I, for one, was not devastated or surprised when the Whitlam Government was dismissed by Sir John Kerr fifty years ago. At that time, I was a young educator at both Warburtin Ranges in WA (1974/75) and at Numbulwar, NT from July 1975 onward.

In both communities, I saw firsthand what happened when PM Whitlam announced that Aboriginal Communities had to shift almost immediately from being managed, to owning and applying the principles of self determination and self management. Funding appropriations depended on this action.

Apart from staffing issues, the limited Warburton economy, based on cattle management, floundered.

At Numbulwar, a flourishing market garden, along with an established poultry industry—including 5,000 laying hens—went into immediate decline. Both enterprises had supplied market outlets from Groote Eylandt to Katherine. The market garden was left to be overrun by weeds, and the poultry industry completely collapsed.

Whitlam Government policies at the time demanded an immediate ‘ownership’ being foisted on people who had not been readied or trained for these responsibilities.

Community ventures in many communities were lost to the forced policies of the Federal Government at that time. So much was lost because the government made ill-considered haste.

I would go further and suggest that one of the issues that grew from the time of Whitlam’s government were ideological elements that with the passing of time, havd grown into the phenomena of “intergenerational trauma”.

With the birth of each new generation of First Nations people, comes a new intensification of intergenerational hurt.

I wonder where intergenerational trauma will be in 2050.