Can Australia follow Obama's lead?

Year

This article was prompted by US President Barack Obama’s recent commitment to effectively empower American Indian nations to re-build their own decision-making capability. The President recognises that genuine self-determination is not only good public policy but is essential for moving forward. Stephen suggests that in Australia the evidence similarly shows that when Indigenous communities make their own decisions, the outcomes can have a transformative impact on people’s lives. 

Resource Type
Topics
Citation

Cornell, Stephen. "Can Australia follow Obama's lead?" Reconciliation News, Issue No. 17. Reconciliation Australia. Australia. May 2010. Article.

Related Resources

Image
Data as a Strategic Resource: Self-determination, Governance, and the Data Challenge for Indigenous Nations in the United States

Data about Indigenous populations in the United States are inconsistent and irrelevant. Federal and state governments and researchers direct most collection, analysis, and use of data about U.S. Indigenous populations. Indigenous Peoples’ justified mistrust further complicates the collection and…

Image
Key to Indian Development: Self-Government

Beginning late in the last century, the economies of Indian nations in the United States began recording a remarkable turnaround. Since the early 1990s, per capita income on Native American reservations has grown three times faster than have incomes in the nation as a whole. American Indians are…

Image
Native nations and the rise of self-governance

The unmistakable resurgence of Native nations within the United States this past 40 years is often credited simply to self-governance. While certainly true as far as it goes, the progression from subjugation and the despair of a disenfranchised people to today’s Native governments, is one of the…