MEDIA

The retired judge who led Australia’s most recent royal commission-style inquiry into child safety failures says Western Australia’s remote Indigenous communities(opens in new tab) could learn a “great deal” from Noel Pearson’s Cape York model of income management, welfare reform, and alcohol bans.

Marion Scrymgour, the Albanese government’s special envoy for remote communities, says Australia needs to talk about the future of its most isolated Abor­iginal settlements, including the merits of the Cape York Institute’s radical blueprint that would largely sideline states and the Northern Territory.

Cape York Institute founder Noel Pearson’s ‘blue dot map’ reignites calls for a new approach to Indigenous governance, giving remote communities greater voice, authority and opportunity.

Cape York Institute’s Noel Pearson puts forward a new path for Indigenous affairs, calling for responsibility to be matched with real opportunities in education, employment and home ownership.

Asked during a panel discussion at Garma in Arnhem Land on Saturday, August 1, whether the media had dropped the ball on Aboriginal affairs since the defeat of the voice referendum in October 2023, this column steered moderator Sally Warhaft’s tricky question down leg side.

On the first day of August this year, two men spoke at Gulkula, the sacred Gumatj land where the Garma Festival is held, about the same problem, and proposed competing solutions.

Cape York Partnership CEO Fiona Jose and Cape York Institute CEO Kirsty Davis back a direct Commonwealth relationship with remote communities, grounded in local leadership, responsibility and opportunity.

Cape York Institute CEO Kirsty Davis calls for stronger parental responsibility and decisive action on alcohol-fuelled violence to keep Cape York children safe.

Cape York Institute CEO Kirsty Davis calls for earlier intervention, stronger parental responsibility and community-led solutions to keep Cape York children safe.