A rally against forced closures of Aboriginal communities in 2015. Richard Ashen/Demotix. All Rights Reserved.
Australian mining magnate Andrew Forrest is publicly heralded as an "industry and philanthropic leader". He is founder of the Walk Free Foundation, an organisation dedicated to leading a global movement for the abolition of so-called ‘modern slavery’, a condition it defines as the inability to walk away from a situation of extreme economic exploitation and violence or its threat. Forrest is also author of the 2014 report ‘The Forrest Review: Creating Parity’. This work was commissioned by Prime Minister Tony Abbott and purports to offer a solution to the problem of ‘the disparity between first Australians and other Australians’.
The Forrest review provides a national master plan for tackling what it identifies as problems stemming from a cultural ethos of worklessness and a lack of achievement in mainstream education. It does not, however, seek to repair undermined communities by strengthening corporate social responsibility, decolonising the school curriculum, or upholding human rights. The report furthermore frames Indigenous peoples and cultures through a problematic lens that allows for solutions steeped in corporate arrogance and homogeneity. Responses made following the release of the report are very revealing about the kind of freedom that is valued by Australians generally, and by Forrest and his admirers.
