Last October, Australians defeated a ballot initiative that would have changed the Constitution to enshrine an Indigenous advisory body to the federal parliament. The referendum loss by a margin of 61-39 was a belated recognition that the top-down approach of Indigenous affairs in remote communities that  defined Canberra policy for half a century has not worked for thousands of Aboriginal people. The problems are difficult, but not intractable. Many international solutions rooted in ideas of liberalism have provided paths for people  to develop attitudes, habits and skills that facilitate upward mobility.