No More Gaps

Combining Health, Development & Environment Strategies to Eradicate Disadvantage in the Northern Territory of Australia

In the remote regions of Australias Northern Territory Indigenous Australians experience extreme disadvantagein health, income, employment, education and access to the conditions for a good life. This book is about their plight, and how governments can deliver strategies to prevent the continuation of their disadvantage. Governments and institutions like the World Health Organisation have expressed intentions to close the gaps that are represented by statistics on social disadvantage, poverty, and poor health. Policies with titles such as closing the gap are much talked about in meetings and conferences. But there is little understanding of the causes of disadvantage. This book fills a gap in understanding of what creates disadvantage, and of how to achieve development. It revives the idea of the state as an active leader in creating developmenta role incompatible with still dominant neo-liberal policies. It shows that, with the right state strategies, the aim of no more gaps can become reality. No More Gaps analyses the regional impacts of free-market ideology that has dominated Australian government policy during the past thirty years. It argues that neo-liberal economic theories have produced rapid growth of obscene wealth and increased inequality. Growing gaps between rich and poor, between the well-served and the under-served, are prominent features of economic change in America, Australia, Britain, and a number of poor countries. No More Gaps advocates a return to economic development strategies that worked well in past, particularly in the thirty years from 1945 to 1975. But it does not simply look back to that time of stronger economic growth. It supports new economic approaches such as local food processing for food security. It promotes accounting for environmental impacts of business. It supports policies for reduced fossil fuel consumption. It advocates new industries that use sustainable energy sources. This books extensive cross-disciplinary critique of policies is unusual in an era of narrow knowledge specialisation. Its analysis ranges between local, regional, national and global levels. Few recent books attempt to integrate knowledge disciplines and strategic responses as ambitiously. The author presents a holistic focus on whats required to overcome location-based disadvantage in Australia. Strategies to overcome extreme disadvantage in Australia provide a link between regional under-development and national macro-economic policy. This is shown in books analysis of Australian economic history.