COMMENT

Governing for all Territorians

Barkly News Pictorial seems to be the recipient of another taxi story, this time from Darwin. Hopefully its characters are genuine Territorians.

Taxi Driver: Where to mate?

Passenger: The Statehood Convention if you please, I want to see how the debate's going.

Taxi Driver: Round in circles I reckon. It's bloody hard to get a group of people to agree on one or two issues let alone a fifty-page complex document.

Passenger: It has to be done though, don't you agree. The twenty-first century is just around the corner.

Taxi Driver: Yes, that's true but so what? We live in a culture that loves to divide everything into segments. What significance is there really in the year that just happens to be two thousand years after the birth of Christ?
Passenger: It might matter a lot to Christians.

Taxi Driver: Well it might, but my beef is not with the actual day we count our years from. After all, the only way to refer to the distant past is backwards from a significant, well-documented event. It is the decimalisation of time that I find disturbing.
Two thousand years makes a nice round number, but shouldn't we treat it as any other year when it comes to making policy decisions for the future. It's wrong to hurry an important issue merely to have it resolved before a neat-sounding date.

Passenger: Don't forget that the Territory is soon to turn 21. It's time to make it on our own as a responsible adult member of the Australian family. The Chief Minister has said that the time has come for the future of the Territory to be decided by Territorians for Territorians.

Taxi Driver: It probably is time for full statehood for the Northern Territory but the constant emphasis on being 'Territorian' and therefore somehow special seems to me to be a bit counter-productive to the argument. It is a feature of adolescent thinking to want to be different and therefore somehow better than the rest. Is it not a mark of small-town thinking to constantly refer to how long a person has been in town, or in this case in the Territory?
In a big place like Sydney or Melbourne it is very rare to hear references, from ordinary people, to how long a person has been a 'Victorian' or a 'New South Welshperson'.
Passenger: I've been living in the NT for five years. Do you think that makes me a Territorian?

Taxi Driver: That's exactly my point mate! What is a Territorian - and does it matter anyway?

Passenger: The Territory Government says that we need statehood and our own home-grown constitution written by Territorians and in the interests of Territorians. Surely there is a benefit in having self-determination as a group of people geographically separated from the rest of Australia.

Taxi Driver: I agree with you mate. I support statehood for the NT. It is bound to happen. What needs to be clarified is: Who is the mythical 'Territorian' whose rights are going to be advanced by statehood?
You'd agree wouldn't you that the 25% of the population who are indigenous Australians would have to be called Territorians. So too, the families on the land and in town who've been here for generations. Then you've got those who were born here, those who've been here a long time, those who have committed resources to the advancement of the Territory and so on right down to the new settler who just arrived but feels at home here.

Passenger: So you think our similarities are greater than our differences?

Taxi Driver: No. I think our differences are the same as those in the rest of the country and we should work towards the same resolution. There is no hope for the proposition that we should have "one country - one people" with no special rights for any group.
There is no denying that this country was inhabited when it was colonised, two hundred or so years ago, and that the rights of the indigenous population have been seriously eroded. Where's the harm in admitting it? We descendents of the settlers are not to blame and it only reflects poorly on the current generation if we refuse to acknowledge our history.

Passenger: So you don't think there is a risk of taking a "black armband view of history", as John Howard put it?

Taxi Driver: That is one of the more unfortunate things that the Prime Minister has said. He could not possibly have thought it through. Someone should suggest to him that he might like to attend a Holocaust survivors' reunion and tell them not to take such a black armband view.

Passenger: Some people though are sure that the "pendulum has swung to far" towards Aboriginal land rights.

Taxi Driver: What pendulum is that? It's just scare-mongering of the worst kind.
It is an obvious truth that Indigenous Australians have a relationship with the land that is unique and vitally important to the preserving of culture. Yet the next group of Australians most likely to feel such affinity with the land might well be farmers and graziers. So close spiritually and yet at the moment so far apart politically!

Passenger: What do you think is going to happen?

Taxi Driver: Let's hope that the founders of statehood for the Northern Territory have the political fortitude to give us a Constitution which paves the way for a better understanding between all the Indigenous and Non-indigenous Australians who choose to live in the State of the Northern Territory.

Passenger: With a constitution written by the people?

Taxi Driver: Well, 'the people' can't really write a complex document but there need be no hurry. Let's look at all the options and make our way steadily until we reach a consensus.

Passenger: I remember the Chief Minister saying last year that the constitution of the world's newest republic, South Africa, was created as a result of a convention.

Taxi Driver: Yes, and it resulted in their most famous Indigenous South African being released from prison, where he had spent the best part of his life, and being made first President of the new republic.

Now that's what I call reconciliation.

Governing for all Territorians Barkly News Pictorial seems to be the recipient of another taxi story, this time from Darwin. Hopefully its characters are genuine Territorians. Taxi Driver: Where to mate? Passenger: The Statehood Convention if you please, I want to see how the debate's going. Taxi Driver: Round in circles I reckon. It's bloody hard to get a group of people to agree on one or two issues let alone a fifty-page complex document. Passenger: It has to be done though, don't you agree. The twenty-first century is just around the corner. Taxi Driver: Yes, that's true but so what? We live in a culture that loves to divide everything into segments. What significance is there really in the year that just happens to be two thousand years after the birth of Christ? Passenger: It might matter a lot to Christians. Taxi Driver: Well it might, but my beef is not with the actual day we count our years from. After all, the only way to refer to the distant past is backwards from a significant, well-documented event. It is the decimalisation of time that I find disturbing. Two thousand years makes a nice round number, but shouldn't we treat it as any other year when it comes to making policy decisions for the future. It's wrong to hurry an important issue merely to have it resolved before a neat-sounding date. Passenger: Don't forget that the Territory is soon to turn 21. It's time to make it on our own as a responsible adult member of the Australian family. The Chief Minister has said that the time has come for the future of the Territory to be decided by Territorians for Territorians. Taxi Driver: It probably is time for full statehood for the Northern Territory but the constant emphasis on being 'Territorian' and therefore somehow special seems to me to be a bit counter-productive to the argument. It is a feature of adolescent thinking to want to be different and therefore somehow better than the rest. Is it not a mark of small-town thinking to constantly refer to how long a person has been in town, or in this case in the Territory? In a big place like Sydney or Melbourne it is very rare to hear references, from ordinary people, to how long a person has been a 'Victorian' or a 'New South Welshperson'. Passenger: I've been living in the NT for five years. Do you think that makes me a Territorian? Taxi Driver: That's exactly my point mate! What is a Territorian - and does it matter anyway? Passenger: The Territory Government says that we need statehood and our own home-grown constitution written by Territorians and in the interests of Territorians. Surely there is a benefit in having self-determination as a group of people geographically separated from the rest of Australia. Taxi Driver: I agree with you mate. I support statehood for the NT. It is bound to happen. What needs to be clarified is: Who is the mythical 'Territorian' whose rights are going to be advanced by statehood? You'd agree wouldn't you that the 25% of the population who are indigenous Australians would have to be called Territorians. So too, the families on the land and in town who've been here for generations. Then you've got those who were born here, those who've been here a long time, those who have committed resources to the advancement of the Territory and so on right down to the new settler who just arrived but feels at home here. Passenger: So you think our similarities are greater than our differences? Taxi Driver: No. I think our differences are the same as those in the rest of the country and we should work towards the same resolution. There is no hope for the proposition that we should have "one country - one people" with no special rights for any group. There is no denying that this country was inhabited when it was colonised, two hundred or so years ago, and that the rights of the indigenous population have been seriously eroded. Where's the harm in admitting it? We descendents of the settlers are not to blame and it only reflects poorly on the current generation if we refuse to acknowledge our history. Passenger: So you don't think there is a risk of taking a "black armband view of history", as John Howard put it? Taxi Driver: That is one of the more unfortunate things that the Prime Minister has said. He could not possibly have thought it through. Someone should suggest to him that he might like to attend a Holocaust survivors' reunion and tell them not to take such a black armband view. Passenger: Some people though are sure that the "pendulum has swung to far" towards Aboriginal land rights. Taxi Driver: What pendulum is that? It's just scare-mongering of the worst kind. It is an obvious truth that Indigenous Australians have a relationship with the land that is unique and vitally important to the preserving of culture. Yet the next group of Australians most likely to feel such affinity with the land might well be farmers and graziers. So close spiritually and yet at the moment so far apart politically! Passenger: What do you think is going to happen? Taxi Driver: Let's hope that the founders of statehood for the Northern Territory have the political fortitude to give us a Constitution which paves the way for a better understanding between all the Indigenous and Non-indigenous Australians who choose to live in the State of the Northern Territory. Passenger: With a constitution written by the people? Taxi Driver: Well, 'the people' can't really write a complex document but there need be no hurry. Let's look at all the options and make our way steadily until we reach a consensus. Passenger: I remember the Chief Minister saying last year that the constitution of the world's newest republic, South Africa, was created as a result of a convention. Taxi Driver: Yes, and it resulted in their most famous Indigenous South African being released from prison, where he had spent the best part of his life, and being made first President of the new republic. Now that's what I call reconciliation.