What really saddens me so much is that in this enlightened day & age we still have people who are so against integrity. Rainier for example has not once offered a thought in which he/she/it has made a suggestion of what could be done in his/her/its view to better the situation. It's a woeful & incessant bleating of blame the whites for everything. Tell us what is being done wrong ? Don't just whine. He/she/it constantly accuses me of being a redneck etc. For your information Rainier I live & work in remote communities & I DO NOT make up stories. I speak from daily experience with no colouring in, just simple, plain true fact.
I denounce anyone who I know is doing wrong. That includes white & black bureaucrats, white & black people in general. I know that what I write is fact not fiction. Just because you don't like those facts being publicised does not mean I should refrain from telling. How on earth else can we make our society better if we don't face the unpleasant side. You are not reflecting the views of most indigenous people I deal with daily. Many of whom are decent people with integrity.
By constantly denouncing my truth makes you a person whose degree of integrity is highly questionable.

rehctub:

.#...The whole point is, if one chooses to live where there are no job prospects, then either move, or, stay put, but don't expect the tax payer to support your choice…#.

...I can see where you are struggling with this. One cannot compare peanuts with pumpkins. Living conditions between Native communities vary broadly in the necessities of survival. (again, LEEMAA above: (And we must assume LEEMAA’s is a genuine post and not a “plant”)).And Aboriginal lifestyles are incomparable to Europeans for historical reasons.

...The extent of social problems, and the types of social needs therefore, as a consequence, also varies between communities. But, I believe you lack an historical context of Aboriginals, and where and why they live today where they do. Nobody who has the slightest understanding of their history, suggests they lack the right to live freely on their own land rehctub. For your own good, you need to dismiss the thought that the small number of Aboriginals remaining in Australia, pose any threat to your way of life. They don’t!

...It represents a pretty mean spirit to harbour expectations that Aboriginals living in remote areas of Australia, on their reclaimed lands, be expected to conform to centrelink work ethics. Get on-board son!

Diver Dan,

I'm wondering under what conditions farmers "on their ... land ..., [can] be expected to conform to centrelink work ethics ... " in order to get any regular payments at all. My understanding is that if a person owns more than one hectare, they are not eligible for unemployment benefits. Some 'southern' Aboriginal communities control amounts of good land which work out at a hundred hectares per person.

And surely you are not suggesting that there are still Aboriginal people living by hunting and gathering ? Individual and Daphrys and other OLO contributors who live in Indigenous communities may correct me, but I wouldn't be surprised if 99 % of Indigenous people in communities have got all of their food supplies over the past week from the local store, or free from a canteen. In some cases, three hot meals a day. And in between-times, sit outside under a tree. Good luck to them, but let's not saturate our hankies just yet.

Meanwhile, the majority of Indigenous people are making their way, working and/or studying, in the towns and cities. So who has missed the train ? Who is going to prevail ?

Joe

DD I don't have a problem with them wanting to, or even living, on what you refer to as their land.

Go right ahead, no issues from me, however, as I have said, don't expect to also enjoy the privialages of welfare. It's just not on.

Live how and where you like, just don't expect others to support you in your lifestyle choice.

We provide schools for their kids to attend, but many choose not to.

Where are the parents of these kids, or mor so, why do they allow this to happen.

Most people know why, it's just that you get called a racisit if you dare say anything.

Well, the time has come, enough is enough. Either put up, or shut up.

Now as for this effecting me, it sure does.

Money can only be spent once and, if it is not spent wisely, then by the time I retire there will be nothing left.

So yes, it does effect me, plus every other Australian, present and future.

...I fail to fathom the relevance of saying “Sorry”, when we fail to recognise the voice of Aboriginals calling for recognition of that voice, in directing policy and Government spending in any meaningful way. Blind Freddy and his Dog can see the inconsistency in the continuously failed and insensitive backwards progress of successive Governments, culminating in the Interventionist policies; beginning with Howard, and continued with Gillard.

...I vote to “Give” all welfare with no strings attached: And for that sovereignty to be applied across all aspects of welfare, including unemployment benefits. Welfare should be offered as a gift to assist in their survival, not as a tool of further persecution. If Aboriginals are unlikely to gain employment for example, as they currently are, lets simply acknowledge the fact that a good part of the reason for high rates of Aboriginal unemployment in Australia, is as a direct result of entrenched and historical resistance towards Aboriginals, to be included into the mainstream European culture.

...How many examples of failure to assimilate the two cultures do we need?
The “hurt” is too deep to repair. Aboriginals are a destroyed culture simply because we Europeans destroyed it. It is we Australians who have the need to acknowledge the fact! (Sorry is but the start). We simply need to cease further destruction and damage and, at the least, listen to their voice. We need genuine reforms, such as land rights, to be respected by Governments. Instead of respect and recognition, we behave like greedy real estate agents, offering bribes and plain rip-off to claw back the “good bits”!

...When ATSIC was closed down by Howard, cry of foul and rort were levelled at it as the reason: (The whole country runs on rort and backhanders) Why the surprise when ATSIC mimics the big boys? But not stopping there, Howard continued the pogrom into CDEP. CDEP’s possessed a sovereignty, and were a contributing social benefit, but failed the European test of the bean counters, so were shut down. The list continues on and on with pathetic example!

DD, you have to be kidding, free for all welfare.

You're the prime example of why we have to stop paying welfare as cash, so it can't be pissed away at will.

I invite you to go to almost any shopping centre in the land and take a look at the trolley collectors.

Very few are Australian and very few are not colored.

Why don't Aboriginies do these jobs.

I will tell you why, because they are to lazy and to well provided for.

The fact that they live in squalar, is their choice.

We provide the funding, they waste it.

You simply need to remove your blinkers and see what the rest of the country sees.