I have similar concerns that others above have mentioned.
What happened "back then" was wrong - in all of our opinion, right?
But rather than trying to imagine what it was like back then, or the intentions or motivations of the parties involved - we have a very obvious example of history repeating. We can understand "then" in the context of now...
IMHO, one of the reasons for the recent fed gov intervention in NT - was the elections. Let's put that aside though... Does any rational well meaning person think that the state of affairs (child/women abuse, rape etc) should be allowed to continue?
If not, what is the solution? From what I see, if the government intervenes too strongly, they get slammed for that - if children are removed from bad situations we hear the chant of "stolen". If the government does nothing, then the humanists complain that something should be done... So whatever happens, there will be criticism and unhappy people.
On one hand we are told that indigenous people want to police themselves as they can't live with "white" law... on the other hand we have indigenous people complaining they want intervention...
As someone born in Australia (who's parents emigrated here in the 70's from a country that was once subjugated by the British Empire), I think I'm a pretty decent person. Whilst I think a lot of bad was done, and I feel regret for what happened - I am not sorry. And it may seem lame, but I'm not sorry because I didn't do it.
Now, to have 20 million people arguing about that in the context of women & children being mistreated seems to be missing the point. As is the fact that there is a magical X amount of dollars that will improve the situation?
If your kids have been stolen - no amount of $ will make that better. Nor if you are a stolen child, will $ make your life magically better...
To me, it seems that compared to the indigenous people in other countries - aborigines, are finding it a huge struggle to integrate into our society. I know, the setting in NZ was quite different - given the treaty of Waitangi and all that. For whatever reason, the Maori have been able to integrate a lot more (not completely) into the society of NZ. Why can't that happen in Australia?
I think government handouts or monetary compensation are not necessarily a solution - it doesn't promote self reliance or independance. I think education is the main thing that needs to be addressed. And I think we need to promote integration into mainstream society... like it or loathe it (our mainstream society), it is what the majority of us exist within. Tradition and culture is important, but as the many ethnic groups in Australia show - you can have your culture, and function in society.