ABSTRACT
The policy framework claiming to support Indigenous people in remote parts of Australia is in disarray with Commonwealth, state and territory governments proposing closure of remote communities on a range of economic and social policy grounds, but facing significant criticism on economic, environmental, social and cultural grounds. Western Australia's proposal to close 150 remote communities, announced in late-2014, is reviewed and found to reveal a profound failure of geographical literacy.
Notes
[1] See Prime Minister Abbott's media release of 10 August 2013 at http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CDYQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.liberal.org.au%2Flatest-news%2F2013%2F08%2F10%2Ftony-abbott-establishment-prime-ministers-indigenous-advisory-council&ei=6TjgVLEbhOfyBZiKgpgE&usg=AFQjCNGcny6r9cF7HkTKbA2_H6tCedKacw&bvm=bv.85970519,d.dGc (accessed 14 February 2015).
[2] C. Gribbin & D. Owens, ABC News online 20 November 2014, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-20/leaders-divided-over-plan-to-close-indigenous-communities/5907446 (accessed 14 February 2015).
[3] The Guardian 18 November 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2014/nov/18/wa-plan-to-close-100-remote-and-indigenous-communities-devastating (accessed 14 February 2015)
[4] Sydney Morning Herald 14 November 2014, http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/remote-indigenous-communities-under-threat-20141114-11myb9.html (accessed 14 February 2015).
[5] For an extreme rendition of this position see, for example, Hughes (Citation2005); Hughes and Warin (Citation2005).
[6] The Australian 3 December 2014, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/indigenous/indigenous-communities-have-no-rights-to-fight-closures/story-fn9hm1pm-1227142567422 (accessed 14 February 2015).
[7] Larissa Behrendt in The Guardian 19 November 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/19/shutting-was-remote-communities-is-a-false-economy-that-will-cost-indigenous-people-far-more-than-it-saves-the-state (accessed 14 February 2015).
[8] United Nations (Citation2007), United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, available online at http://www.un-documents.net/a61r295.htm (accessed 14 February 2015).
[9] Quoted by the Pastoralists and Graziers Association of Western Australia, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-19/head-of-wa-pastoralists-and-graziers-backs-closure-of-remote-co/5902724 (accessed 14 February 2015).
[10] http://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/law/commission-audit-reveals-offshore-processing-budget-blowout (accessed 14 February 2015).
[11] The Australian 11 March 2015, available online at http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/indigenous/remote-communities-a-lifestyle-choice-tony-abbott/story-fn9hm1pm-1227257611488 (accessed 20 March 2015).