Custard's right. I left Townsville about 10 years ago, after having lived there for nearly 20 years. I was married there, my two youngest were born there, and my father died there.

It's the most racist place I've ever lived in. These days, it's not just confined to the 'whites'. Indeed, it's probably the reason I still speak out strongly against racism.

Having said that, there are many good people who have been working hard for decades to address the racist culture, with great success in some areas but also demonstrable failures in others. I was up there about 18 months ago for my father's funeral, and I was appalled at how bad the place has got.

When I moved there it was a big, hot, dusty and friendly redneck town. Now it's superficially more attractively modern and green, but in some parts it has crime rates to rival the worst of the big southern cities.

I'm immensely depressed when I read Otonoko's account of Flinders Mall. I remember it as a nice place, where the community gathered for weekly markets, music performances and public celebrations. We took my eldest daughter there for New Year's Eve one year back in the mid 80s, dressed as a fairy.

What's happened?

Otokonoko

In the Australian context, racialized assumptions about Aboriginal inferiority have been fundamental to the way Indigenous people have been treated by the colonial state: from the denial of Indigenous sovereignty, to imprisonment on reserves and the stealing of children, to current criminal law and practice which undermines Aboriginal governance and rights to self-determination. In contemporary Australia, racialization has enabled the massive criminalisation and imprisonment of Indigenous people throughout the country.

Aboriginal people because they are more likely to have a previous record and are more likely to be arrested for the types of offences defined in the legislation (such as property damage).

In relation to the judiciary, the terms have usually been taken to refer to directly observable differences in sentencing outcomes based on Aboriginality. Although the distinction between direct and indirect discrimination is made in anti-discrimination legislation, such a distinction does not appear to have been taken up when considering judicial decisions. 'Racism' is a far broader category implying the processes through which one group of people are deemed to be essentially different to, and lesser than, those who dominate. It is also a systematic set of both ideas and practices which explain and perpetuate racial division. Racism need not be consciously articulated as a policy or personal belief - it may well be inherent in the structural and routine processes of an institution. It can be thought of in terms of direct and indirect practices. Racism is clearly one reason which explains why so many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are processed by the criminal justice system.

by Professor Chris Cunneen,
Conjoint Professor
University of Sydney , PhD. in Criminology, 2000.
University of Sydney , MA. in History, 1982.
University of New South Wales , DipEd. 1977.
University of New South Wales, BA. 1976.

explains why so many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are processed by the criminal justice system.
Quayle,
That's exactly right. If many of them didn't become so abusive & let out their racism into the open then their numbers would be a hell of a lot lower in the criminal justice system. They only get arrested for being stroppy when under the influence. When sober, no-one bothers. It's not colour people object to, it's attitude. Just because a white australian behaves like a pain doesn't make him a racist neither is an indigenous. When will the morons in our midst ever comprehend what racism means rather than using it as the bandwagon hymn. Are Australians really rednecks ? Many are, many are not ! Many migrants are rednecks as are many indigenous, just as there are many decent migrants & indigenous.

Otokonoko can speak for his/her self , I ‘m not trying to pre-empt what that might be. I’ll comment only on what I see as a masterly piece of evasion.

Otokonoko asks a question : “I do have to ask where you get your statistics from. For example, you state that 'statistically more anglo-Australians commit crime then Aboriginal people'. Is this because there are more Anglo-Australians, or are you referring to percentages? If it is the latter, then why are indigenous people over-represented (statistically) in our prisons? And please don't just reply that the legal system is inherently racist.” ---seems mild mannered in tone, and a fair enough question!

I’ll repeat the core issue: (Quayle, you said)“statistically more anglo-Australians commit crime then Aboriginal people Is this because there are more Anglo-Australians, or are you referring to percentages?” ".(interestingly, Quayle says “anglo –Australians" but doesn’t balance it with Aboriginal–Australians!)

But what does Otokonoko get, a whole lot of--straight of the political correct handbook "the legal system is inherently racist" rhetoric — And, for good measure, a shotgun blast of resumé whose only purpose seems to be to say “ I’m an expert and beyond challenge”

Perhaps there are no statistics which show that anglo-Australians percentage-wise are more prone to commit crime then Aboriginal people --perhaps he just made it up !
(at the very least, it might be very amusing to see him stumble around trying to sift “Anglo-Australians” from other Australians of European stock, other than Anglo)

Dear Quayle

You said:

//to current criminal law and practice which undermines Aboriginal governance and rights to self-determination//

I don't mean to upset your 1650 time warp thinking there, but Indigenous Austalians do not have a right to self determination other than that allowed by Australian law.

-They do not have sovereignty
-They do not have 'national' self determination.

If they did, they could do what Michael Mansell tried and liase with Colonal Gadaffi for 'help' in achieving even greater 'sovereignty' over other non aboriginal Aussies.

PRIVILEGEnotRIGHT
What they DO have.. is the privilege and freedom to operate within the guidelines set out by Australian (white/post colonial) law as established by the process of history.

If they wish to change that legal or power structure.. they can only do it by one means. "war" and I doubt they would do this.

LAW/PROTEST.
The only other method available is to incrementally undermine 'White' (for the sake of a term) sovereignty using the methods preferred by PC/MC left soft marxists.. ie.. protest..legal change.. human rights law and political support of communist unions and the neo Marxist Greens.

ACADEMIC SEDITION.
http://www.acrawsa.org.au/ is an example of that. "Critical Whiteness studies" ? ? ?

BACKLASH
That will work to a point.. until the rest of Australia wakes up to what is going on..and then the potential for a violent and tragic backlash becomes very real.

Individual you ask the question: Are Australians really rednecks ? Then answer: Many are, many are not ! Many migrants are rednecks as are many indigenous, just as there are many decent migrants & indigenous.

Thank you, given that is what the article asks?

I just find it interesting that when someone disagrees and refers to evidence based facts, then their evidence comes from a "moron using the bandwagon hymn" or they will automatically make a generalisation about the "whole race".

Individual, not every Aboriginal becomes abusive and a racist under the influence, some do and some don't and not every Aboriginal who is arrested is a racist.