Dear Loudmouth,

I was talking to an indigenous young lady last week at a ministerial announcement. She was quiet and unassuming on the face of it but told me she was often faced with the assumption she was 'dumb'. She is currently doing her masters and said it there was little disguising the disbelief some people expressed when they learned of her expertise.

Disadvantage of course still exists but affirmative action goes a long way. I was recently speaking to a neighbour who was questioning the extra 'legup' he felt aboriginal people got.

I knew his son goes to a particular high school which is deemed 'under represented in university applicants' so gets from memory 3 points added to their enter score. They are also deemed 'rural' so get a couple more. I asked if he was okay with that kind of affirmative action.

This kind of rubbish pisses me off though;

“The Indigenous affairs minister, Nigel Scullion, gave almost half a million dollars to fishing and cattlemen’s groups to argue how they might be negatively impacted by land rights claims. The funds are earmarked for alleviating Indigenous disadvantage.”
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/oct/31/indigenous-advancement-funding-redirected-to-cattlemen-and-fishing-groups?CMP=soc_567&fbclid=IwAR1kanL3PvuP9AQB3IKHCXFqDImNlo0e7LejMMY9_ZZkiPDI6PoBvJCb7ao

Joe,

I do not think I actually said any of the things you think I did, nor do I think them. However,as I said elswhere, I am well over arguing about things that nobody here has any say in or control over. There are no prizes for the most popular opinion, and futile arguments have be begun to really piss me off. We are, after all, just expressing opinions. Some posters here really should swap OLO for a punching bag.

Barry, Paul & SR,

Attrition is still a problem - in 2016-2017, as in previous years, it hovered around 30 %. Apart from Adelaide, sandstone universities have much lower attrition rates by virtue of being much more restrictive (or selective) and not going out their way to recruit Indigenous students.

There are some surprises: Western Sydney Uni and Wollongong Uni both had comparatively low attrition rates, at 19 %. Western Australian universities (apart from Notre Dame) have disturbingly high attrition rates, averaging 39 %, which suggests that their support services are not functioning optimally.

Hi Joe,

"Attrition is still a problem", has anyone done any research as to the reasons. How does indigenous rates compare to the overall rate. The reasons could be interesting, and does that include students dropping one course and then taking up another.

It gets up my nose when anyone attacks tertiary education for young indigenous people. I see the results with some of my nieces and nephews etc, I have several in my own family in their 30's now, and its through tertiary ed that they have got very good jobs in a wide range of fields. They have the same aspirations, and the same problems as the rest of us, being part of the Kiwi brain drain. Who can blame them, the money and ops are better here in Aussie than back home in NZ.

I have a favourite niece, one of many, whose big issue at the moment is getting a home loan, wanting to get out of the renting cycle, been in this rented house for 7 years, and buy their own home, have a reasonable amount of savings. It shouldn't be a problem, with her working 4 days a week (has Friday off from her government job) and him doing up to 60 hours a week in the building trade, 4 school aged children, so need a large house. Wanting to stay in the same area as now, with schools etc, so the "gap" to be filled is a problem, and the fact they have been looking at large house 4 beds etc for the kids is proving difficult. A bit concerned about the repayments not being unmanageable, and getting a long term loan, say 30 years would be better. She went to the bank last Friday, so might have some good news if she calls in today.

A funny one Joe,

My son came to me a while back, and asked "Dad how much aboriginal blood have I got, Nanna was aboriginal (my mother)?" Well I said "I've got around 1/32, so that makes you about 1/64 aboriginal, why?". "I want to see what I can get, for being aboriginal." I said; "I think with 1/64 you are entitled to 4/5 of FA!, keep working son!"
Not content with that, later he comes back with; "An aboriginal mate told me, all I have to do is get a tribe to swear I'm a member, and I'm in... so what tribe am I in?". I said; "I know what tribe I'm in (one located around Wellington NSW), but you're in the Loony tribe, so keep working son!". He keeps at me, wanting to know his ancestry, I tell him "When I was a boy, 'Old Man Aboriginal' when he came with his tribe of kids etc, drove a big old car, something from the 1940's, and he always had his head under the bonnet, what else do you want to know?"
My mother always hid her aboriginal ancestry by claiming her relatives all came from the Island of Mauritius. then when she got old, about 80, if I said "Mum you're part aboriginal" She would say; "No I'm not, my mothers ancestors came from the Pyrenees Mountains, and they were Spanish, that's why we were dark." According to a cousin who did a family history the truth lies closer to home. I think Mum had her reasons, back in the days it wasn't a great thing to be part aboriginal married to a white man, like my grand parents were, better to come from Mauritius or the Pyrenees or somewhere else, but not from out west near the Macquarie River.

Hi Paul,

Good advice ! But it's very tempting for people with some ancestry to find ways to get a leg-up. Of course, then they often fall into the arms of the Indigenous Industry and are trapped.

By the way, that Mauritius link: it's quite possible. There were many African, African-American, Malagasy etc. people in Australia in the nineteenth century, at least in South Australia, including one bloke from Mauritius who married a woman from Pt Pearce Mission. For some time, he claimed rations from the Protector until the Protector tumbled: I think then his wife left him. If you check out my web-site: www.firstsources.info on the Protector's Letters Page, Volume 7, look up these letters: Deconcey or (Cram), [Mauritian/West Indian], letter numbers: 77b, 249a, 635, 664a, 671b, 698b, 729a, 766a. You never know :)

Cheers,

Joe