Well this is to complicated for me, I live and do not read too much ( psst.
I have some understanding of how indigenous people might feel, just like broken watch. No way they will get back to who they were ever, white people made sure with integration policy :).
I wish I am able to see how they were before :), wouldn't it be a nice sight?
I think that all of us have no right to discuss and write about it so much, Aborigines are the ones to say their truth. white people even make the Aboriginal truth :)k Give them a break. Or the more we talk the better we are able to hide behind :)
Just some thoughts :)

Hi Zorka,

You raise some very important issues, in relation to 'Closing the Gap': for example, should Indigenous people have equal rights, equal opportunities, equal access to services ? If so, then we should be supporting policies of integration.

I certainly do, if by that, is meant access to educational and employment opportunities. I am very happy that nearly thirty thousand Indigenous people have seized opportunities to become university graduates and go on to productive and satisfying employment.

I am happy that there are record numbers of Indigenous people now at universities, with Indigenous women participating at about 85 % of the rate of non-Indigenous women in spite of the disadvantages that so many Indigenous women face in terms of class, remoteness and cultural obstacles.

I am happy that equal access to health services, especially in the cities, means that Indigenous people's health is improved.

OR should we pull back on any push for equality, if these efforts encourage people to move to cities from rural and remote communities, because - some may say - that push for equality might have negative effects on cultural maintenance ?

In fact, should we be trying to 'Widen the Gap', if closing it means that more people come to the cities and abandon traditional relationships and culture ? Should health efforts to reduce infant mortality and lengthen life expectancy be wound down if they mean that cultural practices, revolving around magic and sorcery, are abandoned ? Would 'Widening the Gap' help to reinforce traditional culture, and does 'Closing the Gap' indirectly act as a threat to traditional culture ?

[TBC]

[contd.]

So, should Aboriginal people be discouraged from coming to the cities, as they were - at least down here in SA - until the seventies, because it might damage their culture ?

Did the old-time governments, perhaps even Bjelke-Petersen's, have the right idea - no equal rights, not even the rights to drink or vote, modified or 'culturally-adapted' education leading to very limited employment opportunities, restrictions on people's right to be in towns after, say, 5 p.m. ?

Should programs at universities be abandoned ? Should it actually be made more difficult for Indigenous people to find employment of any sort, especially in professional positions ? Should hospitals have special wards, along the verandah or out in the open, for Blackfellas ?

All of this just so that cultural practices can be maintained ?

We have to face up to this contradiction:

* yes, of course, in a modern democracy, the integrationist approach suggests: all people should have full and equal rights. But

* no, a more reactionary approach suggests: if Aboriginal people have too much access to too many rights, they will abandon their communities, and their traditional culture. Only an elite should have equal rights (says the elite).

If it is all as stark as that, then which pathway do we support - towards genuine equality, or towards a futile attempt (given the forces and attractions loose in the modern world) to maintain cultural preservation ? The city or - what hell-hole in the name of 'culture' ?

Or can the two be reconciled ?

Cheers,

Joe

Hi Loudmouth,

I think there are some great figures with Indigenous people who have progressed to university qualifications. I also believe if we had the choice of bi-lingual education throughout Australia there would be many more graduates and a much better chance for Indigenous people.

Thus, I also think cultural maintenance is really important too. However, in Australia currently it seems to be one way or the other. No sense of in between, incorporating Aboriginal culture and equal opportunity. There should be equal opportunity. That is a basic right. Currently Indigenous people have no such experiences in Australia.

Aboriginal people need the right to have the opportunity to make their own decisions for their own culture as Zorka has outlined. Is whether old-time governments had the right idea, even a plausible question? These go against all human rights.

Why is there not a possibility for Indigenous populations to make their own decisions? For actual consultation to occur, and Indigenous populations be listened too? Why is that an issue.

I don’t think if Aboriginal people have access to too many rights they will abandon their communitites or culture. They would not need for this to happen if their natural Aboriginal culture is included in Australia’s culture.

Why is it that the New Zealand government has worked this out? How come the Maoris have full access to a bilingual culture? It goes back to a treaty, where basic principles were embedded into every law in New Zealand to protect the Maoris. Yet there is constantly excuses in Australia. Not saying the New Zealand Government is perfect in anyway, but in regards to their Indigenous people they are streets ahead.

Thanks for replying to my post,

Lara