cossomby: I have a huge respect for young Aboriginal women I know who are uni graduates, in spite of the fact that their 20th century female ancestors never had access to the education and opportunities I and mine did.

& just what do they use that Uni Education for? To spread dissention in the Community.

Just think, if the Whites didn't take Aboriginal kids, who were at risk of being physically & sexually assaulted, they wouldn't had received an education. Your Grandparents & Parents received an education curtesy of the White man. If they hadn't, they & you would still be running around in the Bush, naked, chasing Wallabies with a spear.

If the Spanish, Portuguese or French had arrived in Australia before the British, Aboriginals would all be slaves even now, or worse, dead.

I have no problem in admitting that some bad things happened from 250 to 80 years ago. A number of my Great Uncles were involved in one incident at Ravenswood. & went to jail for it. That is not now & will never happen again. Since 1967 Aboriginals have been treated as equals. In fact they have had the benefit of "Catch Up Funds" for the past 64 years & are further behind then they were in the 70's

Just because I have a different opinion doesn't make me Racist or Bigoted. I really could say the same about your attitude towards White people & I'd be right. Think about it.

Doog, what happened in this country was far less traumatic than any other invasions in other countries. The Romans, Vikings, Monguls, Turks etc committed mass slaughter and torture on a scale never seen in this country.
They certainly didn't feed, clothe and educate the indigenous people they conquered.
It's time to put grievances to bed and celebrate the fact that aboriginal people advanced from Stone Age to the age of technology in four generations, something that should recognised as the huge achievement it is.

Although the 1967 referendum is considered one of the
most "successful" amendments to the Constitution, it
did not adequately address the issues of recognition of
Indigenous Australians and their legal and constitutional
protection.

To start with, a new preamble to the Constitution is needed.
It should embrace the true history and the special culture
of Indigenous Australians and their unique contribution to
Australia.

Section 25 which allows states to disqualify people from
voting because of their race - I believe is still in there,
and is now an antiquated, redundant section that reflects
past discrimination. It should be deleted.

Also,we need to change Section 51 "races power" which allows
discrimination on the basis of race or ethnic origin.

A general "equality clause" would be desirable. Equal
treatment under the law and equal protection and benefit of
the law without discrimination.

cont'd ...

For those interested - there is an interesting
article by Jeff McMullen that although
quite long, is really well worth a read:

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/JlIndigP/2012/4.pdf

Hi Cossomby,

My, how times change. Back a hundred years ago, kids left school as young as twelve. It was common, especially in the country, for kids to go out working at 12,13, 14. My grand-dad went out at nine. No mysteries, no special unique evil.

In NSW, girls were housed and trained in the former Cootamundra Nurses' Home: a nurses' home - what sort of accommodation do you reckon that might have provided ? But it did have a swimming pool :)

Servants: my wife went out as a servant in 1965, at fifteen. Until then, especially in the countryside, what else could girls do, apart from get married as quick as possible ? In fact, until the fifties, what sort of work could any working-class girls do ? Seamstress (yes, my wife did that too), governess if she had some education, nurse or teacher if she had a lot more education. But not much else, except ply a trade on the streets. My nanna, a workhouse 'orphan', was also a serving girl back in England, at twelve.

Pregnancy: as far as I know, if a serving girl escaped the eagle eye of the boss's wife, and somehow got pregnant, she was brought back to the Mission/Reserve quick-smart. After all, the State had to then support that single mother and child: we forget also that there was no single mother's benefit until the McMahon Government brought it in in 1971. At which time - lo and behold ! - an end to the 'Stolen Generation'.

Where do you get this idea that girls weren't allowed back on the Reserve/Mission ? Is that in the Protector's letters or reports ?

As for Pascoe's moronic claims, please try to think them through. But I expect we'll be revisiting this one. But bear in mind that harvesting natural-standing grain is not cultivating it, it's 'gathering' it. That's what hunter-gatherers do.

Joe

Hi again Cossomby,

Fish-traps: that's called 'gathering'. People settled long-term in some areas ? Of course, especially around lakes and rivers. I used to look at a hill near one Mission where we lived, in a bend of the Murray, and think to myself that people would have lived here uninterrupted for ten thousand years it was so productive, with the old fellas up on that hill every day, deliberating importantly.

Farming was initiated in incredibly few laces around the world: maybe four - Mexico, Syria-Turkey, China and Papua-New Guinea. Perhaps nowhere else. It's an incredibly difficult leap to go from foraging to farming, a totally different mind-set is needed, from responding to the environment to planning to modify it over many months or years. Why do people think it was piss-easy ? Check out Peter Bellwood's book, 'First Farmers', it's all there.

Doog,

Gathering macadamias and quandongs is called 'gathering'. Hopefully, one day, an archaeologist will find a petrified quandong and you can run off in your imagination that it's evidence of a large-scale quandong-drying industry, and perhaps one group out west of Ceduna exchanged dried wild-tomatoes with the people from Witjira, and that they did it at the market town, city really, of Coober Pedy.

AND - get this - two flat stone have been found sort of near Coober Pedy - obviously evidence of a broad road and where ? Get this too ! Sort of between Ceduna and Witjira ! How coincidental is THAT ?!

Christ protect us from idiots.

Joe