Josephus, what you say might well have been the case thousands of years ago.
I think you have a point though.
Seeing as how you ARE right and they did survive for thousands of years on their own without ANY assistance from ANYONE, and good on them, they deserved a medal for being ONE of the longest surviving races, without external influence in the world, you have single-handedly resolved the blacks problem.
All the govt has to do is stop funding and assisting them and repatriate them or set them up in the bush again.
There they can be as one with the land, their ancestors, their culture, their sacred sights, WOW! I can't believe it, they would be so happy, they would have achieved ALL their goals and best of all, they would not have to associate with the riff-raff who continually lead them astray and cause them all the grief they have been suffering; THE WHITE FELLA'S!
Josephus, you're brilliant, I think you should be nominated for an award of some kind, maybe one showing the blacks the way back to where they came from.
Yeh, that sounds very profound and praise-worthy, certainly worth an official aknowledgement or two.

they did survive for thousands of years on their own
Altrav,
I very much doubt that ANY indigenous anywhere on this Planet desires to go back to the Stone Age lifestyle.
What we must take as a bench mark is the earliest known society that planned for the future besides having food in the belly for today !
Also, humans just happen to be the latest living beings. Animal species have been around for millions of years before humans & they became extinct before humans arrived.
Were they successful for over 40,000 years ?
Closing this 'GAP' requires more than just a few Academics or part Aborigines wanting to be seen as compassionate. It require Aborigines to put their plans on the table & follow them through. It has been proven 101 % beyond any doubt that Money is not the magic ingredient to achieve the closing of this Gap. Good Will, responsibility & effort by all residents of this Nation is THE ONLY way to eventually end up with a better, more cohesive & harmonious society !

Dear Paul,

I don't understand why any Australian would want to
avoid seeing facts and tar Indigenous people all with
the same prejudiced brush. Our indigenous nations were
decimated by disease, conflict and subjugation and
they now make up a mere 2.8% of the total population
and we continue to deny them certain human rights.

Closing the Gap is a government strategy which aims to
reduce disadvantage among Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people with respect to - life expectancy, child
mortality, access to early childhood education, educational
achievement, and employment outcomes.

It aims to breach the gap and disparity in mortality
rates and living standards between Indigenous and non-
Indigenous Australians. We help our non-Indigenous vulnerable
people. Why not our Indigenous? And now with the involvement
of their own communities - perhaps this time the government
will have greater success.

It's worth a try.

An any one who does not get it - is a bum, as a former PM
once said!

Foxy, the only thing that resonates from what you said is; "I have mine", referring to opinions.
Yes you're right they are YOUR OPINIONS, where-as my words are from information, historic and current, available even to you if you were interested in considering the truth about what has been going on for years on this topic.
I don't know why you, or anyone, for that matter insist on pushing a futile agenda.
It's now official, because of this new scam 'closing the gap 2.0', I understand there are a number of ethnic communities who are preparing submissions to the govt, citing this new scam.
They are incensed that the blacks are being treated as special and given preferential treatment over everyone else.
This kind of behaviour is clearly prejudicial and biased and even considered racist by far more people than is acceptable in a democracy.
So as usual the minorities, or 1% of a population get 99% of the attention, funding and rewards while the 99% get the shaft and 1% of what little to nothing left.
There is no reason or rhyme and certainly NO justification for this new attempt at a cash grab and special treatment.

ALTRAV,

Actually it's not just my opinion.
I am a professional - and I base
my views on facts.

All you seem to do as another poster
pointed out - is blather, blah, blah, blah,
blah, blah.

When and if you ever really
research ALL the issues involved, and manage
to come up with something of substance
apart from your usual rants and raves -
I will be happy to continue this conversation
with you. Until then I'll leave you to share
your "knowledge" with your kindred spirits
on this forum - from whom I'm sure you'll get
plenty of support.

Guys who have a tendency to avoid seeing facts
and tar everyone with the same prejudiced brush.
Thankfully you're not representative of the
entire Australian population.

Foxy, now your overreaching.
I am referring to what "real"people are saying and thinking.
You are quoting YOUR facts as you promote yourself as a professional, and good for you, it's good to see people who think they are a viable part of the community, even if it is only their opinion or of their own creation.
I do believe you utterly and completely that you believe your reasoning and opinions are meant to be a positive and productive influence on any decision or process of same, but unfortunately, if you care to study your words and opinions closely, you will find them either non-productive or counter productive, and that's not my opinion it's taken from your method of reasoning and research, as you have openly admitted time and again over previous postings in the past.