Governments always make big promises when things are first brought to their attention: to get agitators off their backs. Kate Reynolds, a failed Democrat MLC knows this; but she sobs out a list of the number of times the SA government has failed to do what they said they would.

Reynolds demands that “something” be done but, as it is with Australian Democrats, she doesn’t have any suggestions as to what that something is. She has merely “urged the senate community affairs committee to identify ways in which the vicious cycle of inquiries and inaction might be broken”.

It’s time for Kate Reynolds and others “stirred by rage and admiration” to consider that there may not be a solution. There are some things that can be changed, and there are others that cannot be changed. Among the latter is the lot of people – black or white – who have been encouraged to see themselves as victims

I have often thought that Nationalism is a fantastic thing, but that it just shouldn't stop at our borders.

"There are some things that can be changed" in response to the deaths of children in the Northern Territory is fairly ridiculous. Were it your children Leigh, would you not be concerned? The death of a child is devistating. The high rates of teen suicide in my local area (East Coast Australia) are seen to be a problem that must be addressed, not just by the individual families, but by the wider commmunity. noone is saying to devistated families "nothing can be done about teen suicide." The same is true of deaths from drink-driving, speeding and drug taking. Huge amounts of money go into cancer research, MS reasearch and many other diseases.

The problem in remote and regional areas can and must be addressed.

I think that one person i.e. Kate Reynolds, cannot be expected to have all the answers.

James Thurber once said "It is better to know some of the questions, than all of the answers" and that is very true in this case.

Why are Australian children still suffering horrendous abuse? The cyclic nature of child abuse leads to the conclusion that the same children who were abused, or were forced to watch abuse, become the abusers or the bystanders themselves.

Organisations like CAPS (the child abuse prevention service) have been started to nuture and support parents under pressure, not to moralise, or dictate to parents how to act.

There are plenty of things that can be done to assist in communities... another fantastic way of enabling education opportunities for those who want them is SWIRL...

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=4528

which sounds like it has already made real inroads.

I think it's important to act from a place of love and nuture, not of devision and hopelessness, and these peoblems can be dealt with.

Have a good day all.

Monkey

Perhaps Leigh might like to read my submission...

The last section includes the following comment:

"If the cycle of inquiries into petrol sniffing is to be avoided and if the problem of petrol sniffing is to be seriously tackled, better managed and its incidence actually reduced, it is essential that the Senate Inquiry establish mechanisms whereby responsibility for monitoring and reviewing the implementation of its recommendations is closely, regularly and independently monitored for a substantial period of time (no less than five years).

In company with Coroner Chivell, I would urge the Senate Committee to affirm the ongoing importance of the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and to call on federal, state and territory governments to identify whether or not those recommendations have been successfully implemented.

In 2003, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner conducted a formal review of the response to the 2002 Coronial Inquest into petrol sniffing on the APY Lands. The results of this review were published in Social Justice Report 2003 (Human Rights & Equal Opportunity Commission). I urge the Senate Committee to encourage the Commissioner to undertake a further review of the responses to both the 2002 and the 2004 inquests."

And I expanded on this when I gave evidence to the Committee in Adelaide.

No - I don't presume to have all the answers. But the starting points are glaringly obvious (as my submissions and others have highlighted to the committee) - and surely getting some of the foundations right is better than putting a future for remote Aboriginal people in the too bloody hard basket.

Perhaps the people always professing concern about life in remote aboriginal settlements, and blaming governments for the problems, could show the way by volunteering their time and money to the settlements.

Hey Leigh,

That's an excellent point. The SWIRL program is exactly about that, and spending time in these remote and regional communities is obviously of huge benefit to not only the residents, but also the visitors!

Certainly the government could be encouraging more active participation, grants to volunteers, advertising and promoting the work volunteers can to do to help etc, but certainly a few individual people who have been elected i.e. the government, can't shoulder the burden alone.

I'll see you there mate ;)

Cheers

Monkey