"PNG were not pushing for, & did not want independence." Maybe not in 1975, but I bet if it hadn't happened then or soon after, there would have been political pressure for it pretty soon.

So 'Aboriginals were being given what they were worth, where mostly the entire tribe were supported'?

The 1907 Harvester judgement set down that the basic wage based on the cost of living for a worker and his family. From then on, Australia’s minimum wage was based on what was fair and reasonable - to support a family - rather than what the employer was offering.

A tribe is a collection of families - workers with dependents. so it was fair that Aboriginal people (Australians) should get wages that recognised this.

It could and was argued that the pastoralists were making money off Aboriginal land so should have been paying royalties or rent.

Hasbeen,

"Poirot, I pay my own way with health."

Not what you claim here...

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=12919#223041

"As an old bloke, without health insurance, I don't think our health system is too bad. It's pulled me through 3 heart attacks pretty well. It hasn't done such a good job with a couple of other problems, but that's probably my fault for picking a problem that's hard to diagnose. It's not for lack of trying, that I've not been sorted."

Not to mention - this is a pretty good deal...

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?discussion=6375&page=0#189105

"After a decade on steroids I am on a diabetes watch with twice daily testing with a little electronic contrivance, & regular testing for my heart condition. On my doctor visits I have to see a nurse practitioner for the sugar count & the doctor for the heart. I pay $31 with my pensioner health care card subsidy.

I would love to pay only $7, but appreciate the amount I am being subsidised now. I guess I will now pay another $7, & I certainly won't begrudge it.

I always go over the $1000 a year in medication cost, & then get the rest free. I have no idea what my pills would cost, if I was paying full freight, but I know it would be heaps. You only have to compare how much we pay for a little medication at the vets for a pet, to realise we are extremely well cared for & subsidised."

Much gratitude!

Poirot we have had free hospital treatment here in Qld since before Whitlam wore long pants. That has nothing to do with him.

The PBS system is also long standing.

Was he responsible for bulk billing? If so that is another disaster down to him. It is another of those things enjoyed by some, mostly city folk, but not by many others.

I remember being accused on here by someone who couldn't believe I pay $58 for a doctors visit, as do most in this town.

The free hospital service in Queensland was introduced in 1946 by the Hanlon LABOR government. Probably where Gough got the idea.

Hasbeen,

"Poirot we have had free hospital treatment here in Qld since before Whitlam wore long pants. That has nothing to do with him"

That's great....but how is that paying your own way?

PBS is great too!

(Bloody social democracy:)

Yes Hasbeen, how are you 'paying your own way' if you don't have private health?
Maybe you had to pay thousands to have care in a private hospital so you didn't have to wait on the long waiting list for public hospital care?

It doesn't matter what the health system in Queensland was like back in the good ol' days, as it is now under the Medicare system, and all pensioners get free public hospital care.

All the whiners should be thankful for Gough introducing Medicare, or we could have had the dreadful 2 tier health system that the U.S. had until very recently.