Dear Aka
I look forward to reading articles and comments that are well researched (when needed), well written and well argued. Your comments fail this test completely as they consist simply of name calling and unfounded statements. Not once in your diatribe did you refer to any specific points raised in the original article. If you are indeed an Indigenous academic then you do fellow Indigenous academics a disservice.

If I may move to a different line of argument. Why is it so important for our indigenous people to become university graduates anyway. I would have thought that there was as great a need for people to have learn vocational skills, particularly in areas such as the building industry, where there are opportunities. I am sure that the newly announced gas contract with its need of 6000 people would be able to employ many from north western Australia who are currently living on welfare. All they would have to do is stand up and be counted.

blairbar,
I was submitting a comment, not an article.

Regarding the issue of detail, there are countless documents, articles, books, reports and ejournal articles that offer great detail on the vast area that incorporates Indigenous Australian's lives today. If you would like to find out more, many of them are available on the internet. OLO has some good stuff written by people such as Tom Calma. Check out the tabs on the sidebar.

One problem though is the minute that something that challenges the negative stereotypes of Indigenous Australians, the same old stooges splutter in outrage.

So many people do not want to hear how the housing in the NT/WA remote Aborginal communities were dodgy built to start off with. Or hear how the so called 'black money' is outrageosly manipulated so as to include the cost of the ATO for doing Indigenous people's tax returns, and how much of that black money is siphoned of by non-indigenous peoples before it gets anywhere near Aboriginal people. The list is long and complex and I suggest you would find the information very interesting if you choose to seek it out.

Dear Aka
I rest my case. You have provided nothing but unsubstantiated accusations. "the same old stooges splutter in outrage." "how much of that black money is siphoned of by non-indigenous peoples before it gets anywhere near Aboriginal people"
You claim you are an Indigenous academic; Indigenous maybe, academic hardly.

VK3AUU,

Yes

blairbar,
it appears that my comments have offended you. For that I am truly sorry.
I, like many others on these forums, comment on how I see and understand the article and others response to it.
If you read my posts carefully, I have been negative to the content of the article and to the attitudes displayed by some others in this forum, I have not attacked a person directly.

What I do find facinating though is your reaction to my comments.

I am a little taken aback that merely by stating a point of view that differes from yours, you have taken it a personal slight. I had assumed that I had an implied right to put forward my point of view.

As, like you, I use an alias and posting short comment, I did not see fit to get all formal etc. Some people find academic writing, while it has its place, is overly complex for everyday communication such as an online forum.

In regards to your latest comment, perhaps I should have stated 'the same people splutter in outrage' as the term 'old' might be offensive and perhaps some people would take offense at the word 'stooges' as it might imply they were somewhat unthinking fall guys in someone elses plot. Perhaps I should have been more factual rather than satirical when using the word splutter as in an online forum the term obviously used as a metaphore.

Once again I am sorry if, in exercising my implied rights to have a different opinion to yours, my comments offended you.