Great article about a family that had the get up and go.

What does the author think
of the current regime that forces CDEP participants onto the dole?
about the compulsory acquisition of aboriginal assets worth more than $400,000?
employing KPMG to manage aboriginal businesses?
providing breakfasts and schol lunches to encourage kids to attend school?

Does any one else wonder if the federal government wants all remote area aborigines to shift into existing population centres like Darwin and Alice Springs and leave Arnhem Land depopulated so the overpopulated Javanese can "transmigrasi" to northern Territory as well as Irian Jaya and Timor Leste?

billie,

No

Stephen, thanks. Positive suggestions that would seem to be achievable.

R0bert

A very refreshing article -it's great when people take responsibility for themselves and don't resort to scapegoating outsiders.

Cheers

Stephan,
What is of considerable concern to me is a sort of "one size fits all " solution to the NT communities problems .

Many of these communities have people that can speak several languages well, but English is not one of them .

They really are a different Race of Australians.

For Howard to expect these great people "to join the mainstream or their future will be bleak" is a poorly disguised admission that he and his ignorant Government are not seriously prepared to help in a way that these communities can happily agree to, bearing in mind the cultural sensitivities and social implications of what is expected of them .

Stephan, It could be that your great grandmother would feel at home with them .

Let us imagine If it was your full - blood great grandmother and nominal tribal great grandfather living relatively happily in a better run camp ,would your attitude and means to get them to "the impossible " take a different tack or does the Howard Brough modus operandi sound fine to you ?

Jim, I dont normally agree with Hagan, but in this case I think his point is valid. His story and that of his family points out that aboriginal people CAN live in a Westernised way and profit from the benefits that our modern lifestyle can offer, and still keep in close touch with their cultural heritage and identity. The point I think is that to get to where we need to go is not easy, and will take a significant amount of time. The first step is to remove the children from harm. Now this may mean a mass jailing of offenders (and I hope it isnt the subject of much crying over lost human rights just because they are black), OR it may mean relocating those with children. If the latter is the option, then we need to make sure that we are not moving them from one misery to another. But our fear of such should not be a reason for inaction. Whatever approach is taken is likely to have at least some unforeseen negative consequences unfortunately, but we cant operate with the benefit of hindsight - we can just try to do take the best option at the time.

Of course there is always the position that the success of the Hagan family stems from the strong Celtic blood of its antecedant!

Country Gal,
Protecting the children , Making sure healthy food is available at a reasonable price ,Preventing alcoholism, preventing and treating mental health problems and violence ; treating those who are affected by the alcohol and drugs and giving the people hope - these are all steps that are necessary to help this neglected society back on their feet .

I have yet to fathom the reason why the Northern Territory Police Association's Recommendation that the Permit System STAY to help maintain Law and Order was disrespectfully ignored by Howard and Brough .

Is this a bit more of John Howard's Social Engineering to make them join the "mainstream" by flooding these Communities with tourists?

And will these tourists respect the alcohol and drug Bans after dark ? I think not, especially if the alcoholics do not have Treatment Facilities and programs available .

We have heard nothing about Brough's plans to tackle one of the main causes of death , violence and ill health for these communities apart from the attempted restriction of alcoho

Jim, I am certainly not giving a "well done" stamp to the government on this issue. There will be things that need to be handled better, absolutely guaranteed. But at least its a damn sight more than whats been done in the past, and that's a good start. The permit system I am not sure about. Tourists have always been able to drive through aboriginal land without a permit, so long as they stick to the public roads (which is the same for any other private property). Is there going to be much else off the roads that tourists want to see? Maybe. I do agree with your sceptisism over tourists respecting alcohol/drug bans. The penalty for tourists breaking these laws should be double what it would be for a local. That might sort a few of them out, maybe

"Teachers in discrete communities on a base salary should be remunerated if they achieve the bench marks with a sizeable boost to their pay."
I thought the article raised important principles. But the practicality of suggestions about education seems to have been distorted by the unsustainable educational practices of the neoconservatives who are currently running this world. The point of this post is to urge some harder thinking about what might be achievable in the education of all Australians in rural and remote communities. eg. Bench marks were created for city folk - and the tests are not culture free. Where are these teachers to be found? Look at an integrated community health, education and welfare way.

Reynard says it could be the strong Celtic blood of Hagan's past that caused determination and success.

Wow, Reynard, we are either not good enough because we have poor white stock (us so called 'half breeds' that is) or we failed because our black blood kept our 'good white blood' back. Our only success can be based on letting our white blood take over.

Thanks for bringing us back to the 1950's with your blood line crap!

Howard's' comments about Indigenous people joining the mainstream to be successful is outdated and incorrect. We never have been allowed to be left out of it. Indigenous people have been forced in both legal and politically means to be part of the mainstream culture of this nation without consent. The segregation and assimilation policies of this nation were brought about to force us to join mainstream society. It did so by ensuring the controlled approach to engaging with white society.

Although a racist policy, have a permit to travel, marry and live was a means of being functionally part of the mainstream for my grandparents. Even today, any measure to support Indigenous people in funding scholarships for work or learning are all means of ensuring that Indigenous mob are part of the mainstream.

Sadly it is not Indigenous people who reject the mainstream but the mainstream that rejects Indigenous people. The number of experiences where we are either not white enough or 'not acting white' enough to succeed counters against the opinion of not being black enough or 'acting black' enough to be a 'real Aborigine' causes me to wonder what else we need to do to be part of the mainstream.

My family were cane cutters, forcibly moved to Palm Is when work dried up and then worked hard to be successful, all while still being considered just a black family with no hope of being accepted in their home town on the mainland. Success or being part of the mainstream will never cut it for white Australia. Colour still clouds many peoples views.

"It is rather ironic that both dad and mum’s only form of income at that time was from the minimum wage earned by working cattle or toiling as a domestic servant scrubbing dirty floors, pots and pans in the sprawling homesteads of white landlords who grew fatter in wealth and girth by the hour - on the land that was once owned by their forebears."

This is the long term inequity that needs to be compensated for. I'm happy to "pay the rent" so that all Australian Aborigines are able to build appropriate housing wherever they are whether it be on traditional lands or in the suburbs.