Closing the Gap Report disappointing, page-110

Enoggera, sweeping problems under the carpet doesn't fix them!

Labor could have achieved more and should have done so. Neither Kevin Rudd nor Julia Gillard ever claimed otherwise and nor did they have reason for doing so.

But it is Tony Abbott who has politicised this matter:
. Abbott was the one who claimed the 'Closing the Gap Initiative' was started by John Howard and that it therefore belonged to the Liberal Party - even though Labor continued to support it throughout the GFC!
. Abbott was the one who made many emphatic promises to Aborigines at the 2013 Election , filling them with hope for a better future.
. Soon after becoming PM, it was Abbott who claimed responsibility for Aboriginal Affairs and then cut $534m from its budget.
. It was Abbott who at the annual launch of the 'Closing the Gap Report' failed to acknowledge traditional owners and who so upset Aborigines present some of them considered walking out.
. As of Monday Abbott repeated his oft repeated promise to listen more and to consult more. Aborigines want to embrace that but they also want their input to be respected and not ignored or forgotten.

'Closing the Gap' is a challenging and long term initiative and should not have been made the plaything of this PM.

"... When the Aboriginal policy paradoxes are flushed out, Tony Abbott and others will be left with nothing but a search for the truth and that is where we will be; because we never left it in the first place. When all of us get to this point, the gap will surely close."
http://www.theguardian.com/commenti...e-can-all-acknowledge-that-the-gap-will-close