Graham,

I agree with the gist of your article in that after 40,000 years of living out bush it's a bit rough of us to say to Aboriginies, 'well, you've had a good run, but now it's time to pack up and get a job'.

However, your anti-capitalist stance is wrong. You must come from a well-off background because it's hard to believe anybody who knows the stress involved in trying to make ends meet would be so flipant about the value of economics and money.

The fact is, it is wealth that lets us have any sort of debate about 'cultural values' and money. Poor countries don't have this luxury, they simply try to survive.

If you think money is such a bad thing then nobody's stopping you from moving somewhere where they don't have any. Bangladesh would be a good place to start.

Perhaps it is time to provide incentives (and certainty) to businesses willing to invest in infrastructure on Aboriginal Communities. I suggest that such schemes could involve market gardening, light manufacturing, etc. They could be run as partnerships with the community providing the land, and the other partner the business infrastructure. This would addresss the current situation where there is simply no opportunity of paid employment in regional communities.

Perhaps this is worth examining, as the way it stands now, communities are trying top ensure adequate supplies of various requirements, whilst having to deal with huge transport costs, production locally would solve the problem, however there has to be an incentive for those with the capital, the knowledge and the commitment to run these as a viable business (and train locals to work and manage the business) to invest in these communities.

As it stands at the present time (particularly in QLD/NT) the only way to set these business ventures up is through government or community ownership. This has been attempted many times but fails through reliance on work for the dole schemes (eg CDEP), lack of training, lack of participation and lack of both interest and skills within both the communities and the governmental departments administering the programs. A NEW APPROACH IS REQUIRED, with the capacity to make real profits and to provide REAL JOBS for communities.

Everyone has ideas how everyone should manage things but so far no one has come up with an idea that will really work.
Aboriginal communities are the only people who can make decisions but how to marry the traditional ways to modern capitalism is not easy.
Aboriginals have not had the time to leave behind the tribal ways yet, maybe they do not want to but the future belongs to their young and the young people must be educated to make their own decisions in how their lives will go.
If they are not given the chance to compete in this world, they will stagnate and that is not fair. They must be on an equal footing with the rest of Australians.

The homelands movement where Aboriginal people left the towns and reserves and went back to traditional lands only really got going in the 80's. Many people moved to escape , alcohol prevalence, (nearly every deli in Alice Springs sells grog), some moved when they could with the opening up of Native Title rights, land rights etc, others took the opportunity when they had an option to move away from tribal peoples they traditionally held an avoidance relationship with, many went to take care of the land that they had grown up with responsiblitly for. Not all communities have survived. Wet camps where people could drink are differentiated from dry camps where grog is seriously banned. However many communities have provided fine examples of maintaining traditional links and observances while their children access a modern education via internet technology and dedicated teachers. Not all communities have this access. When a mining town goes in the facilities go with it, water power roads health care. Small towns get funds under local government provisions. Aboriginal communities often have to spend their govt money on basic provisions of water etc, so that there is no extra money to keep them maintained. Why not let Aboriginal people access the same funding to operate their townships the same as other local councils across Australia? We have ripped Indigenous people to and fro as some tradable commodity, let them have some dignity in at least living for once where they want to be without all the insults and denigration of their culture.