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Bringing Economics Back into Assimilation: The Select Committee of Inquiry into the Grievances of The Yirrkala Aborigines 1963

Bringing Economics Back into Assimilation: The Select Committee of Inquiry into the Grievances of... This article takes as its starting point Marcia Langton's argument for a clearer understanding of the role of economic history in Australian Indigenous affairs in order to examine the testimony presented to the Select Committee established to respond to the Bark Petitions in 1963. The testimony is discussed in four categories, dealing with questions of (a) land and land use; (b) employment, education and training; (c) infrastructure, water, health and housing, and (d) the distinct perspective of the Indigenous witnesses and those sympathetic to their viewpoint. I highlight the various ways in which the economic dimensions of the Yirrkala community's relationship to land were systematically ignored and suppressed, despite the claim among proponents of assimilation to be seeking the incorporation of Australian Aborigines into mainstream economic activity. I conclude by identifying the light thrown by the Select Committee's testimony on the ways in which Aboriginal Australians have been ignored as economic actors, thus systematically undermining the aims of assimilation policy rather than advancing them. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Australian Journal of Politics and History Wiley

Bringing Economics Back into Assimilation: The Select Committee of Inquiry into the Grievances of The Yirrkala Aborigines 1963

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Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
© 2016 School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics, School of Political Science and International Studies, University of Queensland and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd
ISSN
0004-9522
eISSN
1467-8497
DOI
10.1111/ajph.12269
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This article takes as its starting point Marcia Langton's argument for a clearer understanding of the role of economic history in Australian Indigenous affairs in order to examine the testimony presented to the Select Committee established to respond to the Bark Petitions in 1963. The testimony is discussed in four categories, dealing with questions of (a) land and land use; (b) employment, education and training; (c) infrastructure, water, health and housing, and (d) the distinct perspective of the Indigenous witnesses and those sympathetic to their viewpoint. I highlight the various ways in which the economic dimensions of the Yirrkala community's relationship to land were systematically ignored and suppressed, despite the claim among proponents of assimilation to be seeking the incorporation of Australian Aborigines into mainstream economic activity. I conclude by identifying the light thrown by the Select Committee's testimony on the ways in which Aboriginal Australians have been ignored as economic actors, thus systematically undermining the aims of assimilation policy rather than advancing them.

Journal

Australian Journal of Politics and History – Wiley

Published: Sep 1, 2016

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