“Why is this country so negative?” asks Ring.

Is the country negative, or is it just people like him who love to spread doom and gloom to keep them in the public eye and in a job?

Ring’s tongue in cheek/sarcastic remark about being ‘maudlin’ over aborigines doesn’t go down at all well from this renegade white man who is always harping on the aboriginal ‘problem’; a problem mainly incurred by the aborigines themselves and people like Ring who urge them on.

If Ring wants to hate himself and his own race for what he imagines has been done to aboriginal Australians, that’s his business. We should wish him all the bitterness and unhappiness he wants.

But this same old nonsense from him is a pain. It has been around for the 200 or so years since we ‘stole’ the country from the poor old indigenes, who were making such wonderful progress on their own, and it will be around in another 200 years.

And, there will be someone like Graham Ring moaning and groaning away.

Graham can you really complain about ATSIC being scrapped?

Wasn't it hopelessly corrupt?

Does anyone know the per capita spending on healthcare for Indigenous vs. non-indigenous?

cheers,

gw

Well Leigh, you are the expert on being negative...

The way I read the article, it was actually kind of lighthearted in a wry kind of way.

Graham Ring makes good sense. I’ve celebrated this round of tax cuts with the purchase of some blue shoes. Its not that I didn’t already have blue shoes, just not the right shade. You see I bought a whole lot of blue shirts after the last round of tax cuts and my existing blue shoes didn’t quite match. Now I have a new pair and I can buy more across the year with all this extra money. Guilt free –this was extra money I didn’t need. And, hey, aren’t I helping the economy – retail sector and all? Or was there some issue about interest rates?

Anyhow, what good would it do the economy if our tax money just went down the drain trying to educate and provide affordable, healthy food for remote living indigenous kids? Its not like they can contribute to the economy – after all, Aborigines can’t get a job. We’re the smart country - there are no jobs for kids without an education!

Anyway, I’ve got an idea for a campaign that could help Oxfam really do some good. Since our family expanded (baby bonus and all) I’ve found we don’t have a spare bedroom anymore (first homeowners grant only bought a small house) and I guess that means there’s nowhere to call a study or have the sofa bed so friends can stay if they get drunk after dinner parties (not drunk as in petrol sniffing drunk – just a bit too much good wine). We need to upgrade to a bigger house. So I though, in the same way the government gives you money to buy a house (hey – why don’t remote living aborigines just buy a house in the city where the health statistics are much better – yeah?) … I think the government should give out a “Home-upgraders’ Grant”. I reckon an extra bathroom would be good too. And if you got in early then you’d beat the inflationary effect of the grant. What about that Oxfam – a bit more productive than throwing good money after a lost cause?

Hey GW - recent economic analysis that averages per capita comparisons across Australia (state & federal) show that health expenditure by government's on Aboriginal people is lower than health expenditure per capita on the populace generally. This is largely due to the greater likelihood of Aboriginal people living in areas where they do not have easy access to Medicare funded GPs or state funded public hospitals. Can't remember the details of the paper but I can look it up for you if you're interested in reading something that's evidence based rather than speculative.

Perhaps the author could spend a year living in an aboriginal community as they do. With their assets, their health protection and their access to modern facilities.

Then you too Graham would be screaming for anybody, Oxfam too, to help.

Diseases are rife in these places mate, diseases we don't worry about at all.

Keep walking across bridges but don't risk crossing the one that divides white from balck. It's too scary over there.

Re the economy. It is booming, but for who. Not indigenous, homeless, pensioners, those with a mortgage on low wages, single parents, abandoned kids. Gosh, who's left? Or right?