Australia’s Plan to Address Colonial Legacy Divides Those It Aims to Help

livemint.com:

ALICE SPRINGS, Australia—In Australia’s vast and sparsely populated Northern Territory, the indigenous communities that make up more than a quarter of the population are divided. Australia has long wrestled with the legacy of colonialism and how best to improve the lives of indigenous Australians—who are poorer, less healthy and less educated, and more at risk for domestic violence, suicide and incarceration than other groups.

Now, the country is set to vote on a proposal to amend the constitution to recognize indigenous people and create a government advisory body, called the Voice, for indigenous issues. But in Outback communities in the Northern Territory, where indigenous Australians make up the highest percentage of people of any Australian state or territory, some residents aren’t sure whether the proposals will change much.

Greg Abbott is convinced it will. After a crime wave hit the town of Alice Springs in the past year, the 55-year-old former healthcare worker and other indigenous Australians from a community organization began patrolling the city to deter thieves who were breaking into shops and cars.

Authorities restricted alcohol sales to stop the violence, while some officials acknowledged the disproportionate social disadvantages faced by indigenous people were also a factor. “Our issues have been here for years and years, and there’s never really no one to listen to us," said Abbott, a patrol leader, as he walked through shopping centers and past tourist shops that sold indigenous art and books.

But Rosemary Egan Nampijinpa, who was selling paintings in Alice Springs along the city’s main pedestrian mall, said she would be voting against the proposal because she isn’t sure what it will do. Nampijinpa, who