Obliged to be Difficult: Nugget Coombs' Legacy in Indigenous Affairs

by Tim Rowse

Overview

Since the 1967 constitutional referendum, Australian governments have moved toward policies of Indigenous self-determination. Obliged to Be Difficult presents the central issue of self-determination as seen by Dr. H. C. Coombs, the most influential policy maker after the referendum: through what political mechanisms will Indigenous Australians find their own voice? This narrative of Coombs' work draws on many unpublished sources and illuminates the interplay of government policy with Indigenous practice. This book is both an account of government policies and a biographical slice of an outstanding Australian.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521773539
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	02/03/2000
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.63(d)

Table of Contents

1. The modest mandate of 1967; 2. 'Land ownership for Aborigines presents difficult problems'; 3. Mediating the Yolngu; 4. Voice and feet; 5. North and South; 6. A national Indigenous leadership?; 7. Clans and councils; 8. As nasty a piece of chicanery as I can remember; 9. Effectively Aboriginal; 10. An Indigenous public sphere; 11. From James Cook to Eva Valley; 12. The 1940s in the 1990s.

Editorial Reviews

"Rowse has provided a definitive and accomplished account of Nugget Coombs' public persona." John Lea

From the Publisher