Policy Briefing Paper Assessment Answer

1. To The Minister Of

The state government is the minister responsible for the policy area for the first nation people.

2. Proposal

It is suggested the protectionist policy be altered. This is because, for a very long time, there has been a deep schism in public opinion in Australia over whether the country's government should take a protectionist or free trade stance. However, the treatment of First Nations people is an area where protectionism is very much alive. Unfortunately, the government continues to disregard their rights. 

3. Background And Discussion 

Protectionist measures used by governments to shield native industries from foreign competition; they include imposing tariffs, quotas, and other barriers on imports from other countries (Anderson, 2020). 

Protecting domestic industries and employment has several reasons to be pursued, one of the most important being the avoidance of international competition. Governments use such measures in an effort to protect their economies from the potentially devastating effects of foreign competition. Tariffs placed on imports from other nations are one strategy for achieving this goal. Generally speaking, the increased price of imports makes them less desirable to shoppers. Protectionism was used in Australia to reduce its reliance on foreign goods. The goal was to boost domestic manufacturing and consumption by cutting off demand for cheaper imports (Dunstan et al., 2020). This would boost the economy and lead to the addition of many new employment. While this approach did have some useful outcomes, it also had some undesirable consequences that weren't anticipated. 

As a general rule, the improvements will benefit everyone equally, regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status. In order to guarantee the original goal and objective of protectionist policy, it is crucial that everyone get the same amount of basic assistance and that people's rights be safeguarded. Throughout the 19th century, Australia shifted from a Protective Policy that sought to shield natives from European immigrants to one that encouraged their full participation in mainstream culture. The expanding number of European settlers in Australia necessitated this shift in order to ensure their safety from the indigenous people. In the 1830s, a programme called Protection was created to shield Indigenous people from the exploitation and violence of European settlers. The underlying concept of the programme was that Aboriginal people needed to be shielded from the ill impacts of European colonisation because they were so vulnerable (Guenther & Fogarty, 2020). 

Protectionism is a major concern for Australia's indigenous population. The Australian government enacted many "protectionist" laws and practises to lessen the cultural and physical autonomy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in an effort to assimilate them into the general population. As a means of "saving" Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities from oblivion, protectionist measures were frequently said to be in the best interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people themselves. But in reality, these policies frequently had terrible results, leading to the abandonment of traditional lands and ways of life and creating enormous emotional anguish in the people who were afflicted. 

As per Bodle et al. (2018), policies that limit international commerce in favour of safeguarding home manufacturers are known as protectionist. From its earliest days as a British colony, Australia has shown a penchant for protectionism. Australia's economy was protected during the majority of the twentieth century by means of tariffs and other trade restrictions. In contrast, beginning in the 1980s, Australia implemented a series of economic measures that greatly reduced its protectionism. 

Although most professional economists believe that free trade is good for the global economy, several nations have persisted in pursuing protectionist measures. To protect Australia's native peoples, the government may choose from a number of different policies. Some of these regulations may work as planned, while others may have unintended consequences. Members of Congress that advocate for protectionist trade policies do so in the belief that doing so would safeguard American employment, encourage the expansion of innovative companies, and strengthen the nation's defences (Bodle et al., 2018). 

With recent statewide rallies over Aboriginal deaths in detention, the Morrison government has announced it would add a judicial component to the Closing the Gap framework to address the disproportionate number of First Nations people in jails and prisons. But it doesn't mean things will get better any time soon. The Closing the Gap initiative, launched in 2008, has seven main disadvantage to better the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the areas of employment, education, and health (Dawson et al., 2021). Providing services to those who are homeless is a growing specialty for social workers. Recent discourses on social inclusion in Australia have helped bring greater attention to the issue of homelessness, which is a prominent one on national and international policy agendas. 

Unfortunately, this strategy seldom achieves the results it hopes for. The administration has acknowledged that the settler colonial state's management of the system up to this point, without the engagement of the people it affects, is a major contributor to the gap's persistence. Mason argued before the Sydney Criminal Lawyers that the Wards of the State era was a heinous stain on Australia and was in no way a time of protection. Actually, it was all about oppression and killing people for their beliefs and background (Carson & Kerr, 2017). According to Mason, "the effects of these actions are still being felt today." Among the numerous examples he provides are the NT Intervention, the introduction of a cashless welfare card, fatalities that occurred while individuals were in detention, police brutality of First Nations people, the ineffectiveness of Closing the Gap, and the persistence of child removal. 

For the most part, Indigenous people became wards of the state as a result of "protectionist" policies imposed by colonial administrations in the second half of the 19th century. This was accomplished via a combination of authoritarian measures like as putting kids in institutions, kidnapping them, and locking them up on reservations. The government's role swiftly shifted from protecting Aboriginal people to managing their lives when guardians were appointed and "protection" laws were enacted (Gillan et al., 2017). 

The "Protection" laws and regulations controlled nearly every aspect of Aboriginal people's lives, from the removal of children from their homes to the jobs they could hold to the wages and benefits they were denied (now known as Stolen Wages), from the land they could own to the types of relationships they could have with their families and communities. Even after the formation of the Federation in the 1840s, several states still had such laws on the books. Those living in the first country would benefit from the new system since it guarantees that people of all races, religions, and ethnicities would be afforded the same rights and privileges. 

4. Recommendations 

• So that Aboriginal people are safe from violence and exploitation by white settlers, the government may establish a new agency whose only purpose is to monitor the Protectionism policy. 

• Australia's present protectionist policies have been shown to be ineffective and to widen the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in terms of income and social standing, according to a research commissioned by the government. This research recommends that the government should stop waiting for things to happen before taking action to support Indigenous business growth and entrepreneurship. 

• The government is urged to take a fresh tack by launching innovative initiatives to create jobs and expand access to healthcare and education (Hemming et al., 2017). 

References 

Anderson, K. (2020). Trade protectionism in Australia: its growth and dismantling. Journal of Economic Surveys, 34(5), 1044-1067. 

Bodle, K., Brimble, M., Weaven, S., Frazer, L., & Blue, L. (2018). Critical success factors in managing sustainable indigenous businesses in Australia. Pacific Accounting Review. 

Carson, E., & Kerr, L. (2017). Australian social policy and human services. Cambridge University Press. 

Dawson, J., Augoustinos, M., Sjoberg, D., Canuto, K., Glover, K., & Rumbold, A. (2021). Closing the Gap: Examining how the problem of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander disadvantage is represented in policy. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 56(4), 522-538. 

Dunstan, L., Hewitt, B., & Nakata, S. (2020). Indigenous family life in Australia: A history of difference and deficit. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 55(3), 323-338. 

Gillan, K. P., Mellor, S., & Krakouer, J. (2017). The case for urgency: Advocating for Indigenous voice in education. 

Guenther, J., & Fogarty, B. (2020). Examining remote Australian First Nations boarding through capital theory lenses. Critical Studies in Education, 61(5), 594-610. 

Hemming, S., Rigney, D., Muller, S. L., Rigney, G., & Campbell, I. (2017). A new direction for water management? Indigenous nation building as a strategy for river health. Ecology and Society, 22(2). 

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