Tuesday, Mar 31, 2015 at 09:44
I think there is far too much focus on the “monetary” side of this discussion. For sure, welfare is a substantial burden on government finances and those payments are made to a broad group of Australians.
If you are in Central Australia or the Top End you might form a view that all aboriginal people are on welfare, if you were in Byron Bay you might be forgiven for thinking all white people with matted hair were living at others expense, and possibly are...
But isn't that the problem with type-casting - it is hard to tell from the sidelines.
But look through that for one moment and consider what many aboriginal groups and communities are trying to achieve in Australia today – to preserve our world class environment, and to protect their own sacred sites.
And much is said about “sacred” sites, often in ways that suggest sacred
places are up for sale, but I suspect the average European Australian would not truly understand what is meant by the term “sacred” in an aboriginal context, and risking that casual observations on the topic erroneous at best.
Australians should embrace the richness of aboriginal culture, a culture that has
well over 50,000 years of experience of managing the Australian environment.
I’d recommend all go back and read what this group is doing, the language they use suggests they are open to discussion with interested parties, but the over-arching theme is to protect and preserve for all, making money doesn’t appear to be the main driver.
But in the true Australian tradition of “giving a bloke a fair go” why don’t we see how these initiatives go rather than simply toss “
well-worn” comments back at those “giving it a go” – otherwise nothing will ever change…
Cheers, Baz – The Landy
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