Little for Aborigines in election pledges

CANBERRA - As Australia's leaders throw counterpunches and up each other's promises in the south, the first votes in the August 21 election are being cast in the remote far north.

Mobile polling booths are collecting the political choices of some of the country's most disadvantaged and ignored citizens, who again have been almost completely overlooked in the billions of dollars worth of pledges.

Indigenous Australians have only been reminded of continuing programmes, or offered initiatives that include a new mobile dialysis unit and sports programmes in the Northern Territory, a mobile dental bus in southern New South Wales, and a start on a football academy in Victoria.

The big-ticket items have been Labor's promise of a A$20 million ($25.2 million) alcohol and drug abuse programme, and a commitment by both major parties for new moves towards constitutional recognition of the first Australians.

While welcomed by indigenous leaders, this is still only a first step: Labor offers a panel to build support for the proposal, the Coalition a referendum at the next election on the wording of recognition in the constitution's preamble.

And Opposition Leader Tony Abbot remained equivocal: "I would be happy to see that as long as we could come up with a form of words indigenous people were broadly happy with and a form of words that wasn't going to create too much angst in the community."

The major parties point to existing spending of about A$5 billion a year on indigenous programmes.

Indigenous populations comprise less than 2 per cent of the total in 93 of the 150 House of Representatives seats, and their numbers exceed 5 per cent in only 13 electorates - five held by Labor, six by the Coalition, and two by independents. Of these, any united indigenous vote could hope to influence the outcome in just five: the marginal Labor seats of Braddon in Tasmania, Herbert and Leichhardt in Queensland, and Solomon in the Northern Territory; and Cowper in NSW, held by the Nationals.

Federal representation has also been rare. Only two Aborigines have been elected to the Senate - NSW Liberal Neville Bonner in 1971, and NSW democrat Aden Ridgeway in 1999.

This election more are running for office. In the Senate the Greens are fielding musician Warren Williams in the Northern Territory, and activist Michael Eckford is an independent candidate in NSW. The Greens are running Tauto Sansbury for Labor in the South Australian seat of Grey, held by the Liberals but with almost 7 per cent of its population indigenous, and the Liberals have Ken Wyatt in the marginal Perth seat of Hasluck.

The contest for the sprawling Northern Territory seat of Lingiari, held by Labor but with 47 per cent of its population indigenous, includes Aboriginal Lower House candidates for both the Liberals and the Greens.

So far, their impact has yet to register on the rest of the country.

Attention is focused on Labor's chances, which continue to inch upwards, with analysis of the major polls by the Australian Financial Review confirming a Labor lead of 51 per cent to 49 per cent.

The newspaper said if replicated on polling day, Labor would win 75 seats, the Coalition 72, and there would be three independents.

Betting has again swung behind the Government with a surge in support following Gillard's appearance on ABC TV's Q&A programme on Monday.

The Government kept Abbott on the back foot by forcing him to defend himself against the use of damaging quotes critical of his economic credentials by former Liberal Prime Minister John Howard and Treasurer Peter Costello.

The Government leapt on a report in the Age citing Treasury analysis showing a A$800 million hole in the Coalition's budget costings, and an estimate of a A$57 million mistake in Opposition revenue calculations.

Gillard has also scored sympathy from the ambush by former Labor leader and now Channel Nine reporter Mark Latham, which has produced a formal apology from the network. Latham defended himself on Sky News, saying he had not pushed Gillard, sworn at her or raised his voice: "The physicality of it was all on her side."

But Gillard won applause on ABC TV when a viewer asked her to rate "how big a tool" Latham was, replying: "There are some things that can't be measured."

SOUNDBITES

*Julia Gillard, asked on ABC TV by another redhead what she intended to do about discrimination against rangas: "We could go down the prohibition path - or we could go down the path I think I'm going down where you just own it and you're proud of it."

*Former Labor-leader-cum-reporter Mark Latham, telling Sky News it was he, not Gillard, who had been mishandled during their confrontation in Brisbane: "I got the condescending, patronising stroke down the front. I haven't been stroked down the front by a woman other than my wife for quite some time actually."

*Sydney University of Technology law lecturer Laurie Berg, warning the Sydney Morning Herald about a Coalition promise to impose automatic jail sentences on people harbouring illegal immigrants: "This could well mean that Australians could face criminal prosecution for hosting their British backpacking nephew on the sofa for a few days after his tourist visa expired."

*Tony Abbott, in the Australian, on the need for firm immigration policies: "People want to be confident that whatever is happening is being strictly controlled by the Australian Government and is being rigorously done in Australia's national interests."

*And, modestly pumping his ministerial experience, Abbott rejecting Labor claims of economic incompetence: "I try not to blow my own trumpet."