(Continued)

Or even great events in history that seem to swallow much of the world in it's wake as WWI and WWII did. Would Australia keep it's distance, offer trades to one side or the other, or actively get involved as much of the world did, due to treaties in WWI placed countries on one side or the other side. Or get swept in the war against an aggressive world conquering Nazi Germany, (or try to make peace with them before being conquered).

No matter how much you would tinker with history to make the environment both modern and still preserve Australia's independence from conquering nations, there would be some creative changes in the way things are now. I think there are other books that are based on a "what if" scenario that changes one event in history. Like how the world would be today if Germany won WWII. Or also a would history teacher I knew wove a question throughout many of his classes, what if China instead of Europe first developed the Industrial revolution. (On the basis that both regions were similar enough that either could have found it first).

If your wanting to write your book, then go ahead and make the efforts you deem are needed to write it. Time might be the biggest investment but research as well as world building and story development might be big spots to invest into before writing. Either way, good luck.

Foxy, not sure if you are questioning the existence of wealthy aboriginal people or just their private choice of car but let me reassure you, there are many aboriginal people with incomes higher than you or I would ever earn.
Consultants to government, husbands and wives both in government jobs, both with government cars, kids in private schools etc.
Directors and managers of aboriginal organisations like Health Services who are receiving over $100,000/annually. Hell, I have a niece who is getting $70,000 for a job she’s not even qualified to do.
Then there are those who own and run businesses, large and small. Quite a few of them in the north, including my youngest son, who has a small roof plumbing business and employs half a dozen men.
And according to the latest census, over 30% of aboriginal people either own their own home outright or have a mortgage. That implies a decent income.
Finally, let’s look at royalties. Some aboriginal people in remote areas get large payouts annually, on top of Centrelink payments. I think it was about ten years ago Groote Island in the Gulfof Carpentaria was listed in the top ten Australian postcodes for annual income. This was because, in spite of being on Centrelink for most of the year, each adult received over $100,000 annually in royalty payments.
So, whilst we are bombarded with confronting pictures of people living in third world conditions, that’s not always related to income and even when it is, it’s only a small percentage of the aboriginal population as a whole.

Dear Individual, Not Now Soon, and - Big Nana,

Thank You so much for your thoughts.

This discussion is becoming so interesting and it's
giving me so much food for thought. Also it's making
me realise just how little I know about the topic.
Big Nana, you as always steer us to different perspectives
and make us think. Thank You.

Not Now Soon - I love
your mentioning - doing more research, and the thought
of China and the industrial revolution.

And Individual,
you're right - I don't know much about Aboriginal
communities - and the lives they lead. Possibly many
of us really don't. So the more we learn the better
we shall understand the reasons behind that sort of
behaviour.

I do wish Joe (Loudmouth) success in his endeavours.
He has quite a job ahead of him if he's going to continue
to write his book. Research is only part of the job
ahead of him. Most importantly - I think the difficult
part would be (for any author) - to try to see things not
just through a white man's eyes - but try to see things
from an Aboriginal perspective - on how good was the
colonisation of their land and country for them.

cont'd ...

And I'm talking about the Indigenous People as a whole -
not the percentage of successful elites. Which I imagine
is not that large a number of the overall Aboriginal
population.

On this precise Topic ladies & gentlemen, I'll base my opinion on the Sergeant SHULTZ defence if I may. "...I know nothh-iing..."!

Foxy, very few people know exactly what life is like in aboriginal communities, which is why people like Jacinta Price should be listened to.
The reality of aboriginal life is that just like non aboriginal people you have several different groups and lifestyles, the only difference being that one group still retains some of their Stone Age customs, something other cultures generally dispensed with hundreds, if not thousands of years ago.
For the average urban aboriginal person, they have been raised in a totally European style culture with access to all the same services as the rest of the citizens. Some, with darker skin may have experienced racism but certainly no more than any other minority ethnic group, and of course a great number are indistinguishable from Europeans, so would not have experienced any racism.
And certainly they have been better off than migrants who have fled to this country with nothing but the clothes on their backs, no English, no family here, no culture here, nothing familiar. The Vietnamese come to mind.
As for what life would have been like for those initially overtaken by another culture, well, all you have to do is read books about being a Briton in the days of Roman conquest of England, where a more advanced culture invaded and disposed the local inhabitants. England also was invaded by Vikings and Normans so the Brits have plenty of experience of being the loser in a battle for land ownership.