That's right, Poirot, it's possible. Aboriginal people don't have to act like thugs. It doesn't have to be part of their modern culture. Employment (and the necessary education for it) make a lot of difference.

Suse, why do you believe that

' ..... the drug trade and their related deaths are much more prevalent in non-Aboriginal society .... ' ?

Down here in SA, drugs - these days marijuana heads, Speed and Ice seem to be favourites - are very pervasive in the welfare-dependent Indigenous community. I don't know any working Indigenous people who are drug-dependent but certainly it is common among the non-working population, for whom life seems to sometimes be pretty casual.

I remember one young guy joking to me after his mate rolled his car one night, that he had been taking his passenger, from a rival family, and pretty drunk, out into the bush (to near where they grew most of their dope) to kill him and bury him. Police found a shovel and other stolen property, including special tools from a nearby dairy farm, in his boot. The driver badly injured his back but the passenger walked away back home, not necessarily in a straight line. Big joke.

Cheers,

Joe

It becomes very apparent that many are more interested in their ideology than reality. I have had the unfortunate and very unusual (according to our ' éxperts ') experience of having my sons car stolen, a large rock put through my window, women beaten senseless in my yard. Many others who certainly are not of my faith have experienced similar and sometimes worse things. We must all be wrong that this family feuding, tribalism and irresponsible behaviour is far to common. Someone quotes that they have aboriginal neighbours who live 'white ' man's way and that proves that not all aboriginals live that way. Well no one ever said that all aboriginals live that way but far to many do. Maybe all the people who refuse to invest or buy houses within a street of an aboriginal occupiede house are just racist even know they are happy to live next to Africans, Asians or Europeans. It seems those who come overseas soon learn from mthe whites how to be racist. I wonder why.

I must admit it was quite amusing to see the Pollies have to put up with the angry mob including young kids on Australia day. Maybe they might wake up to the fact that their is a problem beside the leftist rubbish mantra that Aussies re all racist. They experienced a small amount of what many have to put up with regularly.

I have lived and worked as a nurse in Darwin, Geraldton and Derby in Western Australia, and have also been working with Indigenous people in Perth city as well, so I have a fair amount of experience in dealing with some of their issues.

I am not saying that criminals among Aboriginal people should not be treated exactly like criminals among any other ethnic group.
Violence should not be tolerated by anyone.

Juvenile criminals of all ethnic groups seem to get away with far too much, with just a smack on the hand.
I wasn't aware that it was just juvenile Aboriginal kids being let off at all?

What I am trying to say is that we should be concentrating on the justice system as a whole, and not just target one ethnic group.
They should all be treated just the same by the law.

Banging up all and sundry in jail 'forever' is not going to be financially viable though is it? And who would want to work in jails where prisoners all have no hope of release? Think about it.

What would you suggest is the answer then Runner and Hasbeen?

It is interesting how the media has treated the two stories. According to Chantelle Garnett, a resident of the house that was attacked, the police did nothing to stop the attack. She claims they sat there while armed members from the rival family walked past their police car down the street to her residence. An hour and a half after things had got totally out of control reinforcements arrive.

The headline? "Kids caught in vicious family feud"

When the Minister was caught up in the hotel brawl there was a squad car there in 1 minute and reinforcements in 3 minutes. 

Yet what was the headline on this occasion? "Call to review of police response after MP Terry Redman attacked".

My question is why is there no review of the police response in the first incident since the simple facts as presented certainly indicate the need for one?

A few years back the patrons of my drinking hole in our small country town were forced to take shelter while an ejected drinker took to all the windows with an axe, hurling abuse and threats. Luckily no one was hurt and after a quick police response scant mention of it was made in the local paper, but if he had been aboriginal I'm sure the likes of runner would have helped make it a far bigger story.

Kind of telling one would have thought.

Dear runner,

Do you think socio-economic disadvantage has any part to play in the issues facing some indigenous communities?

Where do you think the government might do better in this regard?

Do you think the privateering thieves who strip money from projects designed to address aboriginal disadvantage should be jailed?

Susi and Csteele

You both ask what I think the answers should be. I wish I knew. I certainly believe however that pretending that it is the fault of the Europeans is simply a cop out. In Northam some family members were on the news criticizing Police for not stopping petrol bombs being thrown, not taking the machettes off young kids and for allowing this to happen. No responsibility at all was taken by those involved in the riot. I visited one man recently who had Í hate pigs' tatooed all over him. That about sums up the attitude of to many aboriginals who quickly ring the Police when they are being beaten and then turn on them.

Government could do better by stop listening to the aboriginal industry and the academics who can't see past the dogmas they have been pushing for 50 years. I know the wider community would not accept nearly as much violence, vandalism and chaos from other parts of society. For whatever reason we accept this behaviour as normal in many parts of the country. Dare I say far more children need to be saved from totally dysfunctional families where abuse, drugs, revenge and violence are a part of every day life.

Ultimately I think the only answers lie with Aboriginal leadership although so much of it is corrupt and rotten to the core. Men like Noel Pearson who has the runs on the board needs to be listened to.

Actually Suse I'm right with you.

The "Aboriginal" problem is actually a bleeding heart problem. They have somehow got far too much influence, probably because the slap on the hand is cheaper than suitable correction for kids off the rails.

By letting minor criminal youth off with that slap however we are breading a large criminal class, of all ethnicity, who have no respect for anyone, or any one's property.

This of course leads to ethnic gangs, of usually welfare dependent youth. Obviously in areas where the majority of welfare dependent people are aboriginal, they will form the majority of the gangs.

Then we get magistrates scared of the black deaths in custody cry, & these gang members get away with far too much. Their trouble making becomes major, & life threatening, & it is actually our fault. Not for something Europeans did 200 years ago, but because of what we let our law enforcement degrade to.

The only way we can stop the slide is the ton of bricks approach, at the very first display of antisocial behaviour. If this has to include 10 year olds, do it. The kids have no chance under the permissive system today & anyone over 50 knows they did much better years ago. The first ton of bricks should of course be dropped on the bleeding hearts, to get them out of the picture, & give the kids a chance.

Giving the cops some steel toed boots, & permission to use them, as they did with all the "bad" kids in my country town of my youth, would be a good starting point.