In December 1998 the Northern Territory Government announced it was ending its bilingual policy on Aboriginal communities. Bilingual education in the Northern Territory had been operating on some church missions in the Territory from the 1950s. Bilingualism was introduced in Government schools in the early 1970s. It did not get off to an auspicious start. The Northern Territory Education Department first trialed bilingualism at Maningrida. The indigenous language used was that of the Gunwingu, many of whom lived at Maningrida. The traditional owners of Maningrida were the Gunibidji who were upset when their language was not selected as the indigenous language to be taught in their school. After a short time the program settled down and sensible protocols were developed so as to avoid such hitches.

The bilingual program was based on two simple concepts:

To make the program work, teachers had to rely upon the involvement of indigenous people from the local communities in the schools. The school environment as a result evolved into a partnership between the community and the educational authorities. In turn this led to decreased absenteeism as a result of greater pride in learning and culture.

In attempting to account for the decision to do away with the bilingual program the context in which the decision was made, rather than sound educational policy decision making, would seem to be paramount.

The enactment, by the Fraser Government, of the 1976 Northern Territory Land Rights Act led to a constant battle between the NT Government and the Territory Land Councils as Aborigines strove to establish, to the satisfaction of the Federal Government, their ownership of their land. The Northern Territory Government has opposed nearly every land claim put by the Land Councils. In November 1998, in relation to the Miriuwung Gajerrong people's claim, the Federal Court held that Native Title existed over a considerable part of the North West of the NT and the adjoining land in Western Australia.

Darwin academic, Greg Crouch in his book Visible and Invisible, points out that Aborigines have, since 1976, regained secure land title over a substantial part of the Northern Territory. As a result they have started to develop a secure economic base. This has made many communities less dependant on the capricious whim of NT Government ministers.

The Northern and Central Land Councils have established impressive economic and political clout. Other indigenous organisations, such as the Jawoyn, control extensive tourist, mining and pastoral income. Some communities have chosen to put a significant part of their income towards reinvigorating their culture. The 1967 Ted Egan Song "Poor Bugger me Gurindji" is in large part now of historical interest -were it to be written today it would be more along the lines of "Smart Bugger me Gurindji, took my land off Lord Vesty". Throughout the Territory indigenous people and communities are finding increased prosperity and cultural pride.

But it is not a unidimensional picture. The are still many indigenous people experiencing extreme poverty. Many of the smaller communities do not even have access to clean drinking water. All the major struggles are not over. At Jabaluka, the Mirrar people have won international recognition of their concerns about the social and environmental impacts of uranium mining on their land. In the face of a UNESCO Heritage report calling for a 6 month moratorium on developing the mine, Energy Resources of Australia is (with Federal Government backing) pushing on regardless. It is within this climate of racial distrust that the decision to axe the bilingual program on Aboriginal communities will be evaluated.