Due Date: 11/10/2018 Time: 6 pm (Darwin Time) Words: 250 – 300 words each. (Excluding references)…

Due Date: 11/10/2018

Time: 6 pm (Darwin Time)

Words: 250 – 300 words each. (Excluding references)

Questions: Write 250- 300 words for each of the following questions. References should be APA 6 th edition.

Question 1: Give some examples of good governance – In your discussion, give examples of the complexities faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander/Indigenous communities and or individuals when trying to comply with western notions of governance and leadership. What are some of the factors that might cause conflict?

Question 2: Answer with “Yes or “No” of the following statements and also provide a short explanation for your response in not more than 100 words for each of them:

Sovereignty is the power of a people to control their own destiny.

The extent of sovereignty is dependent on 3 things: (a) the degree to which the people believe in the right to define their own future; (b) the degree to which people have the ability to carry out those beliefs; (c) the degree to which sovereign acts are recognized both within the nation and the outside world.

Is sovereignty important for improving the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander/Indigenous peoples in general?

Question 3: Are there parallels to be drawn between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander/Indigenous and western/dominant culture’s governance and leadership processes and practices or are they different?

Question 4: Critically reflect on the different models of governance and leadership styles that you have studied this unit. In your Discussion Board post, comment on how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander/Indigenous peoples have adapted to, and coped with complexities of the western/dominant culture’s governance and leadership processes and practices.

Assessment Criteria:

You will be assessed according to the following criteria:

Ability to clearly discuss issues and themes in Indigenous Governance and Leadership

Timely contribution to class/online discussion

Response/s to other students, especially those that promote further discussion

Demonstrated understanding of key readings and resources in the unit

Use of correct grammar, spelling and referencing

References and readings that should be used:

David Claudie 2011, Northern Kaanju Ngaachi Documentary, streaming video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YG5FrnEwyU.

The Australian Indigenous Governance Institute, http://toolkit.aigi.com.au/toolkit/4-0-your-governing-body-and-leadership

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, what is Good Governance?https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/good-governance.pdf.

Saunders, C 2000, “The Implication of Federalism for Indigenous Australians”. In Y Ghai (ed.), Autonomy and Ethnicity: Negotiating Competing Claims in Multi-ethnic States, Cambridge University Press, pp.266-286

Porter, RO 2005, “The decolonization of Indigenous governance”, in Wilson, WA & Bird, MY (eds.), For Indigenous eyes only: A decolonization handbook, School of American Research Press, pp. 87-108.

Alfredsson, G 1998, “Indigenous Peoples and Autonomy” in M Suksi (ed.) Autonomy: Applications and Implications, Kluwer Law, pp.125-137

Bradfield, S 2006, “Separatism or status quo?: Indigenous affairs from the birth of land rights to the death of ATSIC”, Australian Journal of Politics and History, vol.52, no.1, pp. 80-97

Coombs, HC 1994, Aboriginal autonomy: Issues and strategies, Cambridge University Press

Available at CDU Casuarina and Batchelor Libraries: 305.89915 COO

Maddison, S, “Indigenous autonomy matters: what’s wrong with the Australian government’s ‘intervention’ in Aboriginal communities”, in Australian Journal of Human Rights, vol.14, no.1, pp.41-61

Martin, D & Finlayson, J 1996, “Linking accountability and self-determination in Aboriginal organisations”, CAEPR Discussion Paper no. 116, pp.1-39

Porter, RO 2005, “The decolonization of Indigenous governance”, in Wilson, WA & Bird, MY (eds.), For Indigenous eyes only: A decolonization handbook, School of American Research Press, pp. 87-108.

Suchman, MC 1995, “Managing Legitimacy: Strategic and Institutional Approaches”, Academy of Management Journal, vol.20, no.3, pp.571-610

Bringing them Home – The Report, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, http://www.gwb.com.au/gwb/news/sorry/stolen60.html#Heading253

Saunders, C 2000, “The Implication of Federalism for Indigenous Australians”. In Y Ghai (ed.), Autonomy and Ethnicity: Negotiating Competing Claims in Multi-ethnic States, Cambridge University Press, pp.266-286

Porter, RO 2005, “The decolonization of Indigenous governance”, in Wilson, WA & Bird, MY (eds.), For Indigenous eyes only: A decolonization handbook, School of American Research Press, pp. 87-108.

EXAMPLE ASSIGNMENT FOR HELP

Question 1: Give some examples of good governance – In your discussion, give examples of the complexities faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander/Indigenous communities and or individuals when trying to comply with western notions of governance and leadership. What are some of the factors that might cause conflict?

Answer:
Governance means making decisions and ruling a nation. Good governance is a term widely used nowadays to define the ideal governance procedure. United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific defined good governance as a process of deciding what is the best for the citizens and implement them while ensuring accountability, impartiality, transparency, effectivity, participatory and be responsive to the critique. Government is an element of governance. The role of the government is to reduce power imbalances, influence community for their best and besides, let the community to participate in decision making. Good governance is efficient in decision making, processing and implementing, and transparent towards their action to its citizens.

Aboriginal communities are victim of a number of tragic events in the past 200 years. From the history, we know that aboriginal people have their own governance system, leaders, rules, and rituals. During the colonization, aboriginal communities are pushed out of their land, separated from their family, community leaders or elders were killed, children have been taken away. Poverty, illiteracy and unemployment, poor health condition have completely destroyed their leadership system. Drugs and alcohol refueled the issue even more. Over the past century, aboriginal communities have been forced to leave their traditional governance system and follow the western governance system which is culturally inappropriate and ineffective for the aboriginal population. Even in modern days, aboriginal people are over-exposed to the child protection system and closely monitored by law enforcement officers which are taking away their freedom as a human being and breaking their privacy. I also like to mention that to change the situation a number of steps have been taken to reduce poverty, improve health, promote education in many aboriginal communities. These steps are also known as ‘closing the gap.’ Certainly, many of these steps will help the aboriginal communities to overcome some of the issues. But, enforcing western leadership to aboriginal is not only culturally conflictive but also questionable for their efficiency in remote Aboriginal communities (David Cloud 2011). I believe ensuring transparency and involving aboriginal people in leadership can be a possible solution to reduce the conflict.

Reference:

David Claudie 2011, Northern Kaanju Ngaachi Documentary, streaming video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YG5FrnEwyU.

The Australian Indigenous Governance Institute, http://toolkit.aigi.com.au/toolkit/4-0-your-governing-body-and-leadership

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, what is Good Governance? https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/good-governance.pdf .

Question 2: Answer with “Yes or “No” of the following statements and also provide a short explanation for your response in not more than 100 words for each of them:

Sovereignty is the power of a people to control their own destiny.

The extent of sovereignty is dependent on 3 things: (a) the degree to which the people believe in the right to define their own future; (b) the degree to which people have the ability to carry out those beliefs; (c) the degree to which sovereign acts are recognized both within the nation and the outside world.

Is sovereignty important for improving the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander/Indigenous peoples in general?

Answer:

Sovereignty is the power of a people to control their own destiny

Yes.

Sovereignty refers to the authority of governing itself. Sovereignty, in other words, freedom, allows people to live free, think free and grow in their unique way and take control of their own lives. Sovereignty leads to fulfillment as an individual as well as the community. Sovereignty promotes creativity and freedom of speech. This allows the community to speak up for their own problem, sit together and find the appropriate solution which community feels the best for them in the context of their culture and belief system. If the freedom of any culture or community is taken away, the community cannot grow in their own way which may lead to a number of social issues such as poverty, dependency, trauma and abuse.

The extent of sovereignty is dependent on 3 things: (a) the degree to which the people believe in the right to define their own future; (b) the degree to which people have the ability to carry out those beliefs; (c) the degree to which sovereign acts are recognized both within the nation and the outside world.

I agree that sovereignty depends on these three factors. These three factors are the characteristics of Sovereignty. As a human being, everyone has their right to be free and be able to decide what is the best for them. Similarly, any community have their right to make their own decisions instead of outsiders. Besides, one of the basic human rights is to be able to practice personal belief, follow own culture. And without recognition, sovereignty is incomplete. No nation can be sovereign without recognition. Thus, recognition is very necessary, both nationally and internationally.

Is sovereignty important for improving the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander/Indigenous peoples in general?

Yes. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander have been dominated since the colonization. They were pushed out from their land. They were not allowed to take any decisions for their own well-being. Instead, western discriminatory laws have been enforced. Even a decade ago, Aboriginal people were introduced to intervention program taken by the federal government without the consent of the aboriginal people which have done tremendous damage to the aboriginal community. It is very proven that any outsider measurements to solve the problem of the aboriginal community have proven to be wrong and harmful. Aboriginal people have their right to be free. Sovereignty is the only way to improve their condition.

Question 3: Are there parallels to be drawn between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander/Indigenous and western/dominant culture’s governance and leadership processes and practices or are they different?

Answer:

Saunders (2000) stated that federalism is to be present among indigenous and non-indigenous people and communities who will establish that equal rights services and support are provided, not only in papers but in actual implementation. Similarly, the differences in leadership and ruling, such as in the political department where different prime ministers have different views on establishing westernised and ATSI both types of lifestyle, opportunities, services and support systems varies.

On the same note, Porter (2005) stated the urgency of decolonizing ATSI governance as it is mainly controlled by western politicians where there are few positions and authorities given to the elders of the ATSI communities. This shows that there are differences even among the westernized culture and political parties. In Aboriginal culture, leadership is based on Elders, the culturally empowered, intellectual and knowledgeable people which seldom changes. This is a very different system than that of western culture. However, on the hindsight, the western culture and system is based on people’s needs and desired which changes with time and change in power occurs due to democratic ways such as voting. But in Aboriginal culture it is based family, trends, ancient ways of dealing with differences and issues which does not include freedom of speech and somewhat signifies monarchy. Thus, both are truly different and needs to be differentiated and practiced differently.

References

Saunders, C 2000, “The Implication of Federalism for Indigenous Australians”. In Y Ghai (ed.), Autonomy and Ethnicity: Negotiating Competing Claims in Multi-ethnic States , Cambridge University Press, pp.266-286

Porter, RO 2005, “The decolonization of Indigenous governance”, in Wilson, WA & Bird, MY (eds.), For Indigenous eyes only: A decolonization handbook , School of American Research Press, pp. 87-108.

Question 4: Critically reflect on the different models of governance and leadership styles that you have studied this unit. In your Discussion Board post, comment on how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander/Indigenous peoples have adapted to, and coped with complexities of the western/dominant culture’s governance and leadership processes and practices.

Answer:

The assimilation policy was the worst that was implemented to force westernised culture and way of life on the Aboriginal people and their communities. Today, the dominate western culture is all over Australia whereas the Aboriginal people are still struggling to adapt to and live with it. The intergenerational trauma and the cross generational one is affecting them in everyday life where there are a power struggle to provide care and support for the Aboriginal people and to include them in leadership roles accepted by the westernised society and culture.

However, as far as culture, power and institution policies among Aboriginal people goes, they have fought well throughout the time and decades after the colonization took place. They hold their pride in their culture, practices and believes and pass on the culture and knowledge to the next generation which makes them so strong and able to adapt to, to the extent where they can walk side by side with the westernised culture but also to uphold their own culture in a way. Additionally, traditional way of life, in leadership and governance will make the Aboriginal way of life more stronger than ever, in holding their own culture, truth, stories and ancestral rich traditions among the westernised dominant culture for which it is important for Aborigine people to adapt to, use technologies, new modern ways of working with, contesting and making their own statement in policy development and implementations.