[contd.]

..... there were probably only a couple of thousand, and in the remotest deserts - there weren't crowds of people from all sorts of tribal groups crammed in with each other, all trying to escape the whitefellas: the deserts were usually emptied of people who had already headed off to the towns.

Before the War, even Mr Neville in WA was in favour of pushing people back out into the desert, so the notion of tens of thousands still 'out there' might have been wishful thinking.

Perhaps the current policy of building up communities in remote areas has been a doomed attempt to reverse this flow ?

Joe

Perhaps we are going about housing the outback people the wrong way. We should be recognizing that after all, they are nomadic people, so we should be providing them with tents which are easily transported. When the area in which they are camped gets too grotty they can just pack up and shift. We could also provide them with a couple of motor bikes so that in the mornings a couple of the young ones can go out and pick up the road kill while it is still fresh and before the wedge tailed eagles get to it. The amount of bureaucracy required to administer such a scheme should be minimal.

David

I am fed up with this poor aboriginal crap.

They choose to live that way, drink, smoke gamble, abuse their wife and kids, it's their choice.

Housing, now there's a joke.

They get new houses then burn anything that is wood. in fact, there was even a time when the government, curtiousy of we, the tax payers, built houses for them out of concrete, even the benches. Of cause, they trashed them as well.

Instead of a slab of VB, or even a couple of goon bags, why not buy some rat sac, or some cleaning products, even a new matress, or sheets.

At the end of the day they choose to live the way they do.

Quarantining of their welfare is the only answer in my view. They can't look after themselves, so we must take away the one thing that supports thier way of life,

CASH!

No cash
No splash!

It sounds to me like a whole lot of rethinking is required.

If governments ultimately don't want anyone living in remote 'settlements' on a permanent basis, then they should say so and make other arrangements, after due consultation. And, such consultation should be swift, not like the drawn-out, going nowhere consultations of the past. It would also seem that traditional land councils need a good kick in the butt.

I'm sorry Professor Hughes but I think you've got it wrong. I can't help thinking it would be better if all were housed in town, and that settlements were primarily utilised for celebrations and just visiting, with long houses, ablution blocks and maybe information centres constructed to suit such occasional use (possibly with souvenir shop manned on a volunteer basis, and possibly with eco-tourism potential) - primarily to accomodate 'travelling' or walkabout crowds seeking to 'reconnect' and for larger celebrations of heritage (camping ground style).

The exception would be in the likes of the larger established, and reasonably stable Arnhem Land communities, or similar, where all facilities should be provided (schools, medical centre or hospital, indigenous affairs and Land Council combined offices, commerce, industry, jobs), and including individual home ownership or leasing from the Land Council, with minimum outside interference in Council affairs excepting for auditing to ensure fair play and effective governance - after all this is Australia, and everyone should have to play by the rules.

In town, all will have access to all normal facilities, can buy or rent their own homes, have access to jobs, education, health etc, and can have a local indigenuos affairs office with legal and counselling etc services specifically catering to their needs.

Out in the bush, out of sight, it is entirely understandable that all will be a rabble and a rubbish dump. Time to change all that, and dispense with the failed formula.

Land councils are also obviously defective in the main, and need a complete overhaul - to get rid of the bureaucratic wastage and target actual needs. Let's get moving, Australia, and let's get real - it's long overdue.

I too have seen many new houses built by and for some Aboriginal people, on their own land, then proceed to completely trash the houses over a short time.
They then start complaining that they are living in third world conditions, and need new housing, and it all starts over again.
The mistakes of the past should not be repeated.

We can't keep throwing buckets of money at this housing problem.
Many Aboriginal people of the current generation can only continue on as they have always acted.

We need to put all our resources into the new, younger generation of 'at risk' Aboriginal people. Their parents should have some of their welfare payments kept aside for the children's physical and educational needs.

Maybe if this new generation are given access to the same education as all other kids in our society, then they may stand a chance in society.

If this means the 'at risk' Aboriginal kids should stay in boarding schools during school terms in order to ensure the best chance of a proper education, then I think that will be money well-spent.