As Chief Executive of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which represents over 300,000 enterprises, Ian Spicer probably had enough on his desk. But in 1991, when the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs called in to ask him to serve on the newly-formed Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, Spicer said 'yes' between meeting him at the lift and reaching his office.
'A fundamental philosophy of mine is that business has to be responsible for the social development of the society in which it lives and operates,' says Spicer. He was also concerned that Australia's human rights record would greatly inhibit our role in the Asia-Pacific region. 'We need to go into the region with clean hands.'
Six years later Spicer's reasons for serving on the Council go way beyond that. 'Whether you're running a business, or developing a future for young people, you have got to look at an individual's potential for what they can become,' he says. 'If we can learn that lesson with the most marginalized in our community, it will apply to any person in Australia. True reconciliation - based on an acceptance of our history and a commitment to build cooperation for the future - is the one thing that will make Australia a truly caring, responsible and productive nation.'
Few nations have had such an opportunity, he says. Post-apartheid South Africa is in a similar situation.
The next three years, leading up to 2001 when the mandate of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation ends, will be crucial. Despite present conflicts, Spicer believes there has been significant progress. 'For the first time in our history, every person is forced to face their attitude to Aboriginal Australia. No one can avoid the issues.'
His generation largely grew up without information on the plight of Aboriginal people. But now it is there for everyone. 'I think it is the most discussed issue in the community at the moment. The question is how to bring some light into the debate, how to explore the issues and to find the leadership - in government, church, community, education - to move towards reconciliation.'
The Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation is half composed of indigenous people and half of non-indigenous, including representatives of the mining industry, media, education, political, rural and other sectors. Spicer has now retired from his Chamber of Commerce and Industry position. But he is adamant that the business sector needs to remain an active participant. 'You cannot have a good social system and look after the most disadvantaged without a sound economic base,' he says. 'People need employment so that they can put purpose and meaning into life. Our economic objectives need to have this human side, to give encouragement. There is a preoccupation with getting the economic balance right, but we have lost the reason for doing it.'
Business people, he claims, are 'moving faster to recognize human aspirations and to develop them than governments'. That needs to be applied to assist the unemployed, especially the young unemployed, says Spicer. He heads a new government initiative to develop curriculum for pre-vocational training in high-schools.
Aboriginal unemployment stands at 38 per cent. Spicer has just completed a study on the issue for government. To bring unemployment down to parity with the wider community by 2006, another 70,000 jobs would have to be created for Aboriginal people. And that does not include the 30,000 Aboriginals already 'working for the dole' under the Community Development Employment Program. Spicer admits that many, especially among those suffering the economic pain, believe that Aborigines are receiving 'special treatment'. Yet the wider community accepts the need for 'affirmative action to remedy long-term disadvantage' in many areas of social policy, says Spicer, who also heads the National Disabilities Advisory Council. In the case of the indigenous people, the need for such programmes is without question. Yet, he says, 'we cannot fix all the problems by simply throwing money at them. We need to provide content and understanding.'
For Spicer, that content and understanding has come from sitting down and talking with Aboriginal people. 'It gives a great depth to being a citizen of Australia - that we have in this country an incredible culture which places such importance on the balance between what the land can provide and what individuals can demand from it. It injects into our Anglo-Saxon culture the importance of viewing the whole of life, not just the economic side of it.'
For someone who has often been asked by the media for his wisdom on the economic side of life, that is saying something.
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