Western Australian Aborigines demand more money
Aboriginal leaders from the Kimberley region have publicly demanded more money, sorry “intervention” from the government. They claim that “Aborigines in the region wanted to win jobs on their own merits and set up businesses.”
This comes on the back of news of an Aboriginal corporation going into receivership due to “significant number” of alleged “breaches of law”.
So one side of the fence are arguing that they need more money, sorry “intervention” and on the other side of the fence we have Aboriginal coprorations being shut down for abysmal management of supplying resources to their own communities.
Wayne Bergmann: "MORE MONEY PLEASE!"
Wayne Bergmann, Kimberly land council chief claims that “Nothing of any substance has been done by the Rudd Government that will dramatically impact on the wellbeing of Aboriginal people in the Kimberley.”
I agree wholeheartedly, nothing has been done nor will it be done until aboriginals in the Kimberly show any initiative of their own to justify spending additional taxpayer funds on unsustainable communities. The government apology was just that, an apology. It was certainly not an ‘admit all’ ticket onto the gravy train of more free money that some aboriginals seem to have deluded themselves into thinking it was.
As for running your own businesses and winning jobs on your own, Aboriginals can’t even run their community stores succesfully; how the hell are they going to win jobs and set up their own businesses? And what jobs exactly are they trying to win in their remote communities?
Last I checked there wasn’t any employment opportunities when you live in the middle of nowhere in a government fund propped up unproductive community. Businesses? What a joke, the only profitable business in these communties would be a 24 hour alcohol, cigarette and spray paint store, and realistically how many of them can we have competing against eachother.
Just how unsustainable are the communities?
Well let’s have a look at Alice Springs, where the where the Tangentyere Council are holding it’s own people for ransom over fears it will lose power over it’s own people to the government.
Tangentyere has let slip six deadlines — the most recent this week — that would have put $60 million to work repairing and normalising the camps. Tangentyere wants to be the major service provider to the Aborigines in Alice Springs, and fears it will lose its power. It seems to believe the camps are on Aboriginal land, which they are not.
Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin will not take them on. There is a small group within the town-camp hierarchy who have developed powerful Sydney-based allies and who want to embarrass the Government with a UN human rights action over control of the town camps, and the intervention itself. Meanwhile, the town camps continue to fester, which is the real human rights tragedy.
What an utter disgrace, the government is too weak to confront the council meanwhile the people living in the camps suffer. Without government assistance these remote camps disintegrate into delapidated human rights disasters.
On one hand I think the government needs a good solid kick up the bum in dealing with Aboriginal affairs but on the other hand I can appreciate how hard the lefty apolgists in can make it for the government, ironically they are the ones that continue to promote the feeling of hoplessness people living in these camps suffer from. Bryan from the IrishTimes drives the point home;
Incredibly, it seems as though the Rudd government is being accused of pursuing a line of thought that isn’t too far removed from the one which led to the abduction of Aboriginal children so that they could be raised ‘properly’.
Here’s another example from Andrew Bolt on just how impotent our government is when it comes to dealing with Aboriginals;
Two years ago a 24-year-old man broke into a house near Yamba and went to a room where a four-year-old girl was sleeping.
He stepped out of his underpants and stripped the girl, who told him to go away. The man instead digitally penetrated her and masturbated.
Now let me tell you the jail time the NSW District Court imposed. Not a day.
You may already suspect, as I did, why such a shocking crime got such a light sentence.
Yes, the judge says he merely took into account the man’s remorse, his plea of guilty, and the lack of premeditation of a rape that was “a moment of drunken madness”.
But for me the words that rang loudest were these: “(The rapist) is a man of Aboriginal origin …”
Hopeless.
The government and legal system seem to be utterly incapable of standing up to the Aboriginal community, infact the only thing they seem to be able to do is apologise, apologise, apologise.
Aboriginals from the Kimberelys (in red) want to compete in the mainstream jobs market. What mainstream job market?
Marty Sibosado, from the Kimberley Futures coalition of Aboriginal groups asks, “How does an individual then break the cycle of welfare dependency? How do they gain an education, gain some skills to compete for a job in the mainstream market?”
For a start, how about moving into mainstream society? Nobody is going to give you mainstream market jobs when you live in the middle of nowhere so stop deluding yourself that it’s going to happen.
If Aboriginals want the same employment opportunities as mainstream Australia they need to get realistic and become part of mainstream Australia. If I go move out into the bush nobody is going to listen to me cry about unfair disadvantage in finding work… why?
BECAUSE THERE’S NO BLOODY INDUSTRY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OUTBACK.
Infact the Australian government will actually penalise me for moving to an area that lowers my employment prospects. Talk about discriminatory double standards. Penalise the rest of Australia for moving to areas with no job prospects, but it’s ok to actively encourage Aboriginals to do so.
Wake up Aboriginals, the Australian economy is crashing all around us and people who contribute to the economy are losing jobs all around us. You’re deluded if you think giving Aboriginals more money for more taxpayer funded booze and cig parties is anywhere near the top of priority lists for Federal government, let alone the now failing resource-boom dependant state government of Western Australia.
Time to stop blaming every Tom, Dick and Harry for your troubles. If you want more taxpayer funds how about showing us some initiative and joining the rest of Australia, we’re ready to welcome you with open arms.
August 26th, 2009 at
[...] All this and still practically zero productivity, more whinging and demands for more money. [...]