This is not how the mainstream media reported his speech. Shame on them!

Tony Abbott says, "Australians’ sense of guilt about the past and naïve idealisation of communal life may now be the biggest single obstacle to the betterment of Aboriginal people." The biggest single obstacle? Come on Minister! How about the almost complete lack of sustainable economic opportunity? How about lack of employment opportunities in isolated communties (and elsewhere for that matter)? How about the lack of infrastructure in Indigenous community? How about demoralisation brought about by continuing paternalism? How about the lack of political representation in national and state level decision making? How about the massive number of well-researched reports and practical recommendations that sit in government offices gathering dust? How about the periodic wringing of hands every time we re-discover the same old problems? And so to sleep again when it all stops being front-page news!

I liked what the editor from 'The national indigenous times' said,

"Asking Tony Abbot about indigenous affairs is like asking George Bush about quantum Physiscs"

Because of course the North Shore of Sydney is rife with Aboriginal social problems.

How much work, effort and honesty will it take to change entire lifestyles? So far nothing has worked perhaps because of the sheer hugeness of the job, vested interests and a people's culture that was rooted in a nomadic existance where nothing was regarded as permanent.Every part of life was seasonal. How do you change that instinct to bricks, roofs,horticulture?
The only way to go is to begin at the beginning and that is education,education,education.
The people need housing, the youths need work. Combine the two.
The Howard government promised Technical colleges, why not put them where Aboriginal youngsters can board and learn to do anything but hang around idly and in trouble. No youth,black or white,male or female should be permitted to drift into nothinginess.

The Hon. Tony Abbott reels off the statistical horrors of aboriginal social dysfunction and blames their ‘culture of directionlessness’.

His statement, “Modern Australians are understandably embarrassed about our forebears’ failings towards Aboriginal people”, emphasises his exclusionary thinking.

Aboriginal Australians are neither ‘understandably embarrassed’ nor (necessarily) descendants of ‘forebears’ who so failed Aboriginal people. They are, however, implicitly excluded from the Minister’s concept of what it means to be a modern Australian.

And yet he argues, “In the long run, however, modernity - with its benefits as well as its excesses - has been as inescapable for Aborigines as for the rest of us.”

How is exclusion reconciled with inescapability?

At the time of colonial settlement, Aboriginal Australians had sustained a relationship with the natural environment, through the traditions and practices of the oldest surviving human culture in the world; hardly a culture of directionlessness. Through their dismissal as mere fauna, the British Crown established sovereignty as the first discoverers and possessors and yet the 1992 Mabo High Court ruling rejected the argument that the indigenous people of Australia had no possessory interests in their traditional lands.

The record of mistreatment and oppression of indigenous Australians is every bit as alarming as Minister Abbott’s introductory account. His monologue describes in disturbing detail the consequences of actions that ensured his ‘culture of directionlessness’.

Strange how there don't seem to be any aboriginal people being jailed as a result of the 'revelations' about child rape etc.
If I did something disgustingly criminal I'd be arrested and dealt with according to the law of the land but if I happened to have a claim to being 'indigenous' the same people who wanted to tar and feather me would be making excuses for me, and blaming it on 'the white-man'. I saw it myself 20 years ago, a guy called "Black Pete" dragged a young hippy chick into the scrub and anally raped her repeatedly for 3 hours, and some of my friends where trying to let him go. Crime is crime and to make exceptions based on race or part thereof is the ultimate in racism.

Tony, surely the directlessness of most aboriginals is caused by us whites wrecking their culture by taking their homeland.
It is now made so much worse by Mr Howard's message to us all to forget about the mistakes of the past and look to the future.

But honestly, Tony, what future have the Aboriginals really got? Such was talked about during the day's of early settlement, such being the reason that anthropologists came up with the suggestion, that because Aboriginal physical characteristics had an original similarity to us whites, their colouring unlike negroid colouring could be bred-out by cross-breeding with us white cultures. In fact, it was one of the reasons in our WA for the law taking young children from their parents.

Giving them their rights after stealing what culture they had hasn't really helped either, because like the American Indians they have taken to the booze, mostly as a means to escape from the inevitable, a hopelessness that has only increased as they try to take on a white man's job.

Trying to be patronising will get you nowhere these days, either, Tony. Looks like you've got a real job on your hands, mate

Tony Abbot, self centred, self righteous, ignorant, arrogant, useless, christian isn't he. Sorry forgot, failed priest, say no more.

@bushbred If you do some reading beyond the Robert Manne variety you will discover that traditional aboriginal society was extremely violent, before they were led astray by the rotten 'white-man'. Homocide was a normal part of the competition for women, not as objects of affection but as farm implements to dig up the tubers which were the mainstay of the diet. I used to have the typical lefty attitude until I went to Barmyli, I think it is spelt,near Katherine, to help set up an artifacts shop. After 3 days i was so disgusted by what I had seen that i left. My lefty friends disowned me when i told them what I had witnessed because they didn't want to believe what didn't fit into their groupthink.

We see daily the continuing moth eaten parades of ownership reduction, and disenfranchisement of peoples by proxy.

With current thinking, and 20/20 hindsight, the 1788 - 'White Invasion' of our Aboriginal Nations and beyond, was clearly wrong.

It happened though, as a response, and subsequent to: Policies of Colonial expansionists, and the ideals of that time.

Is it now more politically correct, profitable (for some), and expedient to overtly perpetate these cycles of disharmony?

Are the visible and tangible faces of so called 'Invaders' progeny any less entitled to to ownership (spiritual or otherwise), of their homeland?

Who are the beneficiaries? Qui bono? Do the powers imparted by a mere familiar knowledge of the issues raised, affirm that already long entrenched?

Would the British government now return lands to those Australians with forebears of Anglo-Saaxon or Celtic heritage who were systematically & forcibly driven from their homelands in the 1840's?

Wake Up!

Remembering that these White Brothers were also shot, killed, and tortured in protecting their families, sacred sites and hallowed grounds. they too experienced 'Stolen Generations', fragmented families, and dispossession of their lands.

As the ongoing and joint custodians, we should endeavour to improve, not compound, the issues regarding current circumstances.

This duty we owe all future Australians - regardless of colour & creed.

The apocalyptic planetary situation has made the job easy but threatened for the philosophers. ALL kinds of ethic questions have been simplified and condensed to ONE superior existential question supplementing the class struggle problematic: Are you FOR or AGAINST survival of the planetary life?

Based on scientific analysis, everything must be viewed and valued in the light of its pro- or contra planetary life quality.

You are GOOD if you actively fight the forces that are detrimental to the planetary life. You are EVIL if you do not.

The destructive forces threatening the planet are not difficult to identify. All destructive power and viciousness is concentrated in the corporate US empire of evil. On top of the evil is the bunch of fascistic religious fanatics, nazionists, neocons and other rightwing extremists within the corporate ruling US circles. The religious ones are looking forward to receiving their exclusive premiums after the end of the world.

Their power bases - like those of Hitler and Bush - essentially are launching platforms for their deadly revenge for their evil childhood. The culture of sadistic child mistreatment among white, in particular Anglo-American, parents must stop now. From the point of view of Mother Earth, humiliation of a child is the absolutely worst of all crimes.

For 500 years it has been great fun and necessary for the sake of colonialism to torture the kids physically and mentally. But the sane part of human kind must now stop this luxurious sport, if the planet is to be saved.

The urgent cultural revolution must replace the 3000 years old unspeakably devastating set of 10 commandments by the ONE opposite, all deciding, Commandment: *Thou shalt give your child unlimited and unconditional love, respect, security and freedom to natural unfolding.*

The cultural revolution will be grossly enhanced by the eradication of the cancer tumor of the planet which immediately will be followed by a recovery from the worldwide cultural setback and metastatic oppression imposed by the empire of terror.

Depopulation is a significant part of the evil empire policies ..

Oh revelation!

The health problems of higher tobacco smoking, higher violence rates, higher alcohol rates, higher homelessness, higher death rates, higher infant mortality rates, higher alternative drug rates including glue and petrol sniffing, and many more social problems. These are not just outcomes of health problems that Abbot describes. These are the symptoms of an overall health problem due to Government neglect.

Since he admits this is such a mess, why did they cut so much funding to aboriginal services, that were trying to develop something to improve the situation over 10 years ago. Now we have to start all over again. If you cut the budget back to nothing, what do you expect.

Much of this is not even money. It is a cultural broken heart, simply because the Prime Minister refuses to try to say sorry, and show that he may make things better. Until this happens, there is no reason why Aboriginal people should believe a word they say. They don't.

Therefore this is a lost cause. The PM is lost, not the Aboriginal people. They are just waiting for him to do the right thing. Then, their self esteem, might, just might, start repairing, and we can talk about reconciliation. This will improve their health. At the moment, there is nothing to feel so healthy about.

Quite frankly, the whole country is looking rather sick at the moment. Australians in general have a low self esteem, and are far less happy than they were 15 years ago, even if many are doing better financially.

FrankGol “sustainable economic opportunity?”

Personally I have moved twice with the intention of improving my personal “sustainable economic opportunity?”.

Once from Southern England to London and then from London to Australia.

If individuals want “sustainable economic opportunity?” they have be prepared to meet the opportunity at least half way, rather than expect it to simply be provided by someone else’s effort , like “Cargo Cult”.

That
1 tribal aboriginals want a better life expectancy is, I am assuming, a given.
2 tribal aboriginal society lack the basic skills to make value and life enhancing decisions for their own well being would appear to be apparent.
3 That aboriginal people are exposing younger generations to social and moral degeneracy is absolutely apparent.

Only TWO things will fix these Issues,
For Aboriginal people to acquire the necessary skills and attitudes from more successful “races”
For aboriginal people to give up the notion they are different and deserving of different treatment to non-aboriginal Australians.

The short-term alternative is the protect the new generations from the old generational attitudes. That might be ‘paternalistic’ but the alternative to such ‘paternalism’ is a continuation of the status quo.

Therefore the one remaining issue is

Does White Australian paternalism produce better outcomes for developing generations of aboriginal Australians to the tribal degeneracy of the “status quo” ?

After ignoring six of my seven original points, and dismissing the other with his personal chest-thumping anecdote, Col Rouge defines "the one remaining issue" in terms of a manufactured false dichotomy in the guise of a rhetorical question: "Does White Australian paternalism produce better outcomes for developing generations of aboriginal Australians to the tribal degeneracy of the 'status quo' ?" Any reasonable person can see that the issues cannot be summed up in these two alleged competing alternatives. When confronted with complex issues, only simple minds deal in simple solutions.

When Col Rouge seriously considers all my points (and those of other serious contributors) we will have the basis for a considered discussion

FrankGol “When Col Rouge seriously considers all my points (and those of other serious contributors) we will have the basis for a considered discussion”

Ah you consider yourself a “serious contributor” Frank?

It is a shame you cannot be “serious enough” to suitably promote your 7 points effectively, by separating them, instead of running them together like someone afraid to waste a line of paper or, sillier still, a couple of ^N (Line feeds) to improve understanding.

To be honest, after reading the beginning of the line and the first of your seven points, you were so “seriously boring”, I could not be bothered to read the rest of the paragraph.

However, I will accept your choice to decline more constructive comment as admission that your capacity for pomposity has displaced all reasoning ability.

It seems some of our Onliners are taking the possibly wornout ‘survival of the fittest’ attitude, which incidently is a phrase that was not coined by Darwin, but by an acquaintance Herbert Spencer, who as a socio-political realist virtually used or abused Darwin’s theory not only to justify injustices concerned with colonialism, corporatism and free-market Laizess-faire, but even war as a genuine part of progress. To Darwin’s distress, businessman Walter Bagehot and Herbert Spencer and others helped formalise Darwinian Socialism, which aided by Hegelianism has carried on the concept through two World Wars sparked by imperialism and Nazism, and right up to the present day with the return of Laissez-faire and the increasing demand for oil, which just happens to exist in countries that Western corporates feel justified to take over as a part of progress or survival of the fittest.

According to Darwin, however, the emphasis on animalistic struggle as a necessary part of human progress was a narrow and one-sided interpretation of his thesis. Different to animals humans have either been gifted or have developed the capacity to reason, and so it is not improbable that as a part of human progress more and more virtuous tendencies should have proven to have developed. As regards colonialism, and what to do about the indigines, we could wonder whether we have progressed very far or not? Certainly it seems a job for philosophers or social scientists and not politicians or lawyers.

Brushbred,we all need a survival component in our lives to cleanse the spirit and appreciate what we need to stive to become better people.This applies to all socio-economic groups in our society,since no discipline or learning means decay.There is decay at all levels of our socio-economic divide,from parisitic lawyers to leftist do gooders who seek comfort in the weakness of the inept.

In a previous post,I described the Aboriginal dilemma as thus;
"We have removed the survival component from a culture that once thrived on the challenge that most of us could never endure.To remove the reason for ones existence is the cruelest cut.Just to be paid for existing is like being in gaol,there is no reason to learn or evolve."

Our present Aboriginal Culture needs discipline and direction,since there is no longer a natural environment that caters for this need.Just paying them conscience money to appease our guilt,is in reality,effecting the slow genocide we are witnessing now.

Col Rouge, I know it's hard for some people to deal with more than one idea in each post. So to prevent you getting a splitting headache, here are my seven points again numbered 1-7 (remember I was tackling Tony Abbot's claim - "Australians’ sense of guilt about the past and naïve idealisation of communal life may now be the biggest single obstacle to the betterment of Aboriginal people." I suggested there might be bigger obstacles.)

1. How about the almost complete lack of sustainable economic opportunity?
2. How about lack of employment opportunities in isolated communties (and elsewhere for that matter)?
3. How about the lack of infrastructure in Indigenous community?
4. How about demoralisation brought about by continuing paternalism?
5. How about the lack of political representation in national and state level decision making?
6. How about the massive number of well-researched reports and practical recommendations that sit in government offices gathering dust?
7. How about the periodic wringing of hands every time we re-discover the same old problems? And so to sleep again when it all stops being front-page news!

Oh drat, after going to all that trouble for you Col, I've just realised I'm wasting my time. It wasn't that you couldn't cope with seven ideas. It's just that you got "seriously bored after reading the beginning of the line and the first of [my] seven points", and "could not be bothered to read the rest of the paragraph". How can I ever imagine myself on the same level as such an intellectual giant?

@Bushbred what do you know about any negroid genetics?? Nothing,so don't speak on what you don't know about.Negroids mix the least out of all races.Negroids are un-like all other races.

It is good to see such strong reactions, both ways... strong opinions to leave as is, and strong opinions for change to achieve a positive change for the aboriginals.

I focus on the rest of this opinion on people whom want a positive change for aboriginals. The first is the nature of human condition...which is its perpetual quest to seek a state of ongoing happiness.

This is where we as Australians have a duty to assist aboriginals by simple fact that they were taken over and forced into changes which we wanted to make them more in our image but was a disaster for them, and now apparently have lost their sense of directions to happiness or unable to within the confines of limits imposed on them. Only those whom live among the aboriginals can say exactly what this is and all we can do is speculate.

The art of science is a beautiful thing to apply here, before changing anything a detailed study of what is observed, then identify the real causes and weigh them in value. Then hypothesis of solutions in limited numbers to apply changes and asses the most effective.

I think the best approach is remove all limits placed on them and allow them the self determination to daily life they so want. Our limits of involvement is to ensure the protection and happiness of the children is being fulfilled, lest they suffer for the maladaptations of their adults.

The other factor we must act on is the same destructive groups within us whom cause such grief for us, affecting them as well. As we address these elements we also help them. Funny situation, by helping them we help ourselves at what really matters.

Sam

Tony I would not share a beer with you or a susage at the bar b q, just the way it is.
And my ribbs will hurt after this but I do not think your intent was to take us back to the 20,s or even 50,s
And in part here go,s this proud ALP member agrees with you.
The tragic shame of our first Australians is our countrys shame too[say sorry Anthony!]
But it is shared by a few from within that comunity who use the dreadfull conditions to steal from their own.
And some who their own fault no one elses, can not even read act not unlike racists and hold back people from within.
Nothing is wrong with some accountabilty Pearson is a true hero and should get a chance to serve his people ,far too many serve only their selves.
Ok Tony if you pay I will have a beer with you on polling night 2007 ,just to say goodby to workchoices.

There are a number of issues that 'keep Aborigines in their place', wherever that may be. First and foremost, is the issue of affordable housing, and I do not mean settling Aborigines in ghettos in the outer western suburbs of Sydney or the equivilent in other Capital cities. Back before the infamous days of ATSIC it was said that in place of spending $XXXm on another bureauocracy run by non-Aborigines (forget the elected Commissioners, who were so inefective they gave the Howard government the impetus needed to close ATSIC) the funds should go the Aboriginal families to purchase their own home wherever they may wish to live. This was not done and look at the mess we now have. With home ownership, comes pride, followed by good health, the wish for a better education for adults and their children, and the ability to live closer to where the jobs are. Now, call me utopian, but with the advent of what follows on from home ownership would allow Aborigines to drive their own future. Not become the Howard government football thrown into the scrum whenever the Federal Liberal Party need to cover the tracks of their other public disasters, viz, Workplace reform, Iraq, and an election year in the offering. Let me finish by saying that I am an Aborigine and extremely proud of that fact, and I live on Sydney's north shore, and yes, we do have problems up here, just not as 'public' as those problems facing remote communities. How about it, Messrs Abbott and Howard, 'What do we want? Home ownership! When do we want it? NOW!

Tony Abbott:

The frank almost apologetic epistle on the plight of the Aboriginal People is a sad indictment of our Government, and prevailing cultural attitudes - since early Colonial Days.

It begs the question Mr Abbott what is your fellow Minister Mal Brough doing about all the malfeasance, social neglect, and Health hazards the Abo's have been suffering since 1778 ? Successive Government's of all persuasion's have poured untold trillions of Tax Payer's hard earned dollars into a monumental sponge that saps at Treasury benevolence, but shows scarce returns on investment dollars ?

One would hazard a guess the Health Portfolio is overburdened with enough vicissitudes without becoming embroiled with yet another ' too-hard-basket-case '. Your admission there are not enough Health Care workers in the area, nor Police, Educators, Social workers, Administrators, ad nauseam - is whose fault ?

We are quick to point out Howard's majestic reign in Parliament - his wisdom and enlightenment his term of Office has rendered the Nation. The endemic problem's Indegenee's experience just didn't happend on his watch - he exacerbated it by pouring more money down the gurgler. As if maney is the panacea to this vexing quandary ?

All the statistics about Aboriiginal Health is widely available on Google. The paedophilic sex practice perpetuated over generations has not gone unnoticed. The defining moment comes when Magistrates cant decide if ' white man's justice' applies to Indegene's even though we reconised in a Referrndum - no one is above the Law.

This paradox has created more dissension in NT then any other. Chief Minister Clare Marlin publicly admitted her perplexity in sentencing a culprit to 4 months for child rape ! Given the circumstances, it is high time the Supreme Court made an issue judgement eg Mabo, Wik et al, to settle the argument once and for all ! How then can Police carry out their duties, when there is ppatent ambivalence over Criminal Law ? Increasing Police presence in settlements as TA suggests, is a waste of valuable resources. Like paying monkey's to sit in Parliament.

Noel Pearson and Mick Dodson..

have provided exemplary guidance and service to their people for years. Pearson's work has never been given the recognition it rightfully deserves.Palpably he has trodden on too many sycophants in DAA to gain the credence he merits. Wot no AO ?

For some time Geoff Clark and Sugar Ray Robinson and too many other opportunist's have exploited their own race, for their own selfish ends. Numerous inquiries into their competence and the manipulation of department funds have never seen the light of day. For good measure, they have been replaced. It remains to be seen the average aborigine will benefit by the changes. Clearly, ASTIC and DAA have failed their people. The Bureacrats have never had it so good. A cursory glance into their Department's reveal a behemoth exponentially exploding at the seams ! How many PS's have visited a reservation..oops settlement in 12 months ? How long do they stay ? Is it a fly in/out just to claim overnight allowances in a five star Hotel ? Don't get caught as Libby Clark did - with a bottle of plonk - may cost you, your Portfolio ?

The Christian Missionaries, despite their good intentions, been thoroughly condemned for the 'stolen generation' saga. No amount of money will restore the loss of broken families, and childhood innocence. Those unfortunates are probably still trying to come to terms with the trauma. Imagine the ' brouhaha' if the incidence happened in reverse ! Frankly, some think early Anthropologist's and Demographer's got together to wipe-out the Race entirely by miscegenation on a giant scale. The Final Solution somehow backfired, affording people like Geoff Clark to claim full entitlement to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander's Funding - from the cradle to the grave syndrome.Great if you can get it.Another example of the Whiteman's burden. What a farce.

"The destructive forces threatening the planet are not difficult to identify. All destructive power and viciousness is concentrated in the corporate US empire of evil."

Savage Pencil: This is precisely the sort of nonsense that doesn't help anyone (especially on this topic) and that also makes a lot of people see the left as loony. Clearly there are many problems with the west, perhaps most easily identifiable in the U.S. However, whether we're talking human rights or the environment, China is hardly a barrel of laughs either (to mention but one non-western nation/civilisation).

About the topic though...

Personally, on this (and just about every single political issue), I'm sick of the finger pointing and mud slinging from both sides these days. Maybe I've reached my cynical zenith (or should it be nadir?), but I think very few people -- the left, right, or Aboriginal leaders -- who have anything to say on this matter genuinely give a crap about the Aboriginal people. They're all protecting their own power.

What I'm sure would make a difference would be to seek out anyone who has made a positive difference somewhere -- community leaders, doctors, social workers, etc. -- and let them do more of the same, but of course, that's not going to serve anyone's agenda, so it's never going to happen.

Tony ABBOTT says"....twice the rate of hospitalisation,low education,high unemployment, poor housing and substance abuse " and all contributing to the present disgraceful state of affairs in Aboriginal Australia.
How can he possibly say lack of money is not the problem ?These problems ARE solved by money and its judicial application. How can a Rhodes Scholar be so ignorant and believe what he writes and expect us to believe him ?
John Howard and his men just don't get it,don't want to get it and never will - peer presure ,their philosophy and racial attitudes prevent them.
HOWARD'S 10 year plus Leadership Legacy, appears at this point in our history, for our Aboriginal First Nations, amongst all our wealth ,racism ,hopelessness, death and despair for both young and old.

The issues of graduate & post graduate scholars (Rhodes or others) being paid to do research by their 'sponsors' is well known within academia. Get funding for a "u beaut" thesis on whatever needs to be promulgated (to its benefit) and out comes the PHD or Master in the discipline.

The list is endless, Labor or Lib - no distinction - just churn out the necessary essays and such with the correct slant on what is needed to validate their dogma or philosophies. Gets a 'High Distinction' every time eh?

Mr Abbot, you should be run out of town for what occurred regarding Hanson & Ettridge, & for persons of your ilk to talk about "directions for the indigenous and Aboriginal Nations... blah de blah ..." is hypocrisy at its arrogant height.

The real issues are:

(1) No adherence to Human rights per se. (Across the country) Sorry...my mistake - Vic & ACT have made 'Mickey Mouse' attempts.

(2) No politicians with intestinal fortitude who will stand up to Herr Dubblya (JW).

(3) Almost complete censorship of any debate on crucial issues via the autocratic mechanism of 'senate majority'. Reading Hansard to get 'truth' is akin to Chinese whispers.

When real and meaningful research, papers, essays & theses are put in the public domain without the (excuse the pun) 'doctoring'of the facts to suit political expediencies and opinion polls. Then we may get a truer picture of the real tragedy inflicted by successive Crown abuses of our peoples (plural).

This 'issue' runs so deep that it is well beyond da gubmint to sort it out.

Government can scarcely effect the base existence of media dross like Big Bother.

What hope have they when it comes to something significant as the legacy upon which this country was founded?

No stats to quote but suspect the realities of majority of aborigines bear as much resemblence to happenings in remote communities as white bread like me bear to a Nimbim joint smoking communal father of 15 kids with half a dozen partners.

Long winded and a bit disjointed was that analogy, l understand. Point is... the characterisation of the issue is misrepresented. Vast majority of racially indeginous Australians are of thoroughly Western enculturation. Like the rest of us.

Its marginal and its a pity to paint the majority in the light of that characterisation.

How far back do you want to go? The dawn of time seems the most reasonable destination. There, christians, jews, moslems, blacks, whites, asians, adam, eve, steve, the searpant and the apple can all set the record straight. Who will adjudicate?

Will never forget the time a friend, of aboriginal mother and italian immigrant father, telling me how it was only fair and just that he get a rediculously low interest loan of outstanding terms because his people were robbed in the time of yore. Hillarious to witness this in his lovely, finely coiffed home after he just spent $20k building a double brick boundary wall out front.

l understand the idealistic characterisation of the issue (past misdeeds) and have empathy for the feeling. However the position (restitution by racial heritage) breaks down on so many logical and reasonable fronts its too complex to go into given the restraints of this space.

Suffice to say... the idea of inhereted rights is a postion of priviledge that many(most?) would ordinarily scoff at, on principal, especially the ones who promote the double standard.

AR FAR GO trade215, theysis still being robbed- never mind "the days of yore". Look what Howard's Federal Court has dished out to the LARRAKIYA people in Darwin the other day . Probably worse than the Infamous Yorta Yorta decision [if that's possible].

Wow . . . so much intellectualising (not to mention emotion charged debate) At the risk of sounding naive, I ask the question; do Aborigines really WANT to be helped by the white invader, or is the collective chip-on-the-shoulder just too big?

Sandra

Being a member of another perceived subculture experiencing a heavy hand of paternalism in recent times, namely the dreaded 'single mother', I completely agree with you contention of affordable housing and all else will fall into place.

Housing affordability was the consistent threat to both mine and my child's education and health. Thankfully we both survived the four years of my university attendance, but only just. Along the way we had to live with a relative that didn't want us there and made our lives miserable. I can only imagine what living conditions families in isolated communities experience when they are forced to live 10 to a house with relatives that drive them nuts. I'd like to see the Federal Cabinet stuffed in a tiny house with ten relatives and not want to kill each other. Those conditions don't exactly bring out the best in people.

It just keeps coming - now we have John Howard and Tony Abbott sugesting that Aboriginal tribal people in Central Australia should think about curtailing the extended mourning period that some traditional groups have in their culture . How totally ignorant is their attitude to the lives of Indigenous People .
Simply disgusting .
Reveal their ideas to the world .

Tony when you are willing to speak on a personal opinion, not being told what to write by the Party.

Then maybe just maybe, you can express your views.

Thanks