Congrats jen, must have been hard work thinking up all the reasons why a person from a particular ethnic group should not own their own home. Why did you leave out your main reason? ie. I, J.Clarke, know more about what you, poor dumb black fella,want.

Well considered arguments were presented in this brief overview and its a pity that more Australians don't know about how land legislation and rights and history before they criticize these views.
As usual, scholars such as Clarke find themselves writing and then explaining their views to a disremembering audience.

That these arguments are well and truly understood in nations like Cananda, New Zealand and the USA speaks to how far behind this country is in terms of resolving the status of Indigenous peoples within the liberal democratic polity and laws relating to land tenure and true equality.

I for one do not think that Jennifer Clarke is arguing against Aboriginal people owning their own home, on the contrary, she is pointing out the dangers and pitfalls of privatizing Aboriginal land that those on both the left and right of the politics fail to recognize - and in typical white moral panic mode the search in favor of a silver bullet panacea solution to all Aboriginal ills continues

couldnt agree more with you wandii and ms clarke. am very dubious about this privatisation issue and seriously doubt that it will assist aboriginal people. as a stand alone quick fix to the ills of aboriginal communities it will be just another bandaid, but with more dire consequences than every other bandaid that has fallen off.

Jennifer has tackled a difficult issue . just as other people in Australia can que up and receive their own publically funded housing ,so should Aboriginal people have this facility available for them in their homelands .

Be it leasehold , freehold ,perpetual lease with an option to purchase, or simply free, we, the rest of affluent Australia have a responsibility to make sure decent, health improving all weather and well designed secure title homes are available for all our Aboriginal Brothers and Sisters and their families today .

Both the Howard and the state government Premiers are a disgrace in their attitudes to Aboriginal Health and Housing , they have no excuse other than the disgusting ignorance and apathy of a fairly large percentage of relatively wealthy selfish Australians who like their policies and voted them in .

''WITHOUT PREJUDICE''

DEAR JENNIFER
If you think the majority of Australians wish to enter the debate of Aboriginal native title and land rights,or any rights for that matter,you are hugly mistaken.
Where i live(in a major capital city Aboriginals sit and drink alcohol or smoke drugs all day and then provide trouble for people going about there everyday business(not to mention the poverty and filth of how they live in the housing dept. estates).Now,if ''white people'' do exactly the same they are arrested,police down here dont really solve the problem due to(and this is a word used time and time again to remove oneself from the laws of our society)''discrimination'',so in turn,Aboriginals become un-touchable,above the law.
Sure lets open debate,first however,to allow a culture/group to enter that debate,let alone obtain any rights,dont you think that they should contribute to society in the first instance.Lets not talk about native title or land rights,lets talk about re-education,putting them to work with thier entire culture ''assimulated'' into ours,yes the white mans,like it our not its a ''white Australia'',for you see we are one,one nation,not the Austrlian nation along side the Aboriginal nation,not two nations in one.
If you did your research you would find the Aboriginal culture lazy,un-productive and failing in ethics and leadership(that's one reason why domestic violence and child abuse is out of control,in ''ALL'' Aboriginal communitys).
Jennifer i am not ''raciast'' i am a human being like you,demorcratic with a opionin like you,however,and i am proud to say,i am a national socialist-communist,in other words,where i come from if you want even basic rights in Australia you have to do the most basic thing that most hard working,intelligent,educated Australians do every day,from the factory worker to the docter,and everybody else in between-''CONTRIBUTE TO OUR COUNTRY'S SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND BE ALL YOU CAN BE"".
And,finally,i will debate Aboriginal land rights and native title,at any time,with anyone,as long as they prove that the land that is being obtaind is subject to the exact rules/obligations/responsibility's as the land titles/deeds of hard working Australians.

dear Al , have you ever heard of accepted INTERNATIONAL Law , where "land rights" CAN ONLY BE OBTAINED BY FAIR AND AGREED EXCHANGE ?

You must be joking about assimulation . How can, and why should, Aboriginal people accept us white people unless we give something of lasting value to them , for stealing the very best and most of the rest of their land ?

Had the Japanese won 2ND world War and left the remnants of us whites diseased and starving down at polluted waterholes, or working almost as slaves [i,ve seen it, in fact been part of it], it would be interesting to see how you and your family members would be travelling now .

DEAR KARTIYA

I see your a new generation libral,that gives freedoms to the un-productive minority,at the expence of the productive majority.

firstly,tell your ''international law'' theorys to some of the hard working and struggling Australian farmers who CANT GET A BANK LOAN FOR MUCH NEEDED EQUIPMENT DUE TO A NATIVE TITLE CLAIM,and whats worse its land that has been in the farmers family for generations,and to ad that insult to them if they obtain the land they sell it for quick ''money'',do your research and you will find cases of this.

secondly,i dont have to worry about Japan invading Australia during world war 11,my grandfather was tortured and starved to death(i proudly display his war medals on my loungeroom wall)in a Japan prison camp,he was a Australian un-breakable ,hard, mans man,however i believe he cried himself to sleep every night becouse of his sacrifice he made to his family.And what was that sacrifice,so his grandsons,which i am one of four,could have DEMORCRATIC FREE SPEACH.

Finally,leave them in their degrading existance,addicted to alcohol,drugs, with high unemployment,domestic violence and no education,and then leave all the excuses to the next generation on why you did not give them self-respect,education,employment and give them,yes,that word again(WICH YOU BELIEVE DOES NOT OFFER THEM ANYTHING AT ALL,HOWEVER ANY INTELLIGENT PERSON WOULD STATE THEY WILL RECIEVE EXACTLY WHAT I JUST PROPOSED)''assimulated''

It always takes precious minutes from your life every time you laboriously read uninformed and ignorant comment. So I didn’t, just.

dear wandi.

unimformend and ignorant,thats fine,as i have said before talk to the average Australian,or maybe not,you might not like what they say,or thier opionins,instead of smart comments,which by the way prove you know nothing of the subject OR show that you cannot dispute my theorys,either way grow up to a be a big boy/girl before you place your comments,if you want to be demorcratic,except others and thier ideas,i do,however i dont acknowledge two line comments with no argument or opionin,it just shows how un-educated a writer is when producing words that a child could structure with more foresight.

Dear Al

your entire argument fails to acknowledge the fact that if not for the racist yet benign polices and practices that came hand in hand with colonisation, aboriginal people/communities would not be in their current dysfunctional state.

more recent practices such as the stolen wages impacted on thousands of aboriginal people and severely limited their capacity to establish an economic base for themselves and their families through the acquisition of assets. even the aboriginal diggers from WWI were denied the right to take up ownership of land as afforded to their non-aboriginal counterparts on return from war. they too gave their lives, their blood, sweat and tears and got kicked in the guts for their efforts and bravery. they too fought for our FREEDOM AND DEMOCRATIC LIFE.

the threat those farmers feel at native title issues is about 1000 times less threatening than how aboriginal people would have felt back in the 17 and 1800's when they were being poisoned and murdered for their land. sob stories about the difficulties faced by famers because of native title issues are just that - sob stories. i dont really care for them coz those 6 or so generations mean nothing in comparison to over 1200 generations of aboriginal peoples connection to this land.

as for the state of people and community is urban areas, again goes back to those past practices and policies which still resound today. eg, aboriginal person applies to rent a house, has a stable job etc etc (plays the assimilation game basically), competes against a stack of white fella's and obviously loses out. why? because racist thought lines tell real estate agents not to rent to aboriginal people. ok, not all aboriginal people do the right thing, but then neither do all white people, or yellow for that matter. point is, racist generalisations are inhibitors to moving forward.

your comments are line with the institutional racisim that is alive and well in australian society, is it any wonder that aboriginal cant get ahead.

by the way, this country is, always ways and always will be aboriginal land.

Simple then if its all yours,DONT TAKE ANYMORE WHITEMANS WELFARE,DONT TAKE A WHITEMANS JOB,DONT WEAR WHITMANS CLOTHS,DRINK OR EAT THEIR FOOD,BASICLY LEAVE WHATS NOT YOURS ALONE,whats that you say,you cant,no of course not,you want the whitemans money however you want to live traditional,it doesant work that way,and if you dont care about Australian farmers,dont take or benifit from thier production.
Its about time the Aboriginal community started being a productive part of this counrty,all you want is take,take,take,its never give,give,give and its a shame you cant see reason,my comments have STARTED a stir,and so they should(thats being demorcratic)however,face the truth,and except that there are some Australians that want to see the Aboriginal community productive,if you dont like it bad luck,and i see your another that cant dispute my claims so you resort to cheap jibes to make a point,another that cant face the truth.
And another thing,generations of farmers can prove thier history,can you prove yours,you better be full blood my friend or basicly keep your comments to yourself,becouse you see i am white,generations ago,i am proud to walk the land that was settled by my ancestors by hard work and sacrifice,and if your not full blood then the lands not yours just as much as its not mine!

Actually, "al bundy", we're leaving you alone because it's pretty obvious that there's a roo loose in your top paddock.

hello al , i suspect your're a bit trickey , and a sense of humour too !! cheers, oh , and don't forget to have a good lie down this weekend ...for all our sakes , kartiya .

al, the degree of my aboriginality matters not to me and alters not my connection to this land. how do you know whether i am a contributing member of society or not? you dont, yet you are quick to judge all aboriginal people based on a false presumption.

for your information, my grandparents worked and contributed to their community - had their wages stolen too right up until the year before i was born, my parents both worked and contributed to their community - my father had wages stolen too, and i have worked all of my life as well.

dont particularly care for your preachin either, it is rather ignorant and biased.

Say what you want,by the looks of it its only you Aboriginals that are complaining anyway,keep up the insults and the child-like behavour,IT ONLY PROVES MY THEORYS EVEN MORE.
Thats what they are,theorys,they not gold,set in stone,laws,so get over yourself and move on.

theories? im afraid i dont really understand what you're talking about, al. i wasnt addressing a theory put forward by you, rather a racist and ill-informed comment.

by the way, this degree of aboriginality business, seems to be the new motto for aussie red-necks - 'well, you're not really aboriginal unless you are a full blood'. these same racists however reinforce the aboriginality of many people who are not full blood but have a higher degreee of aboriginal blood than non.

eg if an aboriginal person in sydney goes into a real estate to rent a house, yes they look aboriginal, not exactly full blood but u can see it, the real estate people make a racist mental note which will influence their decision. or an aboriginal kid goes to school in brisbane, again not full blood but u can see it, they get teased and called names based on their race and some teachers act differently toward them as well.

then later on those same people, and others of their ilke, turn around and say oh you're not a real aboriginal because you are not full blood. but in every other facet of life white society is quick to judge them and put em in a box, all aboriginal people in fact. hypocrites who'll call you an abo/coon/boong to put u down and then tell you you're not aboriginal to deny you your rights.

just because there are aboriginal people with white blood in them doesnt mean they're not aboriginal. many, many aboriginal women were raped and bore half caste children during the colonisation of this country. they had no choice in the matter and neither did the off-spring of those women. the rapists never took responsiblity for their actions or their children and the government was well aware of what was going on.

hello al , perhaps you could do some questioning of your own theories . when you you see any person lacking love and "in a sad state of repair" begging in the street or drunk down in the park it may be a good idea BEFORE you condemn them to ask them or find out how they got to that desperate state ? remember we are ALL born the same colour and not beggars , whingers or want to be drunks - black or white . look behind who and what you see ,you may see similarities with aspects of your own life, family or friends .

this theory of yours " get over yourself and move on " seems to imply whatever is causing the problems should be ignored , it's a cop out answer Al . why not work on solutions with all parties ? the "get over it " attitude hasn't produced a decent result yet to solving massive,complex social problems .

You want to talk about housing,down here in Melbourne you have to be a god to be able to rent a house,its simpler to buy one considering all the ''garbage'' you have to go thru to be able to rent,just to be ''approved'',only to be subject to this countrys discusting eviction laws where you can be givern a eviction notice after 2 weeks of being behind in the rent,if you know anything about social issues that is a very easy situation to be in if your a low-income earner or had a month of problems,and it does not matter what country your from,if your black,white red,asain, arab,whatever, you will be explioted for the sake of a landlord.
This is Australia where you can be sure you can be punished for almost anything,and you can do nothing about it,again this is Australia where you only obtain fairness,oppurtunity,justice or success on the size of your bank account,so dont state once again your the victim,''its only happining to the Aboriginal people'',most people in this counrty are suffering due to a new class divide,its called ''the havs and the have nots''.
And do you know what the main problem is(among many)the people making the decisions(across all aspects of Australian life)do not have to face the consequence of that those desisions,with the notoble one being financial,untill this is fixed,untill the people are removed and replaced with desision makers that look at all consequence of thier actions,this counrty will continue to be only for the ''havs'',so as the ''havs'' say,and by the way i am a ''have not'',GET WITH THE PROGRAM AND PUT UP WITH IT.

dear KARTIYA

As a matter of fact i have givern to beggers,even if i know there is nothing wrong with them,social problems and such,ITS CALLED GRACE, i will even give it to them for smokes or alcohol.i know that giving a person nothing does not always help them.
And then again i have givern nothing becouse they dont deserve it,get a job,get help,i know thats easier said then done,show you have pride in yourself and you will be givern,otherwise you will have nothing,try to be all you can be and you will be givern,or you will have nothing,obtain mentel disipline and deal with your struggles.

now you're making more sense to me al. i agree with your post about haves and have nots, i didn't say that other people dont suffer, especially in this day and age.

this get with program business applies to everyone and i dont have a problem with that. but its got to be applied to all aspects of life, rather than a few select options.