Dear stevenlmeyer,

With respect I think you have a considerable amount of cheek telling me to focus on the health issues facing our indigenous citizens rather than mentioning Hamas. Can I draw your attention to your post where you commented on the figures you had provided. The very examples you gave were Australia, America and then six Middle eastern countries. You then went on to refer to Gaza or Gazans three times as often as you did Australian Aborigines.

In the same post we got gratuitous statements like “Perhaps a little less spending on weapons for Hizbullah (sic) and Hamas and a little more on healthcare is indicated.”

You then berate me for walking through the door you had opened. Was this a race to wave your MEYER'S FIRST RULE under our noses?

You state;

“I think on THIS thread we should focus on the unutterably DISGRACEFUL humanitarian crisis that exists in Australia.”

Setting aside the obvious hypocrisy that sounds pretty good to me but I will note that according to the Israeli scholar Reuven Paz "approximately 90 percent of the organization's (Hamas) work is in social, welfare, cultural, and educational activities".

That type of focus does bring results.

Cont.

I also note the statistic quoted by Kevin Rudd in his listing of the achievements he was most proud of. He told of his deep concern that rural Australians were three times more likely to succumb to cancer within five years of diagnosis than their urban counterparts. That was why he was so committed to delivering on the regional cancer centres.

Why not fund six substantial teaching hospitals in places like Broome and Katherine, subsidise the Hecs debt of those prepared to move there to learn and have a real commitment to accelerating the number of indigenous students able to qualify for a place.

This would have an immediate impact on health statistics plus give long term benefits in the futures of young indigenous health care workers and their communities.

As to the usual suspects coming in here and taking the same stance they always do, that Australia is blameless and really Israel is the one to watch, the problem here is mate, it is not Israel's job to ensure the purification of drinking water for the Gaza Strip, I have argued many times it is not Israel's position to even PROVIDE water to the Gaza Strip (which given they are being crucified for the cleanliness of the same - a bit rich - is probably the best solution, no water = no criticism in a VERY short period of time, 2-3 days at a guess, a week at best, turn the electricity off too).

The residents of Gaza are supposedly provided for by their Government, which has made no attempt to desalinate water that one might have expected (given it would provide decent water, JOBS and infrastructure and cost nothing - given that if they asked I'm sure they'd get the funding). Put simply, they are NOT ISRAELI CITIZENS.

The residents of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities are Australian Citizens and as such, the burden of ensuring that they are properly administered is the business of the Australian Government and the failures in that regard are also owned by the same. The horrific statistics are OUR statistics. We are responsible for them, like it or not. If Australian citizens were HALF as interested as what is happening in our OWN COUNTRY, then this would not have to be brought up.

Or using your logic, perhaps we should prevail upon our larger neighbor to the North to provide aid, assistance, electricity, potable water and all the rest of it to our ATSI Communities? Oh no, hang on, we couldn't do that could we? They are Muslim after all, we could hardly expect them to live up to what we require of others (a standard we don't even hold ourselves to might I add)...

What we are facing is an issue that will be bought upon the heads of our children. The actual mortality rates mentioned in the statistics provided by Steven here don't take into account the effect that petrol sniffing will have in the immediate future (which will see about 10-20 years taken off the life-expectancy of people in certain areas).

Bully for Hamas, they are actually taking the time (or they WERE, they don't appear to be doing anywhere near as much lately) to care for their electorate. One thing I will draw people's attention to, is that Hamas DID REMOVE THE CORRUPT AND CORRUPTING INFLUENCES from their communities (NB The Palestinian Authority which is notebly corrupt, even for the region). That allowed them to improve a lot of things, but they have failed to provide work for their people, a supply of potable water (independent of Israel), a supply of basic foodstuffs (which, if the Israelis could grow in the same area (and they did), can be grown in that area).

I will admit however, they did take the first step that we have failed to take. They did implement a rigorous set of checks and balances on the money, which is a NOTABLE achievement for the area. That they have failed to build infrastructure and jobs, is perhaps less of an accidental failure, than a deliberate political ploy (after all, there'd not be the International outcry if there was full employment now, would there?).

We have to follow their lead in that respect however, get rid of the corruption, but then we have to build the infrastructure and train the locals to operate it appropriately, thus providing employment. Providing employment, breaks the welfare cycle, allowing for major improvements. We must do so, it is OUR responsibility. As I have said elsewhere, if we can't do it here, we are kidding ourselves if we think we can achieve it in Afghanistan. If we can pull it off here, then we CAN do so in Afghanistan, fundamentally changing the lives of all involved.

csteele

I'm not sure that teaching hospitals would help.

I also doubt that the HORRIFIC Aboriginal mortality stats have much to do with substandard drinking water or a lack of clinics.

But I do think you have a point.

My own feeling is that rural aboriginal settlements are a sort of Gaza strip without the blockade. The best thing that could happen is to encourage Aboriginals to move to towns where the jobs and educational opportunities are. That does NOT mean Aborigines have to lose their culture anymore than Jews living in cities lose their culture. It does mean that if Aborigines want to keep their culture they have to learn to adapt it just as Jews have had to and Muslims are going to have to.

However I also think a case can be made for paying REPARATIONS to Aborigines.

Note: Payments made to individual Aborigines. Not to some trust that gets looted by rent seekers.

There is a lot that is not politically correct to report. For example, the very young age of mothers contributes to the low birth weight of babies and their poor nutrition. Another cause of infant illness and death is the lack of the use of soap and water before preparing meals, after changing infants and after going to the toilet. Then there is (say) the deafness of children caused by the habit of cleaning ears with twigs.

As has been mentioned previously, the World Health Organisation has a simple, available program that can easily be applied here to overcome the vast majority of these problems.

What continues to prevent that from happening and millions of taxpayers money to be wasted is a very good question, but the answer is not 'racism', 'discrimination' nor lack of goodwill by ordinary Australians.