I'd be curious to know - I haven't seen it stated in the press - whether the doctors screening for sexual abuse will also be screening for, and treating, other health problems prevalent in Aboriginal communities. Or is the government focussing on, and publicising, those issues which can be considered "the fault" of the people themselves?

I am an immigrant to this country. The thing that concerns me the most is the amazing amount of hatred and discrimination that Australian people as a whole have towards their indigenous population. You can deny this as much as you like but it’s the truth. I sense it in the way the non-indigenous Australians act towards and talk about Aborigines. I feel this hatred everywhere, from the workplace to country and city communities.

If you don’t love and respect a people no matter how much money and politics you trow at them you will never reach a solution. Big “shock and Awe” campaigns make ordinary Australians feel better about themselves because they don’t have to address the real issues entrenched in our consciousness as a people. Political fixes are just that, politics

I would like to know from somebody how many taxpayers’ dollars have been consumed by Aboriginal Affairs over the past 10 years? [an estimate to the nearest billion dollars will do].

Razz 4189,

What dreadful people we are. It's a wonder you came here in the first place; and an even bigger wonder that you are still here.

Your assertion that we can "deny this (your accusation) as much as you like but it's true" shows what a jolly open-minded person you are. Just the type we need here.

You also know what makes us "ordinary Australians feel good".

Do you intend to hang around long enough to find out what we think of immigrants who insult our hospitality?

Leigh. You forgot to mention that you are of immigrant origin! Not a native of Australia.

Healthwatcher:
in bald figures around $33 billion of Commonwealth funds has been spent directly on "Aboriginal Affairs" over the last ten years.

To be fair you would deduct from this the money spent on the CDEP (mistakenly known as the "black work for the dole scheme") as this is in lieu of benefits that people would be receiving anyway. This would take up around $3.5 billion.

Similarly with much of the rest of the Indigenous section of the Commonwealth's budget: the same amount should be deducted for expenditure on health services, in lieu of use of mainstream primary health facilities. This would bring us down to about $26 billion.

You could deduct another large hunk for public housing; more for education, employment services, municipal services etc. You would end up with only a relatively small fraction being spent on things that are distinctly different and Indigenous specific.

So don't get too anxious about that.

But what I suspect you are really concerned about is this: why has all the money spent by governments generally on Indigenous people over the last ten years not produced better results than appear to be the case?

The reasons for this are fairly complicated, but I believe that Brough is onto some of the reasons and trying to deal with them.

For example, the Commonwealth in the 70s and 80s unilaterally withdrew much of its direct activity and expenditure on job creation, community development, administration and management in Indigenous communities, which began the process of degeneration of standards and services in these places.

State governments (particularly the NT and SA) pulled back from adequately policing many remote Indigenous communities, and this led to a huge growth of substance abuse and violence, which in turn led to extraordinary increase of abuse and thuggery.

Consequently even the relatively high levels of expenditure (provided through grants to a ragtag army of small, often ill-governed and semi-competent councils and NGOs )has not been deployed in an "effective or efficient manner" over many years, and the average efficacy of many services has been on a down-hill run.