In relation to the class action being undertaken in WA by up to 10,000 claimants. One account;

Ron Harrington-Smith was four when he was forcibly taken from his mother to work at the Mount Margaret mission in the north-eastern Goldfields region.

His duties included chopping and carting wood to missionaries in their houses, marshalling livestock and cleaning soiled toilet pans.

“All of this was barefoot and in squalid conditions,” Harrington-Smith said.

“It’s hard to imagine that we endured all this suffering. It is unfair and appalling, and they have to be found guilty of the facts and pay us back the stolen wages which are owed.”

WA Aboriginal affairs minister, Ben Wyatt, had this to say;

“The government will look to achieve a mediated outcome of any claims made in respect to the stolen wages issues, with an acknowledgement of the impact that HISTORICAL GOVERNMENT POLICIES related to income control have had on Aboriginal people and their families over many years.”

No response to this from any of the forums 'Usual Suspects' who are content to wallow in their racism, and not address the particular issue at hand.

Paul,

So you have independent sources of evidence for your claims about this bloke's claims ? Gosh, made to work at four years old, what bastards.

Or you are asking us to believe assertions without question ?

That bridge that you are wanting to sell - do you have the papers for it ? What was the price again, that sounded pretty good ?

Joe

Hi Joe,

I'm not trying to sell anything, I found it interesting that the Western Australian government, like the Queensland government before it, was not contesting the facts. The facts being there was recognisable systemic wage abuse of Aboriginal people in WA between 1936 and the 1970's brought about by two acts of parliament. The Forum mob of 'Usual Suspects', who whenever anything is raised about past injustice towards Aboriginal people take the attitude of "nothing to see here", well according to the WA and Queensland governments, there is plenty to see here! As reasonable governments I am of the opinion they would have first ascertained the overall facts of the matter before admitting liability. This case shows that those of you who continually take the "nothing to see here" attitude are wrong.

As for the example of Ron Harrington-Smith, the particular facts if on the balance of probability favour Ron, then compensation is due to Ron, and possibly 10,000 others.

I went to your website, looking for facts concerning those particular act of parliament. and your partisan comment about A. O. Neville being the "bad guy" in the movie 'Rabbit Proof Fence' was unjustified. To me Neville was simply portrayed for what he was. Why did you feel it necessary to place such a sarcastic comment on your site?

Come off it, Paul, you know very well that governments, particularly Labor governments, would want to sweep all of this Aboriginal history stuff under the nearest carpet, no matter whether there is any truth in it or not. Fund it and piss it off.

Joe

EVIDENCE of that claim Joe, EVIDENCE! Is it simply based on the say so of the red necks? Interesting what one see through ones mind's eye, when one chooses to see thing their way.

The red necked racists would want to piss the darkie off and give him nothing. We have a few of them on the Forum.

How about saying something about O. A Neville "the bad guy".

Not sure how that is all that relevant, Paul. But here goes:

Neville was, for around thirty years, from about 1914 to 1944, one of two full-time employees in the Native Welfare/Indigenous Affairs Department in all of the million square miles of Western Australia, and often was the only full-time employee, travelling from one end of that huge state to the other by cart and ship. He may have been able to employ a part-time clerical assistant in Perth from about the early thirties to help with the accounts.

Neville helped to set up the Coolbaroo Club in Perth, for Aboriginal people who were working in the city around 1948. When Neville died in about 1950, a thousand Aboriginal people attended his funeral.

What else do you want me to say ?

Joe