"From the evidence available - and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare notes that it is of poor quality, in part due to the failure to set up baseline measurements - there has been no clear improvement in child welfare, rates of domestic violence or school attendance. There are no other indicators that the gap is being closed."
There has either been an improvement in the indicators identified, no improvement in the indicators identified or the data are not available or of such quality as to prevent any useful studies being undertaken. (Of course if we are taking only a sample in a particular community, then our findings must take into account sampling error).
To talk of no "clear" improvement is nonsense.
"As Amnesty International and the government’s own review of the intervention found, there is widespread community resentment of racially-targeted measures."
How widespread is this resentment in the communities affected? Do most members of the affected communities oppose the intervention? Or is there no "clear" opposition to the intervention?

I feel that the problem is not one of Aboriginal Rights per se. It's one of equal rights. The indigenious peolples of Australia should have the exact same rights as every other Australian. No more & no less. There should be no special priviledges, no special Laws, no special grants or organizations just for indigenious peoples.

They have to learn to manage themselves just like the rest of us have to manage ourselves.

Anything else is discrimination.

"Indigenous people in Australia need human rights protections. They need the government to fulfill its international human rights obligations to ensure equality before the law."
For over 200 years, nothing has progressed and yet the reasons seem so obvious. We suffer from reverse discrimination in Australia.
While we treat indigenous people differently to the rest of Australians, we will forever be burdened with a two level society, not because of the differences in the peoples themselves, but because of the policies that continually drive a wedge between the cultures and emphasize, by way of the paternalistic benefits given, the real differences.
The very first thing indigenous people learn is that they never have to work if they choose not to do so. We have entrenched that in their thinking and also in the government programs as well. Discrimination, once again.
And it is the fault of governments who mistakenly try to do too much by throwing more money at the problem. All the states have inherited a problem with a culture unlike any other in the world, a culture that really contributed nothing to the new settlers in 1788, except the land and who have certainly contributed very little to help themselves since that date even with the largesse from our political masters.
Other 'hunter-gatherers' in the world developed cultures that gave something to later generations.

A relevant example is in the prison system in the ACT, where is a position called 'Aboriginal Official Visitor' to look after only the indigenous prisoners. Strange how we have managed all these years without an ‘official visitor’ for all the other nationalities who have come to live here and who integrated successfully into our way of life. More discrimination against all the original Australians and the other immigrants to our country representing every colour and creed. Another example of the special privileges for the 3% minority of our population.
Everything done by governments separates even further the two groups and continues the total indigenous dependence on the handout philosophy. It's been a fact of life for 200 years.
Nothing to be proud of.

The strange and ironic thing about all of these insane nanny-state restrictions on Indigenous communities is that NONE of them have any 'special' benefits to indigenous Australians that don't apply exactly the same for everyone else, AT ALL.

For example, alcohol problems are major problems for ALL Australians, with alcohol-fueled brawls overwhelmingly dominating our assault statistics- so surely this would qualify a general state/national alcohol policy for all Australians?

Same with pornography- surely the 'damage' it does to indigenous Australians is the exactly the same as to everyone else- ie BUGGER ALL?!!

I understand that politicians would be terrified of instantly losing any chance of getting re-elected by forcing such garbage on the entire population, but I seriously don't get why they keep doing it to Indigenous communities....

I think Mr Seth-Purdie has joined the hand-wringing guilt peddlars who believe anything which affects Aboriginals is racially motivated.

Per head of population these people have had more money thrown at them than any others and have been "cut more slack" in respect to law than most. Yet, despite this, they live in filth and squalor and breed tomorrow's criminals by neglect and lack of basic parenting skills.

If I were on the dole and squatted out in the spinifex where there was no work and no prospect of work my payments would be cut off. If a group of Aboriginals does this the Government is expected to provide "appropriate" housing and infrastructure which will probably be trashed and eventually abandoned.

Likewise, I am legally required to send my children to school and can be prosecuted and even jailed if I fail to do so.

It is high time some tough love was administered to Aboriginals.

Children must go to school. If the parents live in an area where that is impossible and if they don't take responsibility for raising their children the kids must be taken away and boarded otherwise they will grow up to be another generation of useless alcoholics.

Remote communities must be self-supporting. If there is no economic foundation by way of tourism, art, industry or agriculture they must be closed.

Like anyone else on the dole Aboriginals of working age should be required to hold themselves available to take on work. Perhaps a special course could be established to equip them with some basic skills and prepare them for the culture shock of entering a workplace.

Finally, it is high time so-called Aboriginal leaders and spokespeople stopped pointing fingers at the white population and encouraged their people to get off their backsides and do something for themselves.

George W. Bush once said. "Americans are a generous people but they grow weary of subsidising those whose only contribution to society will be another generation of welfare dependants." I think that sentiment applies equally well to Australians.

I have read 'madmick's' comment on this subject, naturally agreeing with his comments across the board.
However, when looking at madmick's efforts over time as a commentator, I was taken with his comments on what seems to have been an interesting subject, "fat-arsed clergy aren't goin to fix-it!" in what appears to have been written in August 2007. .
If one could indulge me as I hark back to this subject, I must make a quick comment just for madmick on the subject of religious influence and identify the list of assets in just one city that clearly reflect how the objectives of the 'fat-arsed clergy' has moved from filling churches on a Sunday to the crass comnmercial world and the specific interests of money making clubs and medical organisations.
Let's just concentrate on the Roman church only as it better organised than the others.
Canberra has 36 Catholic schools, colleges and a University; 80% of all the social clubs are run by Catholic organisations; two out three private hospitals are Catholic-owned and operated, the only palliative care centre is staffed and run by the Catholics, a golf course, a lake cruise boat, the second largest hospital as well, health centres and the list goes on. So madmick, they may not be filling the pews on a weekend but their commercial interests are more than making up for this shortcoming and with that money they just grow their bank accounts and make investments into other areas of profit.
So the influence is there with altruism, once the banner under which they grew their business having been discarded almost totally for plain old profit.
And money is a great influencer....just look at the federal opposition front bench and if they ever become a government in this country, we can see a total end to all the liberal thinking such as euthanasia, abortion reform, stem-cell research, no-fault divorce and the money for non-secular schools will flow like a river.
Influence takes many forms. This one is far more insidious.