Hi Foxy and Steele,

The program was an eye opener, and I can't believe we have such heartless bastards in Australia with such an indifferent, or in some cases racists attitude of "not my problem" or "serves them right". The needless deaths of children of any colour or race in a developed country such as Ausyralia from preventable illness is a blight on all of us.

BTWI, I had a young cousin die of Rheumatic Fever in the late 1950's, something I would not consider possible today.

Foxy, if you have the time about 45 mins, the program is worth a watch.

www.abc.net.au/4corners/episodes

It is quite clear that some people have decided that blackfellas are too stupid to care for themselves, and it is all the fault of the whitefellas. Maybe they are right about the blackfellas, but the whitefellas have put a lot of money and time into trying to help. But it is all useless while remote camps remain.

My wife used to teach Warlpiri girls, sent south by the aunties to get them away from the old men, get them educated, used to the real world.

In the care of a Warlpiri women and her white husband, the girls were bright, cheeky and smart. But, they returned home for school holidays and came back dirty, smelly and wormy. Yes: wormy - just like camp dogs.

There is no hope for anyone living in a remote camp.

Give the folk of Doomadgee some credit, a town of over 1400 (90%+ Aboriginal), with a local hospital and shops, local shire council etc. Doomadgee is not some bust bowl, side of the road camp. To often Aboriginal peoples illness goes undiagnosed and they are fobbed of with a couple of Panadol, and told to go home.

Recently we had the death from heart disease of the much loved cricketer Shane Warne. There was much grief in the community at the unexpected death of one so young at 52, from a heart condition that couldn't be prevented. Equally sad and just as deverstaing was the death of a young girl from a preventable heart condition, a dozen trips to the local hospital, given the Penadol treatment, then she died. How sad is that.

a dozen trips to the local hospital, given the Penadol treatment, then she died. How sad is that.
Paul1405,
That's tragic in anyone's language !

I always find it endlessly amazing, not to say endlessly amusing, that those who most favour the notion that the answer to every problem is more government are the first to whine when the error of that way of thinking smacks them in the back of the head.

The whole 'close the gap' notion was always going to fail. The idea that government can make the health outcome for someone living a third world existence in a place so remote that, by comparison, the black stump looks positively urban...that that person can have the same health outcome as someone living around the corner from a world class modern hospital, was always a con.

'Closing the gap' in 10 years or so was always politician code for kick the problem far enough into the future to avoid scrutiny. "We'll close the gap in 10 years. (oh btw way, I'm outta here in 9 years)".

This isn't a problem that government can solve, even one as financially irresponsible as our present breed.

But those who always want big and ever bigger government remain perplexed when that big government fails to solve the problems it promised to solve. 'twas always thus. 'twill always be.

"This isn't a problem that government can solve.."

Right on the mark, mhaze. I am sick and tired of hearing about people who will not help themselves, and hard luck stories from busybodies who think that government and tax payers owe the no hopers something. I will not be taking any notice of this sort of on and on crap in future.