Chris Graham

A Rudd government plan to punish parents dependent on welfare with up to three months’ loss of income if their children play truant has been condemned as “elitist and out of touch” by Tasmanian Aboriginal leader Michael Mansell.
Under the title “First steps in closing the gap”, the Indigenous affairs budget papers reveal that Labor has committed itself to six bold targets. They’re commendable goals, but are they achievable? National Indigenous Times’ managing editor, Chris Graham, gives his assessment of how PM Kevin Rudd’s first federal budget will impact upon Indigenous people.