I have just recently attended a conference at which Noel Pearson spoke. I found him extremely plausible, but I was disappointed, that he, unlike the other speakers, did not offer evidence. It reminded me of a quote from the Fin Rview I had seen that very morning about someone else's "purity of untested thought"

I am always a bit worried about ascribing moral turpitude to those on welfare or any other unearned income which we tend to do. I have been extremely impressed by

"Relationships between poverty and pyschopathology: a natural experiment."Jane Costello
, Scott N. Compton Gordon Keeler Adrian Angold
JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association

Oct 15, 2003 v290 i15 p2023(7)

Basically it reinforces the view that the difference between the poor and their richer neighbours is the lack of money not their imputed failings as people. I am forming the view that the left or right on any issue tend to represent the poles of psychological attribution. "there but for the grace of god go I" on the other hand "they bring it on themselves"

If Noel does nothing else then he is to be commended for acting as a flack magnet. Observing this string, it is clear that many people feel the need to process all inputs through a political filter before attempting to assess them as solutions to blackfella problems.

This process never solves problems because it is based on clutter. It is the tool of choice of the bureaucrat whose primary goal is the maintenance of their franchise and the continuation of the problems that justify the need for their services. Ironically, clutter is a simple and easy intellectual habit to fall into and one that marginal communities are particularly vulnerable to because it appears comprehensive.

The solution to the problem of blackfella disadvantage will be found sdomewhere away from the distractions of flack. Key questions like, "how do we get people who, by world standards, own some very valuable real estate, to start thinking like the wealthy landowners they are?" And the best way to do that is to find out what tools are used by wealthy landowners, either individually or collectively, and make those tools available.

The resulting efforts may produce the odd failed experiment and a few underwhelming results but the practise will be invaluable. And wealthy landowners are conspicuous by the fact that they put protections in place to secure their capital base before assuming risk. This makes them better at accumulating land than losing it.

I stand by my comments. I have given readers my primary source. It is what it is and posters can decide for themselves as to its veracity. It is clearly a personal account. I am not sure how you expect me to quote “a chapter and verse” from a talk with an old mate. I can back up my claim: “The treatment of indigenous children in missions is well documented”.

Annie Holden and Noel wrote an article: “Time for Leadership..." way back. You could apply the last sentences to the current situation. I read this about 10 years ago and it is like the government and Indigenous organisations have been stuck in a time warp. I think Indigenous issues such as the stolen generation need to be resolved otherwise the partnership will not be based on goodwill but egoism.

The HREOC have nearly six hundred personal accounts of stolen children on file. Some of them can be read at http://www.hreoc.gov.au/social_justice/stolen_children/stories/html
See also. http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/special/rsjproject/rsjlibrary/hreoc/stolen_summary/stolen05.html
Relevant finding below.
“Excessive physical punishments were common
…One in six children who were institutionalised reported physical assault and punishments.…
“Dormitory life was like living in hell. It was not a life. … But we got a lot of bashings.”

Boaz, I think you have used my apparent euphemistic euphuism to push your agenda re: Muslims and your seeming desire to rid Australia of multi-culturalism. Also, Perseus, Boaz no mention of how Indigenous culture will maintained in your suggestions. For instance: Indigenous peple because of their strong connection like "to 'place' non-aboriginal visitors in their country in their own categories of social meaning through a process of personalisation and incorporation." I am trying to imagine some of the monocultural touristy boofheads respecting that.

Example re documentation continued:
From HREOC site.
Lance:
“St Joseph's Home - Sebastopol - is where I grew up. It was run by nuns wearing black habits. The only Aboriginal kids there were just me and another bloke. ... The nuns were really strict on you. We had a big dormitory where the boys slept. I used to go to bed crying. I remember a nun with a torch saying, 'Stop crying'. I hid my head. She came back and hit me on the head with the torch. I still have the scar today.”
John:
“If we answered an attendant back we were 'sent up the line'. Now I don't know if you can imagine, 79 boys punching the hell out of you - just knuckling you. Even your brother, your cousin.
They had to - if they didn't do it, they were sent up the line. ...Before I went to Kinchela, they used to use the cat-o'-nine-tails on the boys instead of being sent up the line. This was in the 30s and early 40s.”
Evie:
“I was taken away in 1950 when I was 6 hours old from hospital and put into Retta Dixon until I was 2 months old and then sent to Garden Point. I lived in Garden Point until 1964. And from Garden Point, Tennant Creek, Hermannsburg. While in Garden Point I always say that some of it was the happiest time of my life; others it was the saddest time of my life. ... The saddest times were the abuse. Not only the physical abuse, the sexual abuse by the priests over there. And they were the saddest because if you were to tell anyone, well, the priests threatened that they would actually come and get you.
... And just every day you used to get hidings with the stock-whip. Doesn't matter what you did wrong, you'd get a hiding with the stock-whip. If you didn't want to go to church, well you got slapped about the head. We had to go to church three times a day.”

Peace and prosperity for the indigenous Australians of Australia is very important to provide them the opportunity to excell in all areas in which they wish to proceed.

I believe that the Indigenous people need help to set up business', and assistance from the government to discourage others from taking control of what little industry they have.

1.Tourism operators in Aboriginal Land must be licensed on the basis that they employ local people (ie. this may have prevented last years Croc. death in NT).

2.An indigenous body needs to be established to work with, develop and wholesale indigenous Art / Craft etc. This should work by selling on commission, and would quickly revolutionise the current market. The need for this is that although the artists are indigenous, the bulk of the money at present is kept by non-indigenous art buyers and resellers. The other benefit of which would be the opportunity for local people to educate their children of the stories behind the art, and to pass on their knowledge and skills.

3.Circle courts (see western NSW) should be used for all alcohol / drug related offences and minor property / violent offences. This would provide a culturaly appropriate alternative to the criminal justice system, and may avoid the ongoing conflict with police.

4.Strict audit and financial control of Indigenous organisations is needed due to the previous mismanagement / misaproppriation so prevalent in the past. This has seriously affected the credibility of indigenous organisations within communities and in the wider communities, and caused the loss of significant funding and resources.

5.Assistance should be provided to remote / regional communities to allow them to establish agricultural / pastoral assets. in most cases this is entirely possible, yet no effort has yet been made to build this infrastructure. Due to their remote locations, it is economically viable in many cases for communities to make serious money supplying both community stores and local towns etc (particularly if CDEP funding is used to pay staff during the initial phase(s)).

6.traineeships with the local agricultural / pastoral training providers should be available in community schools.

I do not advocate just throwing money at the problem, these proposals are viable, and require less money than is currently being thrown at the problem.

Aaron