Hi Paul,

Indigenous people are as intelligent as anybody else. Keep that in mind.

By avoiding work, or looking for work, or getting enough education to qualify people for basic work, people have made their own decisions. If it's got them into a ghastly hole, it's THEIR ghastly hole.

Nothing much is going to change, unless something very, very drastic happens. Kids will keep getting abused, women will keep getting beaten to death, young blokes will keep going on the grog and on ice. All that's become 'normal' in remote settlements. A horde of social workers will wrinkle their brows in puzzlement, shake their heads in regret, and keep taking their salaries.

The world doesn't owe them. Surely self-determination means making your own decisions to get yourselves out of your self-made ghastly hole ? Wouldn't that be a genuine form of 'empowerment' ?

Yes, you're right, that " .... 228 years after the first white settlement we sill have much to do, there is no short term fix to close the gap between white and black."

And it's mainly their own problem. They make their own problems, they solve their own problems. That's human behaviour. That's maturity.

Frankly, it's not at the forefront of my mind. I'm far more interested in people making some effort, up 'North' and down 'South'.

Joe

'A horde of social workers will wrinkle their brows in puzzlement, shake their heads in regret, and keep taking their salaries. '

I have met many of these Loudmouth. Some are very genuine and some just can't get a job elswhere. Unfortunately some are from NZ and feed the aboriginals the usual (whites stole the land) narrative. I wonder about the brains of the people employing them. Most communities were better off under the missionaries despite the distorted narrative from the academics. Some of the old time elders tell of how much better it was.

you are write 'They make their own problems, they solve their own problems.' Actually I think our left wing Governments have made more problems than anyone else. They have fed the victim mentality and given an and excuse not to contribute to wider society. The 'I owe you' attitude stinks and is unhealthy for anyone. Many Indigeneous have learn't to be proud of being black instead of being proud of good character irrespective of colour. If you are a child molestor whether a catholic priest or an elder you are a child molestor. If you are generous whether white or black you are a generous person. Anyway enough of this rant. The ignorant will remain ignorant and in many cases add to their degrees and those who know will be shunned.

Finding a job (if you're Aboriginal)... a brief analysis based on my observations in far western NSW.

Where is the work?

1. Pastoral/agriculture: sheep, goats and irrigation horticulture. Until the early 20C most Aborigines here lived and worked on large pastoral stations. But there was a continuous push by government to smaller family size properties, including soldier settlement (for which Aboriginal servicemen were not eligible) and Aborigines were gradually pushed out. (There was one exception in WNSW, Weilmoringle, where the Aboriginal community was able to stay put, and now own the station). Irrigation blocks were allocated by government, and many areas were also soldier settlement. Experienced Aborigines who would have liked to set up on their own could not get loans (I know examples). Today the available pastoral/farm work is seasonal: shearing, fruitpicking.

2. State government services: education, health, national parks, police etc. Many Aborigines are employed in this area, starting in the 1970s, but in small country towns there's a limited number of jobs and many require some tertiary education or training.

3. Local government: an important employer. Where you tend to see Aborigines working today is on road gangs and garden crews.

4. Small business. This is where most Australians work in rural towns and the absence of Aborigines is apparent. Those Aboriginal small businesses I know tend to be in arts and crafts or tourism. Where are the Aborigines running electrical businesses, take-away shops, draperies, local bakeries, newsagencies, the local pub, the post office franchise?

There are some obvious reasons for their absence: small businesses tend to be family affairs, or there is a family tradition and it has
been hard for Aborigines to get loans to set up in business. (cont.

Hi Runner,

As you suggest, some people .... feed the aboriginals the usual (whites stole the land) narrative." Including to those people who are actually on their land now, and have effectively never lost it.

Hi Cossomby,

Yes, as you say, finding work in rural areas is difficult, and probably has been becoming more difficult every year, for a century or more. Like a hell of a lot of Australians, people have to move to where the work is, and that's more likely to be the towns and cities.

Small businessmen: when I was a little kid in Bass Hill, Bankstown, the local grocer was Aboriginal. His elder daughter lent me her comb once, I probably gave her nits. God, she was really pretty, I'll never forget that :)

But as you say, professional people are needed in, and can find work in rural areas - fortunately, many Indigenous people are graduating from universities now, forty thousand in total, by the end of last year.

Cheers,

Joe

Where is the work (cont.)

Over the last few decades out west, I've become aware of this, and realised that I noticed it because of my own family background in small business, going back 100s of years (builders, later architects, carriers, mechanics (stage coach to autos), electricians, tool makers, jewellers, butchers, bakers, dressmakers, small retail etc.) We start as kids working in the family store or workshop, and even if we get a degree, and work for government or a big company for a while, it is second nature to start our own business somewhere along the line. We don't 'retire', we open a business (or the second, or third). Pretty well everyone in my extended family has done this.

So I really noticed the lack of Aborigines in small business. The challenge is to change this. The benefits are multiple: Aboriginal kids will grow up learning that working in small business is normal; Aboriginal families will become part of the small business network in towns, and that will break down barriers. Small businesses spawn more small businesses, so once someone in a family does it, others will get the idea.

The question is how. How to develop a small business tradition in Aboriginal families? A small non-Aboriginal family business is unlikely to employ an Aboriginal teenager, and the Aboriginal teenager is likely to feel uncomfortable in that situation anyway. But there are few Aboriginal small businesses that can provide an entree. Apprenticeships? Well, they are problematical these days, and the transition from apprentice to running your own business is not easy. I suspect it is still very hard for Aborigines to get business loans.

And businesses fail. For most of us, the attitude is, OK that didn't work, I'll try something else. Aborigines who fail are likely to hear: typical, Aborigines can't do anything well. (That expectation/ fear alone might be a disincentive to try).

So, I am arguing that the lack of employment amongst rural Aborigines is a bit more complicated that 'they're a bunch of bludgers'.

Hi again Cossomby,

Yes, whether we've ever been in business or not, we probably don't realise how incredibly sophisticated one's thinking has to be to understand the processes of investing, doing everything right, and accruing income, and eventually making a go of a business.

That what comes over the counter is not pure gravy to do with what you like, but that most of it (at first, almost all of it) has to be re-employed to buy new stock or plant or equipment, repay bank loans, pay electricity bills, rent, wages, insurance, super, maintenance, etc.

That the hours required for many businesses is vastly more than a standard forty-hour week.

That any businessperson has to spend hours every day on all manner of forms, to State and Federal authorities, the Tax office, etc.

Getting Aboriginal people involved in all that, basically modern capitalism, requires a major shift in how one perceives how the world operates.

Best Wishes,

Joe