MIKK... agreed on all points.

Please don't vote GREEN though..which is most likely what John Tomlinson is on about... thinly disguised.

He is probably thinking of the Greens 'Indigneous friendly' policy

http://greens.org.au/policies/human-rights-democracy/international-relations

4. all peoples have the right to self-determination.

Of course... that 'self' determination might conflict just a tad with their other idea of

1. global governance is essential to meet the needs of global peace and security, justice, human rights, poverty alleviation and environmental sustainability.

If big Labor is kicking them in the guts now....how much MORE will 'globbbbaaalllllll' governance do worse ?

They won't even be a minor blip on Global radar.

I recommend an Independant who is not a Green Labor Coalition flunky...and has a brain...or.. Family First.

Jim,

'Divine _ msn and Loudmouth , the Big difference between you and Aboriginal People is that you are happy to have your lifestyle supported by unsustainable population ...'

That's a huge stretch - your gross misrepresentation about how people think, as if all whites think A and all Blacks think B, is simply ridiculous. But it must be fun, very comforting, to flog people for not doing the impossible - against the 22 million people in Australia (including the vast majority of Aboriginal people) who are not going to transform themselves into half a million people living around campfires.

But if you don't want to be involved with reality, with the real issues that confront all of us, if you want to float above it all in cuckoo-land, go for it.

Joe

"Aboriginal Mythology has many stories of great Love between men and women . Nothing flash about their lifestyle but one to take their Societies through for another 60,000 years"

Tell me a story then kartiya jim. I haven't come across any of the romantic happy ever after kind.

When I was young, having had a bush childhood and plenty exposure to indigenous kids and strong interest, I read everything I could find about Aboriginal legend. There were stories of Creation - of the world, aboriginal people, supernatural and magical beings, sacred sites, magical items plus evolution of different tribes and clans. Then lots of "fables" undoubtedly used to impress upon listeners the dos and don'ts of tribal society through frequently brutal examples. Plenty of infanticides, children killed by fathers, elders or 'bogeymen' for failing to fulfil certain duties, lovers eloping or women resisting the men they were promised to, pursued to death - often 'spirits' of these characters represented by stars or constellations eg. Seven Sisters cluster and so on ... Most 'romantic' one I recall was the young warrior who obsessed over a 'water-nymph' and through cunning and hunting skill captured her from among her sisters and took her away. He managed to 'tame' her with 'smoke' and 'sugar-bag' and believed her compliant. Going back to his country they came to a big waterhole. Some of the water-nymph sisters were waiting and when the woman went down to fetch water, quickly urged her to escape. Which she promptly did! Not surprising since the relationship was based on his obsession and dominance. However the man was heartbroken at this desertion, cut himself and mourned and never stopped looking for that lubra .... (poor fella him! Moral of THAT story - don't be fooling around with strange magic women cos it will end in tears. Might also have been hinting at female cunning)
Doubt it'd touch a million hearts ...

As for you Jimbo - I want a better one with a happy ever after ending - and it better be authentic!

divine_msn,

I just read the story that you were referring to and it's interesting your interpretation of the story. I should imagine the moral is you can't force someone to love you, by trick or deceit. That no matter how much you try and trick the person to love you, you can't. Family members and friends will always advise or interfere as some people would put it. And well the reality is, if your relationship is not based on love from both sides then it won't last, no matter how much "in love" one person is, love is a two way street and if you try and force someone to love you, well then you will just end up with a broken heart.

The aboriginal peoples of Australia led a sustainable existence and cared for the land for 60000 yrs+. We whiteys have wrecked it in less than 200.
Dont discount or denigrate traditional ways of life. It may not be long till we as a species are returned to it.

Quayle - actually the story involved forcible abduction, enslavement, at best sexual coercion, at worst rape and finally escape/rescue of the victim - to the sorrow of her captor. He may have 'loved' her - in the way the average perpetrator of domestic violence 'adores' his partner today. Likewise the obsession with finding and reclaiming the 'one that got away'

You do crack me up though. Love matches were DEFINATELY NOT the normal marital arrangement in Aboriginal culture. Girls were promised, usually to much older men, according to complex rules about who could mate up with who and which old man owed which old man, oftimes from birth. Digression from that predetermined path brought unpleasant, even fatal, consequences. Ditto young Romeos trying to muscle in. Despite all the hoo-haa about womens business and roles in decision making you hear about nowadays, the life of a traditional woman was pretty much one of subservience and little choice. From stories of the old white people who knew the natives before too much European influence, overt protest from a lubra would likely earn her a crack over the head or similar disincentive. One old timer told me once, "When a whitefella belts his Mrs he'll give her black eyes, split lips and a good bruising but when a blackfella gives his Mrs a hiding it doesn't count unless she can't move for 3 days"

Maybe that mob was particularly misogynistic .... I don't know but the traditional stories of boy meets girl, they fall in love and want to be together quickly degenerate into: Boy and girl abscond rousing the wrath of tribe and her intended/husband and the unfortunate lovers are hunted down and severely punished or killed. Sometimes the lovers in spirit form ascend into the sky (romantic). The upshot is the 'husband' or other pursuers assume like form and continue the chase (bummer!) These were stories told to young people - message being, I assume, bucking the system and trying to make your own matches is going to end in tears (and blood). Sweet huh?