White Out: How politics is killing black Australia

(Paperback)

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Description

Indigenous people have a life expectancy almost 20 years lower than that of other Australians - a crisis that has shown little or no improvement in two decades. No wealthy nation has a worse record. Indigenous Australians remain more likely than the rest of the population to suffer chronic unemployment, poverty, domestic violence, imprisonment and low levels of education. The ideals of self-determination, officially adopted 30 years ago, have been distorted and betrayed, despite more progressive attitudes and billions of dollars of government spending. Why this is so is a debate this country desperately needs to have, but that the author believes it lacks the courage to conduct. Rosemary Neill argues that meaningful debate over indigenous issues has been paralysed by political expediency and censorship. The Left treat the notion of self-determination as beyond scrutiny. The Right cynically use its weaknesses to call for a return to past, discredited policies. This book attempts to open the field for meaningful discussion and engage readers in the most pressing moral issue confronting Australia.

Reviews

'An independent and fearless book which deftly negotiates a passage between the romanticism of the Left and the hard-heartedness of the Right. We badly need books of this kind.' Robert Manne

Author Bio

Rosemary Neill has been a journalist for more than twenty years. She has worked for the Daily Telegraph, the Bulletin, the London Financial Times and the Guardian, and is currently an opinion columnist with the Australian. In 1994, she won a Walkley Award for her reporting of indigenous family violence. She lives in Sydney with her partner and son. This is her first book.