Ideology, evidence and competing principles in Australian Indigenous affairs: From Brough to Rudd via Pearson and the NTER
Date
Authors
Sanders, Will
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Australian Council of Social Services
Abstract
This paper tracks the recent rise of an ‘ideology vs evidence’ discourse as a
way of describing good and bad Indigenous affairs policy. It suggests that a
more useful way of thinking about Indigenous affairs is the analytic of three
competing principles: equality, choice and guardianship. The paper suggests
that dominant debates in Indigenous affairs balance these principles and
move between them over time. Using a fourfold categorisation of ideological
tendencies, it also suggests that different tendencies of thought about settler
society and its relations with Indigenous societies occupy different positions
in relation to the three competing principles. Finally, using the work of the
Northern Territory Emergency Response Review Board as an example, the
paper examines the role of evidence in Indigenous affairs. Evidence, it
argues, always needs to be contextualised: it is always a part of arguments or
debates and needs to be understood in relation to the much larger issue of
balancing competing principles.
Description
Keywords
Competing principles; Ideology and evidence; Indigenous policy
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Journal article
Book Title
Australian Journal of Social Issues
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Restricted until
2037-12-31
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