Benefits and cost of self determination policies for aboriginal people
The characteristic in an individual that helps him to make choices and decisions on the basis of his own preferences and benefit is known as self determination. Self determination helps in regulation of the actions of an individual. It makes an individual oriented towards his goal and makes a person self directing.
The main principle in modern international law is the right to self determination (waisman.wisc.edu, 2014). It provides equal rights to individuals and has the right to choose their sovereignty. Individuals have the right to choose their own political status.
The purpose and possibility of self determination has increased in the 20th century. In order to respect the aspirations of the nation, people should have the right to express their own content. Self determination should not be considered as a mere phrase but it is a principle which should be followed by a nation.
Every individual in the nation has the right to live on their own terms and principles and self determination provide them with that right. Thus the term self determination is applicable at the country level and also at the individual level.
From the point of view of a country self determination provides the tools and statehood so that it can form a government of its own (Education.wm.edu, 2014). On the other hand from an individual perspective, self determination helps a person to have control over its own life.
It helps an individual to set a target for himself in order to achieve his goals. The aim of self determination is to maximize the capacity of the individual and move towards a specific direction so that he can streamline his targets and come out as an achiever in life (usip.org, 2014) ; (swarthmore.edu, 2014) ; (ngsd.org, 2014). A person who has strong self determination is equipped with the following capabilities-
- He has the potential to make choices and decisions in life.
- He has the capability to overpower services and provide support and assistance.
- He has the capability and the authority to control utilization of resources in an efficient manner.
- He contributes for the growth of other communities.
- He has the potential to provide financial assistance to needy and has developed leader skills. He has trained himself as a self advocate. He has the ability to participate in policy making (Ngsd.org, 2014) ; (sped.dpi.wi.gov, 2014) ; (selfdeterminationtheory.org, 2014).
The importance of self determination in shaping the life of an individual cannot be overlooked. It helps an individual to manipulate and control over its own destiny. This power of an individual comes from the combination of attitudes and abilities.
The attitude of the person helps an individual to streamline his actions and reach towards a specific goal. Self determination should not be confused with being self sufficient and independent. The ability of an individual to control over his own life and make choices is the key aim behind self determination (buildingalife.ku.edu, 2014).
But in order to practice self determination, the consequences of practicing self determination i.e. making choices should be kept in mind. In order to take charge of one’s own life, an individual must have the ability to make choices in life and evaluate between available options (Pacer.org, 2014).
The policies laid down in 1970s by the federal Government regarding implementation of self determination had both positive and negative impact. In the 1970s, the word used to explain the issues of the Aboriginal people was self determination.
This led to the end of the era of paternalism and the focus shifted to providing indigenous rights to people. This was adopted by the federal government. The issues raised by the Aboriginal people led to the introduction of self determination.
The introduction of the term self determination gave the aborigines more independence and right to speak for the own affairs. Laws and policies were made that would be beneficial for the community. The aboriginal people enjoyed the freedom in their lives.
The introduction of new laws led to the end of the assimilation policy. According to the assimilation policy, children were taken away from the aboriginal people. The freedom enjoyed by the white Australians was now shared by the aboriginal people (Korff, 2014).
The numerical and political confinement of indigenous Australians, along with the rise in financial shortcoming and social isolation, resulted in the Aboriginal development that was weak inside the parliamentary political framework.
The liberal majority rule government offers no extension for indigenous Australians to develop the progressions they want, in light of the fact that Aborigines don’t have enough strength in their population to create discretionary procedure.
Most of the aboriginal population does not believe in executing their voting rights. According to Michael Mansell there is hardly any representative of the aboriginal population seen in the parliament. There are likewise numerous strategies utilized against indigenous Australians, particularly activists so they could be divided.
The white Australians develop these strategies in order to rule and dictate over the aboriginals. In the past, when Aborigines used to fight for their rights, the major reaction from white Australians was that the inconvenience was brought on by a scoop of fomenters blending up discontent amongst an overall blissful people.
Nowadays, white reporters still endeavor to undermine the Aboriginal development by recommending it is not illustrative or that segments of it need genuineness. Also political contradiction amongst indigenous activists is utilized to dishonor all their perspectives, as if just non-indigenous Australians are permitted to have contrasts of conclusion.
Case in point, in October 1998 Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Herron said a conciliatory sentiment will never happen and that indigenous Australians should first attain compromise among themselves to mollify profound established dangers in the middle of “customary” and ‘blended blood’ Aborigines (kooriweb.org, 2014) ; (mcgill.ca, 2014).
Self determination was introduced in the policies of the Federal Government because the Whitlam government realized the need multicultural society. It would foster growth in the country. There were new migrants in the country but the Government made equal policies and rights for every individual in Australia.
With the introduction of the term self determination, the land issues and land rights of the Aboriginal people were investigated. The use of traditional land of the aboriginal people was assessed (Alrc.gov.au, 2014).
According to Rowley (1972), prior to 1970, the policies were laid down in such a way so that the entire community of aboriginal is eradicated. According to him the policies before 1970 served as a cultural genocide. But with the introduction of the policies of self determination there were teething problems faced by the community as they had spent more than one hundred forty year of their lives isolated from the mainstream society.
According to the evidence provide by Royal Commissions and Aboriginal oriented services, the social policies laid down by the Federal government did not lead to any improvement of the aboriginal people. Till now they are the most disadvantaged group if it is measured on a social scale. They face problems of education, unemployment, mortality and captivity (responseability.org, 2005).
The need for self determination was recognized in 1970s which led to a shift of the paternalism policy to assimilation policy. The policies made by the Government are politically driven rather than identification of the actual need of the aboriginals. The critics regarding the assimilation policies have been provided by ATSIC (Betts, 2014).
The children of the aboriginals could not adjust to the education system created by the government. It became difficult for them to adjust with the white Australians in terms of education. Though Aboriginal cultural education was introduced in the curriculum of the schools in Australia, racism was a major issue that was faced by the aboriginal children.
The services that were created by the AMS and ALS under the Federal Government were limited to funding and providing service to the aboriginals. The policies did not deal with the major social issues affecting the aboriginals i.e. racism.
Though the government had introduced a wide range of services to address the financial issues of the aboriginals but they could not eradicate the fear among the aboriginals to get themselves treated by the white Australian doctors (‘GOVERNMENT SOCIAL POLICY AFFECTING ABORIGINAL PEOPLE IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA.’ 2014).
The main reason behind introduction of the law of self determination was to develop relationship with the indigenous population. Political principles govern self determination. It has been invoked by the Government on the indigenous people.
It has given some legal right to the aboriginals. The principle of self determination was introduced to provide territorial right to the indigenous people. With the introduction of self determination, the aboriginals were entitled with the right of autonomy, self governance and participate in political agendas.
Apart from this power, the aboriginals had the right to use their own land, territories. They could utilize their resources in an independent manner. The aboriginals had the right to enjoy several economic, cultural and social rights (law.unimelb.edu.au, 2014).
The views of the aboriginals can be expressed and utilized freely with the help of self determination. The separate treatment of the aboriginals can be eradicated to a certain extent with the introduction of self determination (humanrights.gov.au, 2014) ; (reconciliation.org.au, 2012).
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