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2020hindsight said:
Wayne, 2020 - exactly the point I was trying to say, but articulated a little better. This is the the nut of what this whole thread is about.
2020hindsight said:Wayne I totally agree also.
I ask myself - if I was born aboriginal, (or red indian, I guess), with all that that entails, out in the middle of some vast wasteland - would I have been able to get an education etc - as I have been lucky enough to do. no way.
I wouldn't swap with em for a minute. (would any of us swap? would you swap banjo ! sorry I mean !!!!!!!!)
I know that things are getting seriously out of hand in western NSW etc, but if we're going to start judging, then lets not pretend that every white person out there in "the wild west" is perfect either.
Speaking of wrecked cars cluttering the Nullarbor, does anyone remember that tv show about the aboriginal mechanics? - like they'd break a front axle - so what? lol - just stick in a branch and drive in reverseseriously innovative.
A PROUDER MAN THAN YOU, by Henry Lawson
If you fancy that your people came of better stock than mine,
If you hint of higher breeding by a word or by a sign,
If you're proud because of fortune or the clever things you do --
Then I'll play no second fiddle: I'm a prouder (louder?) man than you!
If you think that your profession has the more gentility,
And that you are condescending to be seen along with me;
If you notice that I'm shabby while your clothes are spruce and new --
You have only got to hint it: I'm a prouder man than you!
If you have a swell companion when you see me on the street,
And you think that I'm too common for your toney friend to meet,
So that I, in passing closely, fail to come within your view --
Then be blind to me for ever: I'm a prouder man than you!
If your character be blameless, if your outward past be clean,
While 'tis known my antecedents are not what they should have been,
Do not risk contamination, save your name whate'er you do --
`Birds o' feather fly together': I'm a prouder bird than you!
Keep your patronage for others! Gold and station cannot hide
Friendship that can laugh at fortune, friendship that can conquer pride!
Offer this as to an equal -- let me see that you are true,
And my wall of pride is shattered: I am not so proud as you!
Interesting that people inciting racial violence by text messages (or posts here?) might be prosecuted .Griffith Aboriginal mothers appeal for calm after boy's death
Aboriginal women in the Riverina city of Griffith, in south-western New South Wales, have urged residents not to blame their community over the violent death of a popular student on New Year's Day.
Text messages are circulating in the city that incite race violence.
Today's Griffith Area News devotes seven pages to the death of 17-year-old student Andrew Farrugia.
The popular young man died after an assault during New Year's celebrations in Griffith's main street.
Two 15-year-old boys have been charged with his murder and police expect to interview a third person, an 18-year-old man, in Sydney today.
In a letter to the local paper today, the Aboriginal mothers of Griffith offer their deepest apologies, saying the death should not have happened.
The letter says Aboriginal leaders need to act on social issues affecting their children and that a solution is needed for all the cultural groups in Griffith.
Meanwhile police have warned they will prosecute those responsible for the text messages that are circulating that incite racial violence in the city.
Bobby said:Hullo All,
I thought I was a white bloke untill I met some people who look like me, but said they were aboriginals.
Whats an ABORIGINAL these days ?
Bob.
now isnt that interesting ... makes you wonder about the blindfold on the lady who holds those scales of justice don't it. My guess is she peeksPoliceman to be charged over Palm Island death
The man in charge of reviewing the Palm Island death in custody case in north Queensland has found there is sufficient evidence to prosecute a police officer for manslaughter.
Former New South Wales chief justice Sir Laurence Street spent about three weeks examining Director of Public Prosecutions Leanne Clare's decision not to lay charges against Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley over the 2004 death of Mulrunji in the Palm Island watch-house.
Ms Clare decided last year there was insufficient evidence for any prosecution.
But Sir Laurence has disagreed with her findings and Queensland Attorney-General Kerry Shine today instructed the Crown Solicitor to initiate prosecution proceedings... etc
gr8 day for justice. Let's see how much of the evidence gets shreddedDecision welcomed
A crowd of about 50 people cheered and cried when Sir Laurence's findings were announced at an Indigenous concert in Townsville. Aboriginal activist Gracelyn Smallwood says she is overwhelmed.
"This has been an historical day for black Australia and I believe that reconciliation can happen," she said. "Many white Australians supported us and many white people from all around the world and blacks came together and it's a celebration and I'm just ecstatic on it."
"Leanne Clare's future is under a cloud if a jury finds that he is guilty." - and all the jurors will get speeding tickets on the way home?The decision to charge a Queensland police officer over a death in custody has been described as one of the most significant events in the last 200 years of Aboriginal history.
The State Member for Townsville, Mike Reynolds, says it is an historic decision. .."Everyone is saying that this is one of the most important days in the 219 years in regard to justice for Indigenous people," he said. The Palm Island community celebrated into the night and Mulrunji's friends say they are looking forward to having their day in court.
...Family friend David Bulsey says the focus now is getting a fair trial.
...The lawyer acting for Mulrunji's family, Andrew Boe, says it is been a case of "delayed justice". "It's just a sense of relief that the wheels of justice in relation to this matter will finally start," he said.
...But the Queensland Police Union is not happy, with spokesman Denis Fitzpatrick warning strike action will be considered. "Police right across this state of Queensland today are incensed at this political interference," he said.
Queensland Premier Peter Beattie has urged all parties to accept Sir Laurence's recommendation and says the DPP will not be sacked.
Ms Clare has been unavailable for comment but the Queensland Attorney-General says Sir Laurence's findings are not a slight on her.
Opposition spokesman Mark McArdle says it is premature to pass judgement on Ms Clare. "We do not know if she is right or Laurence Street is right, that will come at the end of the trial," Mr McArdle said. "At the end of the trial when a jury has made up its mind of guilt or innocence, that's when the issue of Leanne Clare can be properly addressed. "Up until that point in time, however, speculation should not occur."
interesting reaction to the fact that one of their number has to face manslaughter charges - ? reduced police presence ? can't quite see the connection myself. Are they saying that if there is a police presence, then there must follow that there will be deaths in custody?http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200701/s1834766.htm Police threaten to cut ties with Indigenous communities
The Queensland Police Union (QPU) has turned up the pressure on the State Government over the decision to charge an officer over an Aboriginal death in custody. The union says police should be removed from Indigenous communities and tribal law should be allowed to take over, if communities do not want a police presence.
and awarding costs under these circumstances would also seem to be reasonable.http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200701/s1834657.htm Mulrunji decision prompts call for legal changes
The Australian Council for Civil Liberties (ACCL) has called for greater accountability at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in Queensland....
ACCL president Terry O'Gorman has rejected demands the DPP be sacked but is calling for change. "We say judges should be given back the power to decide whether cases should go on or not, and we also say that people, including Sergeant Hurley if he wins his case, should be given their costs," he said.
i agree, justice should simply be blind m8.Justice. Indigenous activist Sam Watson says the decision to lay manslaughter charges Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley has restored some faith in the legal system. But he says Sir Laurence Street's review of the case proves the role of the DPP needs to be re-examined.
"Because justice in this state should not be blinded by the colour of a person, they should not be blinded by the cultural language of a person, justice should not be blinded by where a person lives," he said.
The Age said:Aboriginals offer nuclear dump site
Tara Ravens and Dennis Peters
May 25, 2007 - 5:57PM
A group of Northern Territory Aborigines has agreed to accept $12 million in return for some of their land being the site of Australia's first nuclear waste facility.
Part of their proposed deal with the commonwealth is that they will get the land back, but they may have to wait 200 years.
The traditional owners from Muckaty Station, 120km north of Tennant Creek, today nominated their land for a planned repository for low- to medium-level nuclear waste.
The proposed 1.5 sq km site will now undergo scientific testing to be considered along with three commonwealth defence sites, including Harts Range and Mount Everard near Alice Springs and Fishers Ridge near Katherine.
John Daly, chairman of the Northern Land Council (NLC) which backs the plan, said it was "a historic day".
"This is an agreement that has been worked out with traditional owners and the commonwealth," he told reporters in East Arnhem Land.
"We believe it will be safe and we have Australia's best scientists dealing with it."
The Ngapa, one of four clan groups who live on Muckaty Station and who number about 60 people, including children, have agreed to the deal following two years of negotiations and three trips by elders to Sydney's Lucas Heights Reactor.
Under the agreement, they would get $11 million to be managed by a charitable trust and $1 million to be spent on education.
In return they would hand over an area of 1.5 sq km to store waste, which would likely be carried to the site by road from the Stuart Highway, over the next 50 years.
The commonwealth would return the site to traditional owners when it was declared safe - expected to be in about 200 years.
Mr Daly said while the federal government would take full freehold ownership of the land, there was a legislative guarantee it would be handed back.
He said the deal would be a "cash cow" for the traditional owners if the site was selected.
"It's about the other spin-offs. Twelve million dollars is a lot of money. It can go a long way to developing the lands and future outcomes for kids," he said.
"I am really confident. Hopefully, everything will stack up and the geology will be right for it.
"We aren't losing our land. It is a long-term lease, and when the commonwealth is finished with it, it will be returned to Aboriginal lands again."
The Northern Territory government opposes the waste dump plan but is effectively powerless to stop it.
"The decision to nominate this site is wrong and we'll continue to oppose it," NT Chief Minister Clare Martin said.
"The process for the identification of sites for a nuclear waste dump by the federal government is a joke.
"We understand that Australia needs a nuclear waste repository, but its location needs to be determined through a strict, scientific process, not a political one."
Federal Science Minister Julie Bishop said she was not concerned about the territory government's opposition, but a number of steps had to be taken before the nomination was even approved.
"If I approve the nominated land as a potential site, then the suitability of the site will be assessed in a similar manner to the three defence sites that were announced in 2005," she told ABC radio.
Once the preferred site was selected, Ms Bishop said it would then be subject to an environmental impact assessment and nuclear regulatory licensing processes.
She said Australia could have its first facility within the next four or five years.
Labor's environment spokesman Peter Garrett said the local Aboriginal community had not been properly consulted.
But Ngapa traditional owner Amy Lauder, from the Muckaty region, said she was happy with the deal.
"We feel it will be alright for the environment in our country," she said.
"We will get it back later on and (the money) will make a big difference to us."
Hullo All,
I thought I was a white bloke untill I met some people who look like me, but said they were aboriginals.
Whats an ABORIGINAL these days ?
Bob.
I AM AUSTRALIAN (Bruce Woodley and Dobe Newton)
I came from the dream time, from the dusty red soil plains,
I am the ancient heart - the keeper of the flame,
I stood upon the rocky shore, I watched the tall ships come,
For forty thousand years I'd been the first Australian.
We are one but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come,
we share a dream,
And sing with one voice,
I am, you are, we are Australian.
I came upon the prison ship bound down by iron chains
I cleared the land, endured the lash and waited for the rains.
I'm a settler, I'm a farmer's wife on a dry and barren run
A convict then a free man, I became Australian.
I'm the daughter of a digger who sought the mother lode
The girl became a woman on the long and dusty road
I'm a child of the depression, I saw the good times come
I'm a bushy, I'm a battler, I am Australian.
We are one but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come,
we share a dream,
And sing with one voice,
I am, you are, we are Australian.
I'm a teller of stories, I'm a singer of songs
I am Albert Namatjira, and I paint the ghostly gums
I am Clancy on his horse, I'm Ned Kelly on the run
I'm the one who waltzed Matilda, I am Australian.
I'm the hot wind from the desert, I'm the black soil of the plains
I'm the mountains and the valleys, I'm the drought and flooding rains
I am the rock, I am the sky, the rivers when they run
The spirit of this great land, I am Australian.
We are one but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come,
we share a dream,
And sing with one voice,
I am, you are, we are Australian.
Vincent Lingiari (1908–1988), was an Aboriginal rights activist who was awarded the Order of Australia for his services to the Aboriginal people. Lingiari was a member of the Gurindji people from the Northern Territory's Victoria River District. Lingiari led the Wave Hill Walk-Off, which eventually resulted in the return of the land to the Gurindji by the Commonwealth of Australia.
The Wave Hill strike would eventually reshape the agenda of relationships between Indigenous Australians and the wider community. Although initially an employee-rights action, it soon became a major federal issue when the Gurindji people demanded the return of their traditional lands.
The strike lasted seven years. Over that time, support for Aboriginal rights grew as the struggle intensified. The protest eventually led to the Commonwealth Land Rights Act (Northern Territory), 1976. This Act gave Indigenous Australians freehold title to traditional lands in the Northern Territory and, significantly, the power of veto over mining and development on those lands.
An important and symbolic event in Australian history occurred when, during an emotional ceremony in 1975, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam poured the local sand into Vincent Lingiari's hands and handed the Wave Hill station back to the Gurindji people.
Vincent Lingiari confronted the vast economic and political forces that were arrayed against him and his people. In doing so, he won a victory that is one of the most outstanding achievements in the history of the struggle for the recognition of Indigenous people, their rights and responsibilities in the land, and their ability to practise their law, language and culture.
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