When is an indigenous leader actually a leader?
It’s NAIDOC week, a national week that aims to focus on indigenous issues. NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee. But this year’s celebrations have been marred by ongoing debate about abuse in remote communities. A common criticism has been that Indigenous communities lack strong leadership to tackle local problems. But some question whether the issues can be simply boiled down to a leadership crisis. Particularly as the appointment of figureheads and spokespeople might not actually serve the traditional modes of decision-making within Indigenous communities. Chris Graham, the Editor of the National Indigenous Times spoke to Sophie Gyles about how the media, and white Australia more broadly, has mis-framed recent debates. Sophie also spoke to Sam Watson from the Men’s Business Group in Brisbane.