by JESS BEER (2015)
SEVEN years since the first Close the Gap Parliamentary address, Mornington Island residents are addressing the ‘Close the Gap‘ campaign with claims of the Gulf being left behind.
With the life expectancy of Indigenous Australian’s maintaining a strong distance from that of Non-Indigenous Australian’s, residents of the island are asking why support for their health system is lesser than those on the mainland.
Many people of the gulf, like former Palm Island resident Uncle Allan, believe the results of the report can be attributed to the Prime Minister’s attitude towards remote communities, as per his “lifestyle choice” claims.
“Abbott said he wanted to help us, but then in March changed his mind,” he said.
“Why should where I live dictate my life expectancy? We’re all Australian at the end of the day. I’m the lucky one and that’s only because I moved to the city.”
Mel Riordan, the director of Rural Health Consultants, believes at present support for communities where health precincts are further away are still underdone – especially when statistics rank the Gulf a high risk area.
“The level of resourcing for the Gulf communities needs to be on par with other Australian communities,” she said.
“Services need to be delivered in a comfortable way, not in a big white hospital with barbed wire fencing.”
The Federal Minister for Indigenous Affairs, and the Assistant Minister for Health, will tour the Gulf of Carpentaria next Wednesday.
“Hopefully a formal partnership between Government, service providers, and the local Health Council, can be formed through a genuine interest in community development,” said Ms Riordan.
“Externally imposed services don’t, and never have, worked.”
Jessica Beer 