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of dysfunctional Cape York indigenous of the 2007 election; and with Pearson’s communities; a policy agenda for ad- nuanced reflections on the formal parlia- The boy from dressing the ‘Aboriginal problem’; and mentary Apology of February 2008. the transformation of Australian society Pearson consistently remains above to effect a proper accommodation with party politics but also possesses an Hope Vale its first peoples. extraordinary capacity to re-establish The collection is divided into five close working relations with the most Jon Altman parts. ‘The Mission’, comprising four powerful, despite ideological differ- brief pieces, tells us something of ences. Pearson’s humble Hope Vale origins. The most moving and provocative UP FROM THE MISSION: Interestingly, as early as in 1987, Pear- essay in the volume is ‘Hope Vale Lost’, SELECTED WRITINGS by Noel Pearson son raises concerns about the loss of originally published in 2007. Pearson’s Black Inc. basic social norms and about problems return to his home community leaves $34.95 pb, 400 pp, 9781863954280 with alcohol, social irresponsibility him shocked and despondent. He con- and victimhood. cludes that elements of ‘Aboriginal cul- ‘Fighting Old Enemies’ traces Pear- ture’ and ‘self determination’ have com- son’s battles as an activist lawyer for land bined in a deadly cocktail. He speaks of justice following the Mabo High Court a multifaceted set of destructive behav- judgment of 1992. He discusses native iours, including rape, substance abuse, title law, and its depressing statutory physical violence and homicide. In this and judicial dilution. It was during the extreme case, the community of Hope campaign for land rights that Pearson Vale has lost the basic social norms, in rose to national prominence and that part because of inactivity and access to the seeds of his understandable frustra- passive welfare, but also due to alcohol tion with any approach that gives pre- abuse. Geographical remoteness and eminent emphasis to the rights agenda an absence of leadership have allowed were sown. Here, too, we encounter such dysfunction to be hidden from Pearson’s contempt for Howard’s dis- public scrutiny. honesty in dealing with native title. It Pearson is candid about his les- says a great deal for Pearson’s character sons from Paul Keating with regard to p from the Mission is a power- and leadership that he was able to pick conviction politics; from development house of a book. One would ex- himself up and appreciate the need to economist Amartya Sen about choice pect no less from Noel Pearson. negotiate with people from the right. and capabilities; from conservative This collection of thirty-eight essays ‘Challenging Old Friends’ and black American Selby Steele, who Ucombines to provide multiple over- ‘The Quest for a Radical Centre’ trace argues that ‘black responsibility is the arching narratives: Pearson’s personal Pearson’s epiphanic realisation that greatest power available to blacks’; and trajectory from the mission on Cape progressive approaches alone will not from controversial Swedish psychiatrist York, where he grew up; his intellectual address deeply entrenched problems of Nils Bejerot, for his ‘alcohol addiction development; and his political efforts at Aboriginal disadvantage. He shifts his as a disease’ theory. Most important are regional and national levels to redevelop attention to individualism and personal the lessons that Pearson draws from Cape York communities and to influ- responsibility. This change is character- his own life, the educational tool kit ence the nation. The writings date from ised by a retreat from the national to that makes him as comfortable in the 1987 to 2009, from his first essay as a the regional; Pearson charts the Cape bush as in The Lodge. radical graduate student to his latest York project from a mere idea to a fully For nearly a decade, Pearson has pronouncements. funded program. Rights and responsi- driven a project of radical cultural Up from the Mission begins with a bilities, progressive and conservative, redevelopment to restructure the lives brief introduction in which Pearson re- left and right are conceived as dialecti- of people on Cape York. This project flects on his problematic but ultimately cally related, not mutually exclusive, is modelled on self-respect, individual close personal relationship with John in ‘the radical centre’. responsibility and greater engagement Howard. Pearson outlines his policy ‘Our Place in the Nation’ consists with the mainstream, facilitated by edu- suggestions to the prime minister in mainly of recent Op-Eds that are more cational capabilities. Pearson wants to the lead-up to the 2007 federal election. forward-looking and philosophical, give the market a more prominent role These cover reconciliation, the republic marking a re-engagement with the on the Cape, in keeping with neo-lib- and the transformation of Australia national scene. It concludes with Pear- eral values predicated on individualism, from a welfare to an opportunity state. son’s blunt views about Kevin Rudd’s wealth accumulation and risk-taking. From the outset, Pearson identifies three political opportunism and volte-face Pearson has been successful in interlinked projects: the rehabilitation about constitutional reform on the eve sequestering considerable state sup- 4 0 JULY– AUGUST 2009 AUSTRALIAN BOOK REVIE W port for the Cape York project. This his directorship of the Cape York Insti- ing Balibo: Blood and Memory in East includes welfare reform to ensure proper tute to fight for the right of Aboriginal Timor has appeared on bookshelves behaviour; the restriction of alcohol; land owners on Cape York to enjoy full two months earlier than a book of my greater educational and employment property rights in natural resources and own, on which that film is based. opportunities; assistance with family to achieve equitable participation in Maniaty’s book concerns both the income management; support for the the market economy. The dichotomy making of the film, in which he is a Cape York Institute of Policy and Lead- between rights and responsibilities character, and his brief stint in East ership that has been his headquarters; might not be as clear-cut as Pearson Timor for the Australian Broadcasting and changes to Commonwealth and has suggested. Similarly, one might ask Commission in 1975. I was competing Queensland laws to establish a Family how many indigenous Australians yearn with him then, too, as a freelance cor- Responsibilities Commission. These to embrace individualism and market respondent for Australian Associated major institutional reforms attest to values over group rights and kin-based Press and its parent company, Reuters. Pearson’s drive and influence. But will economies. What is the appropriate We were the only foreign journalists the reforms work, and is the model balance between state enabling and in Dili on 16 October 1975, when the transportable? individual or community agency in Balibo Five perished during an Indo- On the former, it is too soon to helping people overcome severe dis- nesian onslaught on the border towns judge. Unfortunately, the reform experi- advantage? Can we be confident that of Maliana and Balibo. Together, we ment for greater economic integration migration from home communities and broke the story that the five reporters, coincided with the global economic individualism can sit comfortably with from two Australian networks, were crisis of 2008–09. The latter question an ongoing attachment to community missing, believed dead. They were is far more complicated. Here, Pearson and country? Personal success and a Greg Shackleton, Gary Cunningham, clashes with other indigenous leaders complex political identity have served and Tony Stewart, of Channel Seven, and with many public intellectuals, for Noel Pearson well. For others, will it be and Channel 9’s Malcolm Rennie and a variety of reasons: scepticism that a realistic choice, or an aspiration? Brian Peters – all aged in their twen- the systemic problems on the Cape are ties. The men were not, as is sometimes replicated elsewhere; concerns about Jon Altman is ARC Australian Profes- claimed, all Australians – Cunningham, potential human rights breaches; and sorial Fellow at the Australian National the Seven cameraman, was a New Zea- frustration at Pearson’s almost mono- University and co-editor of Coercive lander, while Nine reporter Rennie and polistic influence on policy, especially Reconciliation: Stabilise, Normalise, his cameraman, Peters, were British. since the demise of ATSIC. A deeply Exit Aboriginal Australia (2007). The evening of the sixteenth is held indigenous protocol demands that imprinted on my mind. We were sum- one does not talk for other people’s moned unexpectedly from our hotel by country; Pearson is seen as transgressing Nicolau Lobato, leader of the nationalist this, especially in his lending of crucial Fretilin party, to the Marconi centre in moral authority to the paternalistic Indon blitz downtown Dili, where he was with a Northern Territory National Emer- group of Timorese soldiers fresh from gency Intervention. Pearson might the border. He told us that Balibo had counter that by grasping ‘the burden Jill Jolliffe been overrun by a large Indonesian force of responsibility’ he has chartered a and that his soldiers said they had no different, less Draconian and more pro- SHOOTING BALIBO: BLOOD AND idea of the fate of the men, who had ductive policy course for Cape York. MEMORY IN EAST TIMOR been in the town at the time. He said A number of these essays are re- by Tony Maniaty he would open a shortwave radio line, prints; more than half first appeared Viking then Dili’s only telecommunication link as Op-Eds in The Australian. About $32.95 pb, 311 pp, 9780670073580 to the outside world, so that we could a dozen are thoughtful lectures and send our reports. I remember the light speeches that were either unpublished hirty-four years after the former from the street lamp on the upturned or are difficult to source.

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