Hasbeen,
Yes I'd agree with your statement, I don't have any aboriginal heritage.
And I'm not trying to cash in on it in any way, and never will.
But I guess I have a little more sympathy and respect for what these people may have gone through now that I understand its not just someone else's family but also a part of my own.

Hi Joe, basically you asked earlier if I thought you were a raciest, reading your posts No.
The situation today sees 80% of Indigenous people urbanised in cities and large town, which in itself presents some other problems from those in isolated communities. Since WWII the biggest shift of Aboriginal people has been to Sydney and Melbourne. The original Aboriginal reserve in Sydney was at La Perouse, isolated from the city, the community maintained strong tribal links, particularly with the south coast clans, La Perouse today has become part of metropolitan Sydney and is no longer isolated, but still very much Aboriginal. Between the wars and just after, the NSW government moved to close, or reduce rural reserves within the state. Along with post war labour demands this resulted in a steady shift of the Aboriginal population from rural to urban, particularly to Sydney's Redfern area, Sydney now days houses the largest indigenous population in Australia With urbanisation comes a loss of culture and community with a strong demand that indigenous people assimilate to urban life. The sudden shift to inner city Redfern resulted in overcrowding in what was mostly substandard housing. Landlords were very discriminatory when it came to rental properties, black people were a no go in better areas. With their urban neighbors, poor working class whites, a strong community did develop in Redfern, with a new street culture and enjoyable community life. Despite many setbacks and problems associated with poverty and urbanisation the Redfern Aboriginal community survives to this today.

Paul, you say the Aboriginal community survives to this day in the likes of Redfern, but, are they largely supported, or self sufficient?

If they are largely supported, then they are only surviving from the support of others.

Hi Paul,

Thanks, I think.

Brisbane probably pips Sydney for Indigenous urban growth: at the 2011 Census, they each had more than 50,000 Indigenous residents, while Melbourne had only around 20,000 (fewer than in Cairns). My bet is that the Indigenous population of Redfern is a small minority of those living in Sydney (and shrinking), that there are more in Penrith or Mt Druitt than in Redfern ?

I would agree with your statement above if you modified it slightly: "With urbanisation comes an attenuation of culture and community with a strong demand from Indigenous people that they have access to all the usual opportunities to urban life."

It's a good idea to try not to use the passive voice in relation to Indigenous people :) They are, and usually have been, far more active in determining their own lives than people think.

Urban Indigenous people are generally where they want to be. Cities present far more opportunities. The vast majority of Indigenous people who are going to university these days, perhaps seventeen thousand this year [a 25-year-old age-group numbers about ten thousand], are from urban backgrounds - as are the vast majority of the forty thousand Indigenous university graduates.

The growing tragedy, to which the Indigenous elites are oblivious, is that rural and remote people are far less likely to be enrolling at universities than they were ten or fifteen years ago.

My father was born in Redfern, and my mum's father died there, in a little dirt-floor hovel, about 8- or 10-ft wide, off Moore Park. My sister was beaten up there for her purse. That's Redfern, I suppose.

Cheers,

Joe

That's true Joe, the western sprawl seen the indigenous population grow in the western burbs of Sydney. I was talking post WWII early 50's 60's growth in Sydney and Melbourne, Brisbane later. At that time Mt Druitt was still semi-rural

Paul1405, "Landlords were very discriminatory when it came to rental properties, black people were a no go in better areas"

That would be a fair statement if you were using discriminate for its preferred, traditional meaning which relates to weighting merit to make an informed decision.

That is indeed what owners and property managers have to do. A home is a very expensive asset and rental is a business transaction where the asset must be protected and the agreed conditions of the lease met.

Where a tenant has demonstrated he is hard on a property, causing filth and damage, and regards rent as his very last priority behind boozing and cannot manage his own affairs or be trusted to act responsibly, of course he is not a suitable person to enter into a contract with.

Ferals increase the cost of accommodation for everyone and threaten the viability of the business.

So of course their behaviour would limit their accommodation choices, and should do wouldn't you admit?

But no, as a member of the serially protesting NSW 'Watermelon' Greens faction - that fosters and farms protest and discontent for no better reason than to score parliamentary seats for a few Trotskyist elite to polish and profit from - you would always be using discriminate to imply that someone is a 'victim' who should sit back, take $$ from the taxpayer and not be responsible for his own choices in life.