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a situation that, by its nature, precludes the exercise of power
and, in the words of the Australian Ethnic Affairs Council, devalues
and stigmatises that ethnic community in the eyes of the larger
society and threatens the identity and self-esteem of its members.
This situation is perpetuated by the exclusion of Aborigines
from the conceptualisation of mainstream society. At the same
time, Aborigines are presented with an ideology of self-determination/
self-management
The question again arises as to whether the Party Platform
T
of the Government towards migrants works to negate its stated
policy of integration for Aborigines,
The answer would seem to be, ,Yes, it does’.
A further reflection of contemporary theorizing may be found
in the influential report of the Ethnic Affairs Commission of
New South Wales, 1978.
11.32 (ii) Ethnic Affairs Commission, N.S.W., 1978
The Ethnic Affairs Commission related the promotion of multi-
culturalism to the maintenance of a secure identity:
The long search for an Australian identity is taking
a new turn. A new identity is now emerging through
huge shifts in community values, taste, style norms
(New South Wales, Ethnic Affairs Commission, 1978:1).
Nevertheless, the Commission did not see Aboriginal people as
part of this newly emerging Australian identity.
Regarding the Australian Aborigines the Commission
felt during its first year of operation, that it
had neither the competence nor the resources even
to start tackling the first issue; - that is,
whether the Aborigines would like to be included
in the work of the Commission (ibid:5).
In this document, once again Aborigines were not seen as
part of a multicultural Australia. The Commissioners,like so
many before them, felt they were faced with an intractable problem.