have on our hands a serious but not a frightening problem. The total number of aborigines consti­tutes a social group within but not of the white community. Therefore, that group can, and must, be managed. Unless we tackle this problem now it will increase in seriousness. I can illustrate that point from my own personal knowledge of the conditions of the half-caste population in the southern part of Western Australia. In 1934 and 1936 I conducted an in­vestigation of the conditions of life of those hali-castes and published a certain amount of material upon the subject. At that time, just after the depression, there wa~ Ii Rocial problem that affected 4,000 half-castes in that district. To-day, in exactly the same region, after a lapse of only sixteen years there are 6,000 half­castes and their ~onrlition is far worse at present than it was in 1934 jnst after the depression. 'Dhat is not a reflection upon the present administration. That deterioration has come about in spite of improved administrative efforts within narrow limits in recent years, but it illustrates that a manageable social prob­lem may very quickly become' unmanage­able if it ,be not tackled immediately and with determination.

The fundn7flental point to be recog­nized is that in this matter we must deal with not one problem but several problems. I shall illustrate that point by referring to the conditions of those natives, approximately 20,000, who are classified as being in employment. That number can be sub-divided into six, or seven, dassifications. First, there are those natives who live on cattle stations in the north under tribal conditions and whose subsistence with that of their families is provided by station owners. They live a bush life and during a large part of the 'y!'~n. V;h(~ll they an:, not lH'eded for l1Iut;)pr;u31 tL~'y g" iVulk-

Jfr. Ila,~luck"

about and resume their full tribU hahit.;;. In the north-west of .AU&­traIia natives are employed m.ainly _ ilheep stations. Becallile of their nib. background many of them a.re att~hed by their own choice to rparticular stations.. They receive wages and largely fol101Y the habits of white workerSy although their standards of living are ~ far below those of any white stockman or > boundary rider. In the areas farther-.~ south the natives in the sheep country m.,. 1 be contrasted with th05e living in -a- "I agricultural areas· under conditions ," roughly approxim~t~ng those of the wh~_ • workers, but enJoJlng a lower 80elal .

gtandard, and suffering the disability or :", social outcasts. There are also natives .;, who are under the protection of missiOll& "~ or government settlements. Then there "::\ are those who find regular employment,. ~~ receive award rates of wages, and live :ia their own homes. Finally, there 8ft

natives who, perhaps, not being 80 steady in their habits, follow seasonal labour or take contract work, as the fancy m-ove:! them or as their need for some new com­modity arises. These are only some ill­stances that indicate the wide variation in the types of employment followed by natives classified as " employed" and the oxtent of "this national problem.. AD]f uniform plan to cover all natives in em­ployment which disregarded these wide­differences in the competence of v.ariOUl&" groups of aborigines, their conditions o£ work and their manner of life would be certain to cause conflict and eonfusicm". and would give neither satisfaction to ourselves nor bene,fit to the aborigines... In eonsidering this probtem we must be cons('iolls, first. of its diversity_ Because of its diversity we must re­member that we cannot deal with it by adopting a ~ingle an-d uniform policy. The task of solving the prob­lem must be worked at pa tiently amI conscientiously, and with a risk of a ['ertain amount of disappointment, stage by stage in the different parts of the Com­monwealth aecording to the different groups of natives and the different degrees to which they have entered into relations with the white community. We must have regard to local problems of health and tribal customs, and the degree of contact between black and white., :which

[8 ,JUNE. 10:;0.1 Aborigitw!8. 3979

' .. ary ~o widely from the not·th to the south Some of thf'm may be sllOrtIy summarized .of thi !< con ~i nellt. as follows: F irst, the pattern of oontact

Auothcr point that CI~ergcs from a between whites and llatives bas changed further examination of these figurcs is the ill the 50 years since federation. Wherea~ inequality of tlle distribu tion .of shari- in 100Q, the number of aborigin(>~ gines between the various States. Of closely ill tourh with settlement wa~ the grand total of approximately 72,000 roughly the same in all States e:'lcept Vic· aborigines, three-quarters are in Western loria, to·day the special burden on two Australia, Queensland and the Northern Stntes and on tIle administration ' in the Territory. Thus, the burden of ad minis· Northern Territory has become more tration falls most heavily OJI a few lil arkeil. Secondly, the nllllnciai auto· States. In order to POillt the contrast, . IJOmy of the State3 has changed ver.}' .and give it full lIu':l1ling, J mrn- greatly. The States arc not able to tion 11 " 11 II' h('I"C :l ~ Vi l·tl'll"ia, with an . undt'rtake tilc financial commitments thaI 3nnuaJ C(I",,'olidated revenue of · approxi- !!UIY. ~ere ~blc to accept. in tIle .yeurs mately .£45,000,000, expends only £5,000 Innncd lat.el.y aftcl' fedt'~tlOn. Without a year 011 aborigines, Weste rn Australia,· n rccog.llltlOll · of a speCial, need by thf' witll fill Hll ll11Rl comolidaterl r('\'enue of _\ u~t.l'ah an Governmellt It would ~ ll Pproximatel.y £20,000,000, expends beyond the prnr.tical capacity of any £10,000 on theit- administration and care. Strltl', en~1l in times of the greatest pros­At .p·resent. t.he responsibility is unequally jlrri ty, to make proper provision for i ts distributed among the people of Aus- l'rlDtivel,Y greater . responsibilities for trali a altho~lgh, as I shall attempt to its all(}~iginflJ popula tion. Thirnly, the ~how, it is 1\ responsibili ty which should Anstrllhan Government, throtlgh ib not Ixl .« ll irkcn by tbe whole of thl' people. nf'rruhiti(ln ,,( t.he Northe~n Territory,

I-f a\'in~ giv{,ll thlit brond nC(~(Il1nt of Ihe pre~cn t ,·ondition of aborigi ne~ , I shall at.tClH l't to establish, as my fi rst major propusition, that the wllolr .A u.'l­trnlion eommullity has a respon!libili ty for t.hp. ir welflln'. As the AustraliAn 00-vernment ill the only government that can speak ill the name of the whok COTl.l­

muni ty it. has a special obligation to -('nsure t.hat. th~ nation sllall af'cf'pt t.hat responsibil ity . I know thut thf' Au~t!'1llian Constitu,tion Icaves responsibility for aboriginlls with the Stat.e governments, lind t.hat the di rect legislative and adminilltrati"e powers ' of the Common­wcalth in respect of aborigines do n.ot ·('xt.elJ(1 beyond Commonwealth terri­torir.s, I do not propose to enter into a . constitut ional argument. or to devclop lilly novel th'esis Ahout the -s ituation. Keeping to !l. pra('tical politirlll level , I merely a~k thr' Commonw{'alt.h ·P.arliament all t.h .. ~11P­reme voice of the Austral iAn nfltion. to ell8u re tha t, irrespective of wlll're the

constitutional .powers Ije, the practical task of the betterment of the condition: of the natives throughout the Common­wealth shall ·be undertaken. There arE' many reasons why we should be more emphatic and more co-operative in this mlltter than we bave been in former yeara,

• hHl"t'S a common problem WIth the State~ i ll ,J, . , ndlili ll islr::tion of Ihe aboriginal ]Iopillut ion in the Northern Territory, 'f1,(,sc nrc all nQ5lllJlcnts WJI.Y it i!l neces­~al'y · to mnke a re-apprais-al of the role flf tV:; P,ll' iiflllJCnt ill the pl'olJlem of u a t:\"q wdfat'!;! nnd to giH! 1\ !ead in the formulation ot a joiut na t iollal pro­p;ramme.

There also serm~ to me to be otht'r rlrguments why I.he Australian Governmen t ,,110111(1 mnkc its voice heard in .this matter. Th/.> Oommonwealth Parli ament is the custodian of thl: nflt.iOn:l1 re plltation in the world at huge. Our }'f'l'onl of native administration will not stand srl'utillY at the standard of onr own Jl rofes~iolls, pubJic1y made in the (or·um of t.l!r world. of a high concern for human \\'rlfarr. We should be con­demned Ollt of om own mouths if thOile professions were measured by the stan­da.rd of lllltive a.lmillistJ:lltion accepted in Australia to-<1ay. When we.enter into int .. rnational discussions, and raise our voice, a8 ",'e shou ld raise it, in defence of human rights and the protection of human welfare, our very words are moeked by the "thousand s of degraded and depressed people who crouch on rub-bish heaps throughout the whole of this continent. Let us cleanse this stain

39:!O Aboriginu. [REPRESENTATIVES.) Aboriginu.

from our fo rehead or we fhall rUll the r isk that ill-intentioned people will point to it witb Ico rn. W,ben we bave done tn at we shall be able to stand with greater pI"ide and more eon6.denoo before the world as a !elf-respecting nation.

[0 the courSe of our Pllrtici pation in international discussions we have allied ourselves w<itb solemll dedara­tiona and in the case of the charter of tbe United NI\tioq. have made posi­tive c()mmitments to plomote the weHare of depreesed peoples and to uphold human righta. So, by interuational undertaking, we have acquired this additional respon­sibility as a national parliament to eMure' that these abligations ahan be fulfilled. Over and ab()ve the division of powers between the Commonwealth and the Statea, and unlimited by it., is the conception of the people of Australia 8. ~ 8. whole. When the welfs.re of the Aus­tr31ian community is under consideration -and ' by the term 1< Australian com­munit.y" I mean all the inhabitants of this continent-we 3~ a. lIa. tional parliament ha.v (! an oblign tion far more exteu..&ive than tbut of any. single State parl iamcnt to ensurc tha.t that welfare shall. he promow.l. 1 n mattcr~ such as defencc, in relation to which the Commonwealth bas clearly c!efined powers, we can legally' take action to ensure tbat those powen shall be exercised. In relation to mattcrs in whicb this PArliament has restricted power, such as the · welfare of the aborigiI\es, I su~st that it is our responsibility to imtiate s teps that will produce c<rOperation betwoon the varioua administrations and IKI ensure that action shall be taken alld t.bat t he authorities in whom the powers arc vested shall bave the means to make ffllch aet ioll effective. Those are the arguments why this Parliament should accept some responsibility in the .matter.

My pIca for a.ction by thi.s P arlie.­ment is !'cinforced by n considera­tion of the a.uem])ts that huvll been made in the past to do pret;:isely what I am now sugg<'sting this Parlia· ment should do. The subject of native IIffairs was raised at the Conference of ' Commonwealth and State Ministers in Bl36, and in 1937 a conference of Cllm­monwealth and State representatives in

Mr. n ul.,rlt.

Ca.nb:rra drc~' up a number of admirable­}.lrlDClples and made some exceedingly .c,ou nd recom mendations. Any action that may have followed that conference W88 so­slight as to bear little relation to its deci­sions. Agaill, following discuAsions tbat took pIa«' at a conft'rence of Common_ wea.lth and State Ministers in 1947 wben tbis subject was rai sed by Mr: Ross McDonald, the 'Minister for Native ~\ffi.irs in Wostern Australia, a eOllfer­ence of F ederal and State officials was held at Canberra in 1948. That confer· ence made recommcndations that aU mem­bers will agree were fundamentally sound and showed ild recogni tion of the serious­lIess of this problem. Once again the· action tliat followed bore li ttle relati~n to· the extensivenes's of thc recommendations. With .those past expcriencC.!I in mind, I

.submit that, if we agree, as I hope honor­"ble members do agree, that this Psrl.ia­ment should act.in this matter, we should c<maider .more than the simple pa&'!ing of another resolution or the irutiating of an· other confercnce. We should consider star ting a new era in which direct, posi· tive and effective action is likely to be­tak~n. It seems to me, from tbe IMsMa (If thc past, tlmt ftlllOllg thc rcasoll fl why the nctioll t!lken p rc\' iou~l v wa~ 18$& effcctive than the solemn profell8ions thaI were made indi('atcd that it would be, Will!

that the discu89i(ms in each instance took place \vithout sufficient preparRlion. Tbe aubject 'of the conditions of the noorigines waR left for discussion lit the tai.l-end of the proceedings of the various conferences. It was trcated as one of tbe lcft-overs rather than being made lit nl11 time the principal matter for disclll!l>ion .. Another reason was that permanent 11(1-

ministrative arrangements were not !Mllle t.o ~ive sffect to the decisions of eaell ('on­ference 80 as to maintain eo-ordinlltiolT nmong thc authorities that hnd pnrtir-i­pated in the discUMions. A third ]"('0.011

lies in the fact thRt hithert.o !.WI)

problems ill e6nnexioll with ~ n{"h discussions between the Commonll'('nlt h and State authorities had IIOt h(!(!l1 pro­perly resolved before the cOllfcr'etwe~ II'NI'

held. I refer to 8tooo rights nnn fiIlHIIM'.

F or a new confcrence to .sIl OC l.~d :11111 HI

result in effective action being t:l I:'· II. it would be ncccssory from tIle out,.,·, folf a clc'ar nnl\t'f!!tnnding to ho" t' ~n

A boriyi1U!8. [8 JUNE, 1050.] A borigine8. 3981

Ttl.lH·I.etl till those two lIlatter~ . Til,· Stat('t; should Lc tl8f'.Ured tbtH local Rumill istration ..... ilI llOt be dis­tlll·I>(.'], 81ld the Commollwealth :lud Statc.s "huu ],] n@;yee that wlu:1I e:,tl'll finance is 1I1 't'II l'II, ami is not obtainable from the lIorUl ul 80Ur(:cs of revell ue, SIl{·h finanee v.ill be llnlib.ble ill accordance with the JU'eli for it.

Defore ,·onclml ing 1 wish to refer to-"the 'work of the Christian mi8!lions in Aus· t,ralia. Tbe 50 government institutions I:llre for 9,300 natives and 54 Cbriatian miS!'ions care tor approximately the same nllmber of natives. Government institu­tional staffs total 283 and iJl ission 'staffs tot81 219. I t is plain, there(or~ , that if i1 were not for the Christi,lll misaions Australia would be doing only half ~ milch in respect of the wel fare o-f the .aboriginefl n.. it is now doing. I n addi· t ion sqeh \·oluntary organiUltions as the }~ly ing .poctor Service also extend their l>t.nefiti to nborig- ines. I real ize that tllt ' re are good missions and some, mis.s.ions that ·may not act as wiscly as they might, bllt gencrally sl>eaking all missions bring iut{) the field of native administration a body of devoted and zealot':" workers wl lOHe zeal and sense of vocatIon cannot lX!, and never will be, matched by the -ordinary methods of rublie Service re­I:ruitment. . Any govcrnment should acce pt with gratitude the services of so Ilndicated a body of people. Furthermore, the Ch ristian missions enlist behind theil' dfort.s tl le support, interest and sympathy ·of the whole community.

The motion before the House . attempl.8 to cover the grounds that I have rapidly sketched in brief outline. In the first place it is based on two .propositions whit'h are as fo11ows:-(a.) , that tbe Aus­t.ralian Government exercises a national rt'''pollsibility for the welh.re of the whole A IIl1tralian people and therefore should co-operate witb State governments in pro­moti ng the welfare of aborigines; arid rII ), measures of native welfare should be -directed towards the social advancement liS well as the protection of aborigines. The motion then g~8 on to say that co­opt'.;ation should include additional pro­vision of finance. It then asb that in order that effective administrative action may follow, the GoverDnlflnt shoul,i prepare definite proposals to pillefl hf1forfl

the Stil le l'remiel'B a.nd thus accept the role · of co-or<1illator alld · euet'gizer in matters I·('lat,ing t() native administration. Finally, the motion lays down the prin­ciple 11u1t due J'egard should be paid to the following ~-( 11), State administration of native affairs; and (b), co-operation with the ChTisti nn missions. It doeA not attempt to l'rt'£-Cribe the' methods that the \'arious administrations should adopt. Anyone who has had first­hand knowledge of the native problem will agree that the presen t condi­tioDS of the aborigines are so diverse, and the possibilities for their advance­ment arc so dimly seen, that the pro­gramme can best be worked out in relation to the uay-to-<lny tasks of routine administration. We cannot hope for a lIudden transformation or to hit upon a single plan that will transform the posi­tion overnight or that will immediately reform this great soc ial evil. We know that discouragement will be elleountercu and that the response to various demunds will be different from what \o\}e may hope for, and that in 8ueh circumstances this prog ramme for the benefit of the aborigines will have to be worked out bit by bit and day by day over the course of several genera tious. If the !!ouse adopts the motion , what I hope to see is chiefly thnt the responsible MinU!ter tor the Australian Go\'ernment shallut once :lPIIly himself to the preJlara­tion of a plan for further Fe{Jeral·S tnte co-operation . and that such a plan will be preEcnted to and be accepted by the F edeml and State rep re~e Jl l n t i ves and will lead to tho im proved ca re of the natives and an impro\·cmcnt in the carryi ng out of the precise tas'k.~ of nativp ndministra .. tion under a trnly nation al programme in the course of the next two or three gene­rations. I also hope that that programme will be directed to the social adv ance· ment of the natil"c people. I tlo Dot sock ttl nttempt to sketch the details of such a 1'11111, but I suggest that it might include among other things a plain declaration of the objects of native adm inistration in AU9traiia and clear definitions of the tasks that have to be done immediately.

Mr. SPEAKER.-Order! The honor­r.hle gentleman's time has expired .