Abbott says Coalition would want new engagement with Aboriginal people if elected Young Indigenous Nursing student at James Cook University Marclene Mooka, 17, is the first in her extended family to go to university. Picture: Zak Simmonds Source: News Limited TONY Abbott says the marginalisation of indigenous Australians remains the darkest tale in this nation's story, but says if elected he will work to ensure there is not yet another lapse into complacency. Responding to a News Limited series on chronic indigenous child abuse and neglect, Mr Abbott said that a "new engagement with Aboriginal people should be one of the hallmarks of an incoming Coalition government." Read Tony Abbott's opinion piece in full here. Andrew Penfold: Our greatest moral challenge Mr Abbott said there was a new national spirit intent on reaching out to embrace indigenous people, and said there was much less of the prejudice that existed when he was young. "Still goodwill hardly matters, if adults aren't going to work and children aren't going to school," he writes. Idleness is never healthy and, inevitably, eats away at self-esteem. It harms the soul. Idleness, substance abuse and a breakdown in social norms are inevitably linked. Mr Abbott reiterated his promise to elevate indigenous affairs to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. "This means that along with Nigel Scullion as minister, there will be, in effect, a Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs," he writes. Marclene Mooka, one of many Indigenous youth we have helped A flurry of activity from any new government lapsing into business-more-or-less-as-usual won't be good enough. A new cycle of enthusiasm-turning-into cynicism will not do. We must steadfastly address this urgent national challenge, so that indigenous Australians fully share in the bounty of being part of one of the most free, fair, and prosperous countries on earth. Photos: Hopes and fears for Aboriginal children He said broad national indigenous affairs policies had not been effective and said he would work with states and territories for a "less prescriptive type of governance structure" that best suited individual communities. Cases of neglect and abuse are fueling calls for changes to the NT's child-protection laws, making indigenous children's well-being the imperative. But Mr Abbott lamented the failure to resolve the issues of dysfunction. While our forefathers created a country we can be proud of - perhaps the most magnificent country on earth - there is no escaping the fact that the dispossession and marginalisation of Aboriginal people is by far the most troubling feature of our national story so far.