Paul,

"I find it most interesting that there is a general lack of Melanesian blood in the Aboriginal population of Northern Australia"

That's probably because the Melanesians considered the Aboriginals an inferior people and killed them whenever the chance arose.

Hi there Issy,

"The first inhabitants of the Torres Strait are believed to have migrated from the Indonesian archipelago 70,000 years ago."

"Some Torres Strait Islander people identify strongly with their "Island" roots, including Papua New Guinea, while others identify with the mainland or home country when discussing their identity."

"Like mainland Aboriginal people, Torres Strait Islanders can have mixed ancestry. Theirs is likely to also be South Sea Islander, Samoan, Chinese and mainland Aboriginal."

Source: Torres Strait Islander culture - Creative Spirits.

Ppaul,

True, and they killed Aboriginals and anyone else that they didn't like.

.

Dear Loudmouth,

.

You wrote :

« Early benefits of colonisation ? … Well, the ration system, … and then sit back all day and yarn with each other …  and free medical services. And free travel passes around the colony. And all the meat they could eat from the whale 'fisheries … and free schooling, with meals ».

You're right, Joe. That was the beginning of the end of their traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Expropriation of traditional lands. Owners parked in reserves. No need to gather. No need to hunt. Nothing to do. Disintegration of social structures. Loss of dignity and self-esteem. Alcohol, petrol sniffing and drugs. Wife bashing, rapes and juvenile delinquence. Prisons and suicides. Child expropriation and religious indoctrination. Progressive urbanisation. Forced assimilation of Western culture and loss of traditinal culture ...

.

I won't give even a small toe in the door to the prospect that, through a sense of collective, inherited guilt, we should recognize aborigines as a dispossessed nation, grant them sovereignty over land on this continent, then form a treaty with that nation, with its own flag and national anthem, to coexist with Australia while paying it reparations and upkeep.

I am opposed to race-based clauses currently in the Constitution, or any proposal to add others. I believe this is what the majority of Australians support, hence any referendum proposing even a small step in the direction described will fail.

Let there be truth telling, by all means, but let that truth be tested before deciding what is promulgated as fact in our schools.

Did anyone watch the opening of Federal Parliament, so touching to see the Welcome to Country ceremony and the traditional dress?