Government adviser Roy Ah-See says welfare ‘biggest killer’ of Aboriginal people

Cr Ah-See was raised at the Nanima Reserve outside Wellington. Going from the reserve to a powerful leadership position was surreal, Cr Ah-See said.

“Sometimes I get up in the morning and pinch myself and say ‘is this really happening?’ because never in my wildest dreams did I think I think I’d be the co-chair of the prime minister’s Indigenous Advisory Council,” he said.

“Coming off Nanima Reserve, a little mission on the banks of the Macquarie River, 10 kilometres from a little town called Wellington, if someone would have come up to me when I was running around with a snotty nose on the mission and say ‘you’re going to end up in this position’ I would have told them to go away you’ve got the wrong person.”

Cr Ah-See said it was his mother, who was a single parent of eight children and dependant on welfare, who had spurred him to make a difference.

“We done it tough, we done it hard. And there are little things I don’t take for granted today,” he said.

“You can put your hand up for a leadership position and say I’m going to go and make a difference because of the circumstances I’ve grown up in or you can go the other way and play the victim mentality and play the victim card, and I didn’t want to go down that path.”

The co-chair said he was told by a teacher when he was young he would never amount to anything. He used the words as motivation. Rather than get disheartened every time he was knocked down, Cr Ah-See said he continued to learn from each mistake.

Cr Ah-See said the advisory committee, which advises the government on practical changes which can be made to improve the lives of Indigenous peoples, was already making a difference.

The biggest changes were pushes from Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion to boost Aboriginal employment, the co-chair said, such as the Indigenous Business Hubs which will be established in capital cities to provide advice for businesses.

“Welfare is the biggest killer of our people. I come from that welfare system, I know exactly what it’s like to be on that side of the fence.

“I also know what it’s like to survive and then turn around and thrive. If you want to change someone’s circumstances give them an opportunity,” Cr Ah-See said.

Cr Ah-See has been on the Indigenous Advisory Council for the past 14 months. He’s also worked at various government agencies, including the NSW Aboriginal Land Council.

“I think ‘how did you get here?’. That’s just that self-doubt that comes in and you start to question your own leadership skills and ability. But you just have to think ‘I’ve worked for this. I’ve worked my butt off for this’.

“I’ve lived in that welfare mentality and those conditions and I’ve come through that to be a powerful example for others,” he said.

But no matter where he ends up, Cr Ah-See said he was proud to be a product of he Nanima Reserve.

“That mission is where I pay my homage and respect to because that’ the place that reared me and that’s the place that turned me into what I am today,” he said.

Wellington Times