harry - thank you for this article and drawing to attention the royal commission on aboriginal deaths in custody - a timely reminder. so many indigenous australians took the report of the royal commission to heart, taking up the recommendations and following them - hoping and working for their implementation. as usual, their hopes and work met with little encouragement or action from australian governments - all and every one of them. indigenous people despair, too, when they gain formal educational qualifications yet are overlooked in the job stakes. in victoria, an indigenous elder with ba (hons) in heritage, etc who was an ma student converted to phd was overlooked for a position in aboriginal heritage - for a person with an ma (from another country, and not in indigenous australian heritage) who had worked in australia for 7 years. racial discrimination is rife in this country and the more indigenous australians do to overcome it, complying with 'white' australia's requirements vis-a-vis education, experience etc, the more it appears that authorities 'clamp down'. have you noticed that in this current 'debate' harry - you are the first i have noted raising the royal commission ...

“In spite of Commissioner Muirhead’s optimistic conclusions many Indigenous Australians remain among the poorest people in the world today, hence the persistence of chronically bad health, dependence on substances, and violence, world-wide symptoms of community infrastructure poverty, largely ignored by Australian governments.”

And, when an “Australian government” makes a genuine attempt to do something about the situation – as the Howard Government is currently doing – the hate-mongers and control freaks (as in controlling aborigines) of the left and welfare classes scream, “Racist!”

To condone even the idea of some Australians living in the wretched isolation of ‘blacks camps’, then complaining about the health and poverty of those people, is ludicrous and warped. So is blaming conservative governments for the situation.

The only government to be blamed is the Whitlam government, which, with the connivance of ‘Nugget’ Coombes (whose qualification to meddle was ‘bank manager’ and life long lefty) created the apartheid system of remote communities, resulting in the disgrace we have today.

The current Government’s attempt to right the wrongs of the past should have occurred earlier and these disgusting remote communities should have been razed to allow the descendants of original Australians to take their place with the rest of us.

An American academic (black) currently visiting Australia has been amazed by our 1950’s attitude to descendants of aboriginal people and bemused by the fact that there are still people here calling themselves ‘indigenous’.

There is simply no justification for the separation and hardship forced on a few Australians by the lunatic left, aided and abetted by self-serving community ‘leaders’.

Only individuals can survive and flourish in modern society and be responsible for themselves. This bloody nonsense of special groups and special interests has to be knocked in the head

Leigh. Whitlam is responsible? Are you insane? Men have been abusing children, women and other men ( and animals come to that) since the dawn of time. Perhaps Gough is older than we thought? Please don't keep writing this complete fantasy. Oh, and it actually happens in every town, city and community in every country in the world. Never knew Gough was so influential, retrospective too.

I've only ever heard of one omnipotent being before but apparently we are blessed, still, as Gough lives. Holy ....

He didn't create these communities either. I lived in Alice in the 50's and they were there then. When Gough was only 400,456 years old. and still unelected at that time.

Again there is no left you regurgitator of yesterday's media drivel.

I meant only one comment here and that is this.

Yesterday there was yet another death in custody in QLD. In the back of a panel van in the middle of the day to a man said to have no illnesses. Just stopped breathing apparently.

The QLD Police Commissioner immediately issued a statement,

"There will be a full and thorough investigation. There are no suspicious circumstances". Slight contradiction there? He's already decided of course.

Is he kidding? Are panel vans murdering people without our knowledge?

davop - touche! great response!

DavoP,

No, I'm not insane; nor did I suggest that Whitlam was responsible for child abuse. I didn’t even mention child abuse.

You appear not to have heard of the Whitlam/Coombes social engineering masterpiece that sentenced people to misery in camps, keeping them out of sight and mind, on the cheap.

Certainly, there were remote camps more appropriate to the lifestyle led prior to white settlement, when people actually did follow the old ways; but the above-mentioned characters put the official seal of approval on them and virtually prevented young people from leaving the squalor that Whitlamesque welfare brought about. It was made much easier for them to stay, bludge, and sink deeper into the muck.

Try to remember that just because you haven’t heard of something doesn’t mean that it did not happen. Just because you are ignorant of certain facts of history does not mean that they did not occur

Politically correct social engineering is responsible for a lot of unnecessary misery. All too often ideas are taken on because they are viewed as being the cheap option at the time and then dressed up with arguments about "equality" which is taken to mean "like everyone else" when it should mean something quite different...and equal opportunity to benefit or succeed would be a good start. Trouble is of course that also means starting to take some responsibility for oneself.
Is it any wonder that indigenous communities are in a mess when they are getting conflicting messages about equality and opportunities? Same thing with people with disabilities of course...and in both cases some of their own most outspoken activists are presuming to present their own views as the views of their communities.

Black and White death in custody will continue for a long time yet as the primary problem is whether the custody is lawful or was it unlawful deprivation of liberty, a criminal offence.
The Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000 Qld provides for the circumstances in which a Police Officer can exercise of power to lawfully detain and arrest an individual.
If Hurley had been charged for deprivation of liberty as well, based on the statements made by the Coroner and the Judge had relied on the reasons for a decision of the High Court of Australia in Coleman v Power [2004] HCA 39 1 September 2004 B98/2002 we may have had a different result from the alleged jury.
The fact is that the arrest and detention was not lawful as the only authorised exercise of power that Hurley had at his disposal under the Act was to serve a NOTICE TO APPEAR and every body, all the legal professionals paid for by the fascist regime knew exactly that. The whole alleged legal proceedings, not judicial proceedings, were a scam right from the start and the decision was only ever going to go the way of the Police to suit Govt policy set by the Public Servants. Nothing to do with the rule of law.

Coroner's Report, The arrest of Patrick Bramwell and Mulrunji.
Lloyd advised him to walk down the road or he too would be locked up. When Senior Sergeant Hurley got back in the car he asked Bengaroo what the person had said - he clearly had not heard the conversation. When Bengaroo’s account was given, Hurley’s response was that he would lock him up. The only additional “event” was that having walked off down Dee Street, Mulrunji turned and swore at the police officers. Senior Sergeant Hurley then drove down to where Mulrunji was standing and arrested him. I do not determine the lawfulness of this decision but CLEARLY THE SITUATION COULD EASILY HAVE BEEN ADDRESSED BY MEANS OTHER THAN ARREST. Senior Sergeant Hurley was reliably told by his resident liaison officer the identity of the person and that he lived on the island. The fact that the senior serving officer did not know him after two years on the island was an indication that he was not a troublemaker. IT WAS COMPLETELY UNJUSTIFIED TO DECIDE TO ARREST, particularly if that decision was solely influenced by a desire to check the computer for any outstanding warrants. THAT IS NOT A BASIS FOR ARREST Given that Mulrunji had walked away and was clearly not impeding anyone there was always the discretion to do nothing or simply speak with Mulrunji.
What is clear from the evidence is that Senior Sergeant Hurley felt the need to EXERT HIS AUTHORITY, ostensibly on behalf of the Police Liaison Officer who did not have direct authority to do more than warn Mulrunji. The similarity to the situation of Patrick Bramwell’s use of language was not compelling given that Mulrunji had heeded the warning and walked on without further involving himself in proceedings. Despite Mulrunji’s protests he was arrested and told by Hurley that he was going to the watch house.

Great point, Young Dan. If Hurley hadn't decided to make a point of asserting his authority by arresting Mulrunji for the heinous crime of swearing on Palm Island, Mulrunji would still be alive today.

Excellent article, Harry Throssell. Unfortunately, those who most need to seem incapable of understanding it.

The only people to blame is the High Court. It is the High Court interpreting our constitution which permits all these actions by government and legislative branches.

Government, by nature is greedy to obtain power and use it.

The High Court failed Australia dismally by ignoring real purpose of the 1967 referenda: it was the purpose of the Australian people to strip ALL governments and legislatures, state and federal and territory, of ALL power to legislate in any manner which qualified in any way the rights and or responsibilities of Australian citizens on grounds of race.

Evey problem presented as an Aboriginal problem is not an Aboriginal problem it is an ordinary problem reworded to promote racism.

Certainly has been Whitlan, Fraser and others who have built the apartheid system of remote communities, resulting in the disgrace we have today.

Today in 2007 Australian citizens, those in legislation referred to as "Traditional Owner's" are denied their right as Australians to their family live with them or visit them, to have their friends come visit them, unless they get permission from Land Councils.

This apartheid, is flavoured and presented under all sorts of excuses by the real racists, such as those who in Alice Springs object to the tennants of all these publicly funded housing programs being given a valid lease for their homes, like people in Sydney, Melbourne, Byron Bay. Why the objections, because giving people leases gives them rights the estate managers can be forced to respect.

Every problem faced by people living in these communities are the same problems faced by sections of every community all around the world; These are where lacking employment, where education is below standard, where struggling to achieve basic standards of living is seen as to hard to be achievable, where the light of lifestyles improving is dimmed by so many who come to help.

If i recall correctly, when they first started measuring deaths in custody both Indigenous Australians and whites had a similar death rate.

Now we do not hear about 'white' deaths in custody.