Noel Pearson – let’s separate the personal from the political

By Pamela Nathan

Re: ‘Dropping bombs and stoking feuds: the other side of Noel Pearson’, by Paul Sheehan, published in ‘The Age‘ Comment, 17 August 2014

Let’s separate the personal from the political. The Cape York Welfare Reform and Family Responsibility Commission has achieved change in the communities involved and empowered local leaders such as the appointed Commissioners – talk to them. It’s one thing to decry a person for being a bully and another to declare the funding for indigenous reform a waste and a liability. Notwithstanding the impact of bullying on journalists, it can become irresponsible journalism to confuse personality deficits or political ploys with dire need and significant social and individual change.