Four pages is a bit much for a subject that most people are sick and tired of, but the churches did do a good job in much nicer times - before they also caught the Marxist bug. In any times, however, anything touched by governments turns to shite. The Aboriginal question being the best example of that sad fact.

Whilst the article is certainly true in its summation of government activities, it fails to make any mention of the part being played by aboriginal elders for the lack of development in areas owned by their own people. The elders have had over sixty years to educate themselves in the areas of management so vital to get progress. Instead they have been prepared to sit back and let unprincipled white advisers rob them blind under the pretense of helping them. Unfortunately, lazy government ministers have just sat back and let it happen.
Perhaps the government should round up all these irresponsible elders for a period of six months or so into a school of business administration, attendance being a prerequisite for receiving ongoing government funding.
Law and order is another subject desperately in need of attention by tribal elders. It is not something that can be fixed by the white man.

David (ex NT resident)

Are there any enterprises started for/by aboriginal indentifiers still in operation?

You probably need to ask Warren Mundine that question, but I imagine there are quite a few successful ones.
David

The Chinese are pointing an accusing finger at our human rights record!
Yes, it is far from perfect?

But how much have the lazy, too tired to get up off of their backsides to go take a bog, folk have contributed to it? I've seen brand new hones that were gifted to layabout drunks welded to their flagons, trashed beyond repair, and whole communities going walkabout when there was work to be done and for fair wages!

Taxpayer's money? It just doesn't grow on trees!

Take a few seasons off of the endless complaining, THE BOOZE AND THE DOPE and go pick fruit and assist with the harvest for award rates! Then do what many a penniless migrant family have done, pool your money and buy one business then another then another. Then do the same with housing that you buy with the money you've earned with the sweat of your brow and aching bent back!
Alan B.

You "imagine" David.

Imagination plays a big part in the aboriginal problem. It's a pity that nobody seems to have the imagination to sort it out.

Way back in the dim dark past a couple who became friends of mine were idealistic members of JFKs Peace Core. They went to a Pacific island, & at government expense established a couple of plantations & farms to help supply the population with a healthier diet. The villagers were not prepared to get off their butts & maintain them, & they died out. Sound familiar?

They got cunning. They picked a couple of go-getters & supplied them with the stock & materials to plant their own plantations & farms. A couple of years later, with the go-getters becoming wealthy from the product of their farms, they had most of the people of the island wanting stock to develop their own farms & plantations.

About 20 years ago we, the tax payer, gave the people of Palm Island 14 fishing dories, extremely seaworthy diesel powered fishing boats, as used by our reef commercial fishermen. The idea was to encourage a fishing industry to supply near by Townsville.

In just 4 months the only one still running was the one doing the sly grog run from Townsville. The rest had been smashed or the mechanicals destroyed by abuse. Sound familiar?

At the same time the island was out of water, with the dam dry. Two & sometimes 3 barges were running full time carrying water to the island. We the tax payer spent a small fortune supplying & fitting water saving devices on the island. The company I ran supplied & installed a couple of hundred solid brass water saving shower heads, about half the requirement, & some hundreds of water saving tap washers.
Continued

Continued
We went back a couple of months later to fit the rest. We found most of the first lot gone, & open pipes wasting huge amounts of water. They had found the expensive heavy brass components made excellent FREE fishing sinkers.

You can bet your boots that if the aboriginals were having to pay for the boats or showers they would have been treated with at least some respect. They will never advance while given everything for free. Time to make them pay their own way, with all help hidden in the background, rather than handed out for ever. Handouts are never respected by anyone, Polynesian, Aboriginals or Europeans. It has to stop.

Rather than rely on imagination, I Google it, and according to DFAT:

"Around 12,000-16,000 Australian businesses are Indigenous-owned".

I must say that I find this very hard to believe, and the huge gap in the guess - 12k to 16k - doesn't engender confidence in the claim. If true, however, why would any more money be showered on them if they are doing that well.

ttbn, you can almost bet your life there are 12000 to 16000 white advisers out there with their mitts in the till.
David

I'm sure you are right VK3AUU. Another good reason to shut the taxpayer till, & lock it shut.

Descendants of real Aboriginals have certainly been ripped off; art being one area. But whites have been the ones to do something about this. Artists, many of whom live in remote areas have no English at all, or not enough to press their cases.

However, this ‘collective intergenerational responsibility' nonsense has to stop. And, we should stop calling living Australians ‘aboriginal’; they are no more aboriginal than I am a Scottish/English/German after more than two centuries.

We have no reason to be guilty, or ‘make up for’ what a long-dead generation might or might not have done to another long-dead generation.

The do-gooders really need to look after themselves after generations of trying to appease ingrates identifying as aboriginal, irrespective what percentage of their make-up can be traced back to the first inhabitants.

A study reported by the IPA has found that the quality of life for everyone in Australia has declined by 28.5% since 2000. The decline has occurred in the areas of home life, work, enterprise, government and lifestyle.

The Marxists have covered up that type of information by harping on non-existing problems like this aboriginal nonsense.

Governments do not own taxpayer money! The taxpayer does! And they need to flag intended expenditure so they have a mandate to invest in this or that program or infrastructure.

Some folk sit of very valuable mineral resources, which if mined would end their welfare dependency for all time. The fact that a single Elder can veto that mineral development and mining, needs to stop! Those communities where this C.R.A.P, is practised should have their welfare checks held until these practices are verboten.

If the community decide? They want to ban very reasonable and profitable projects due to stone age BS, myth and legend? then let them wear the consequences that would also apply to any other Australian community that endorsed such views, except where the only objection was based on missing value-adding!

I agree with Hasbeen and hold, we just cannot allow any more of this tail wags the dog BS, just to buy a few votes!
Alan B.

Roger Steele and Don Fuller have experienced it all over the years. They will get no where as the Aboriginal industry is too big for even the politicians to tackle. Run by Uni educated, nil experience bodies or uni drop outs, they are well versed in keeping the industry going and having a good job for life. Pity about the people they are supposed to help. The Aboringinal; people are also very smart in manipulation of anyone who may have a dollar to spend. A favourite saying from one of my dear friends (RIP) “you white people are stupid you know” At times it is a big game and she could see kit all.

Why should we treat aboriginal children differently to white children?

White Australian children are also failing miserably at being good citizens.

We have the worst education system in world history, it's failing ALL children.