Why is it that governments do not understand Indigenous Culture. I was brought up to believe the way to resolve problems was to consult with the Elders. These people are the Tree of Knowledge.

Howard says he wants to put an end to child abused, what about the women who are told to sell themselves for Grog.

To resolve these problem of child abuse, one must understand their cultural and start from the ground up.

First, start by weaning these beautiful people of WELFARE. Create employment for them which befits their cultural. We have protected to some extent Indigenous Paintings. There are other industries where there work should be protected from both local and overseas manufacture. Such as the production of boomerangs etc. When you walk into a tourist shop what do you see 'Made in China' etc. We have seen 'The Lost Tribes' just recently. This a way for these people to earn money, by teaching visitors about their culture and their way of life.

When it comes to their housing, to be quite honest I would not allow my dog to live there. They just want basic housing for each family. Including a place that will allow them to cook in their traditional way. That means away from their homes. Other things such as education, a Doctor on call, running water etc.

Education does not simply been taught the 3Rs but including Indigenous Studies about their traditional way of life and local language. Free education for those who wish to attend a place of higher learning.

If we are to help our Indigenous Brothers and Sisters than stop forcing our values on them, list to what they want for a change.

Cornflour

I totally disagree. I do not trust John Howard with sole responsibility of this issue. Already errors are evident. Mandatory medical checks of children under 16 just one example.

We cannot get this wrong once again, and for the first time in many years we have to challenge the Prime Minister on ever single detail and be totally informed on exactly what he plans to do. We MUST take collective responsibility if we care about the outcomes.

We have trusted him on so many issues only to see our trust betrayed.

Wow,

So we just let the abuse happen anyway. Well I find it particularly repugnant that an academic on the public payroll rolls out his tripe as if he personally could make a difference. Bono made more difference than all the posturing of academics.

Academia always get it wrong. It is not only the Howard government that has failed aborigines but all governments.

The Australian people failed them! The only way out of this morase is genuine help, not posturing.

Ps..if the aborigines got real help and their lives were significantly improved then Australian citizens would not stand for it, as the less fortunate white australians would create such an outcry about them not being helped. The same goes for self reliance, the biggest obstacle is that business would protest. Food share is an example of a program destroyed by business, because it became too successfull. Lets educate aboriginals to the level of this Prof and see him squeal. Aboriginals suffer because we hurt them, and to stop this requires more than a mealy mouthed Prof.

Basic Needs: Health, Housing, Education and Employment. Sanitation, Real Nutrition and access to Clean Drinking Water. These are the PRESSING issues confronting the majority of Indigenous Australians in most rural and remote areas.

Infrastructure - through out ALL HUMAN SERVICES needs a MIGHTY SHAKE UP.

ROADS - ROADS - ROADS and transport services!

Peoples voices have been Nullified by a LACK OF GOVERNMENT RESPONSE, throughout the Public Service!

People who SPEAK OUT within the Public Service are SIDELINED, LOOSE JOBS... become outcasts themselves!

THE REGIONAL NETWORKS RUN ON A SILO CULTURE within the PUBLIC SERVICE.

WE are ALL responsible for the the condition of our country. Social Justice issues have been in the decline for almost two decades. Social issues are not "TRENDY".... they are confronting.... affronting and need to be dealt with face to face. This is difficult for regional networks as well as rural isolated communities, in the long-term.

I believe this Federal government has worked hard to 'demonised those who have sought self-determination with and for our Indigenous Australians'.

I believe this government lacks heart and soul at ground levels.

This hysterial "election" approach will cause divisions rather than UNITY where resentment or deep hurt over this callous directive adds more salt to those (on all sides) already wounded. This is a moral panic - wreakless in the way it is being fought-out and delivered to our nation.

However, it is up to ALL Australians to utilise the moment to MAKE CHANGE for the better, by PROBLEM SOLVING mindfully and pro-actively - our way through this MESS - through knowledge building, enhancing cohesion, so we can ALL work together!

Regardless of the Federal Governments motives, this issue is REAL and gives us all a POLTICAL OPENING to DEMAND the Political WILL to ACT.

Aboriginal people NEED HUMAN RESOURCES, as any civilised community does when competing for services in this day and age.

http://www.miacat.com
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Miacat
"WE are ALL responsible for the the condition of our country"

Indigenous people need to take more responsibility also. This is not just the Government's responsibility. Indigenous people need to send their children to school and stop trashing and destroying their houses. Even a lot of the Indigenous houses in urban areas in NT are filthy and trashed and there is no excuse for this.
If people live in filthy conditions, of course they are going to get sick. Unemployed Indigenous people get the same amount of welfare as unemployed white Australians.

Healthwatcher:
in bald figures around $33 billion of Commonwealth funds has been spent directly on "Aboriginal Affairs" over the last ten years.

To be fair you would deduct from this the money spent on the CDEP (mistakenly known as the "black work for the dole scheme") as this is in lieu of benefits that people would be receiving anyway. This would take up around $3.5 billion.

Similarly with much of the rest of the Indigenous section of the Commonwealth's budget: the same amount should be deducted for expenditure on health services, in lieu of use of mainstream primary health facilities. This would bring us down to about $26 billion.

You could deduct another large hunk for public housing; more for education, employment services, municipal services etc. You would end up with only a relatively small fraction being spent on things that are distinctly different and Indigenous specific.

So don't get too anxious about that.

But what I suspect you are really concerned about is this: why has all the money spent by governments generally on Indigenous people over the last ten years not produced better results than appear to be the case?

The reasons for this are fairly complicated, but I believe that Brough is aware of some of the reasons and trying to deal with them.

For example, the Commonwealth in the 70s and 80s unilaterally withdrew much of its direct activity and expenditure on job creation, community development, administration and management in Indigenous communities, which began the process of degeneration of standards and services in these places.

State governments (particularly the NT and SA) pulled back from adequately policing many remote Indigenous communities, and this led to a huge growth of substance abuse and violence, which in turn led to extraordinary increase of abuse and thuggery.

Consequently even the relatively high levels of expenditure (provided through grants to a ragtag army of small, often ill-governed and semi-competent councils and NGOs )has not been deployed in an "effective or efficient manner" over many years, and the average efficacy of many services has been on a down-hill run.