Editorial: Inquiries and decisions
Aboriginal organisations are justifiably angry that the royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody did not recommend legal action against state officials responsible for the deaths of 99 people under their care. This is despite the fact that the commission did find that some of the deaths were due to negligence, poor training of police and prison officers and even deliberate provocation of clashes by police.
Meanwhile, the inquiry into mining at Coronation Hill has also delivered its report, saying mining would contribute to the destruction of important cultural and religious values of the Jawoyn people.
There have been many claims that the black deaths royal commission has wasted a lot of time and $30 million to establish the already well-known facts that Aborigines are imprisoned more often than whites and therefore a disproportionate number die in custody. Similarly, the Coronation Hill inquiry didn't come up with much that wasn't already public knowledge.
In the case of black deaths, the appointment of an inquiry was a substitute for action against the poverty and discrimination facing Aborigines in this society, and in the case of Coronation Hill it was a ploy to stall a government decision in a direct clash between the rich and powerful mining lobby and the electorally important environmental and Aboriginal movements.
Now the reports are in. Although its findings are inadequate, the black deaths commission has made 399 recommendations, most of which would be accepted by any government genuinely committed to human rights and social justice. Unfortunately, that means many of them will be quietly shelved by the Hawke Labor government and state governments. And the Coronation Hill report leaves the government facing the choice it always faced: will it rule in favour of the environment and some small measure of justice and respect for Aboriginal people, or will big money win out again?