Australia’s refugee problem has attracted global attention. This from the New York Times.
Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage
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Independent news, blogs and commentary on politics, media, business, the environment and life.
Copyright © 2009 Private Media Pty Ltd, Publishers of Crikey. All Rights Reserved.
Editor: Jonathan Green
Publishers: Eric Beecher, Diana Gribble
Political Correspondent: Bernard Keane
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16 Comments
As I detest charts - couldn’t be bothered reading First Dog today!
Ah FD.
Although irony be your middle name…..I’m afraid this one’s a bit of a dog.
Thankfully, I love a good chart, but must say, FD, these are very poor. Wouldn’t/shouldn’t make the graph pr0n page, IMHO.
I see no colours, only spotted-quoll-like bars representing people.
Which reminds me, FD. I have a flight next week and your calendar has me very jittery with regards to the precise date …
Has to be one of the most brilliant ever.
I love graphs. Don’t feel too bad…I did something worse than Single-Handedly Doing Nothing About Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage (SHDNAOID) - I helped reduce their literacy rates!
Brilliant illustration of the detachment we must fall back on when we have so many bits of government and the commentariat still pushing hearts and flowers solutions for “the Aboriginal issue” that most people know won’t work.
As Prof Peter Sutton points out, if we want ALL our citizens to return vital stats in health, education, community participation, independence, etc, at OECD-comparable levels, they need to be living at the levels of the nations whose citizens DO return those levels. Achieving that by the most massive, tolerable change, should be the target for Aboriginal reform - and some sections of our overall citizenry.
The loss of bits of ancient culture is not unusual as the world evolves. Better to save generations of people for a better life than worry dysfunctionally about losing a few bits of language or art or hunting skill. Until the nation adopts rational objectives, no point in engaging the problem. Well done, FDOM.
Boring…
Why not do a cartoon about terminally ill kids?
Is this National Blame Indigenous Culture Week or something? The comments here and at Chris Graham’s incarceration article would make it seem so.
Indigenous culture, language, art, etc., etc. are NOT the reason for Indigenous “disadvantage”. They are the things that hold things together and give people some strength in the face of overwhelming hostility or indifference from the dominant culture.
Non-Indigenous culture is the primary problem - just look at any community where the oldest generation was born free on their own land, the next generation were missionised or employed in the pastoral industry, the next lived as semi-wards of the welfare state and you’ll see where the problem lies. There are people in their nineties, straight-backed and proud, who are far healthier than their kids generation, who in turn are far healthier than their kids.
When you blithely say “‘they’ should just change ‘their’ culture” as if it was so easy and simple think how it feels to say, I’ll just change my culture so that it stops causing so much death and devastation to Indigenous people. It’s too meaningless to have any point in saying.
There’s no point feeling guilty or wringing your hands, you have to CHANGE yourself first and start contributing positively to ameliorating the damage that non-Indigenous culture does to Indigenous people. The first step is to stop blaming Indigenous people, the second might be to start to gain some understanding, the third….. that’s up to you to discover.
BTW first dog I liked the cartoon!
Is this cartoon meant to be saying ‘the situation is so bleak, so mournful and tragic there nothing to be done except laugh-before we all cry? Or did you start on with a good idea and decide it was all too difficult? Or, is there some deep message there which someone as superficial as me just has to miss out on? As in one of your triumphant shouts you Tweet me saying “Once again you have failed to get the point”.
Ummmn, ‘Can I borrow your dog box tonight?’
Bob the Builder. I get thoroughly sick of the politically correct always holding me personally to be responsible for the plight of our indigenous people. Although not once have I ever thought they should change their culture. However I resent your lines reading “There’s no point………to indigenous people”. Followed by “The first step is to stop blaming indigenous people, the second might be to start to gain some understanding, the third….that’s up to you to discover.” Which is as nice a piece of patronizing claptrap as I have ever read.
Does it occur to someone like you to try to understand there’s more to the problem than just repeating your mantra that all non-indigenous people are shits, culturally depraved, and non-thinking, insensitive clods.
How about trying to stop the blanket thinking of lumping all indigenous people into the one basket? Taxpayers have no say in the directions they believe these people should be assisted. Government’s decide how the money is spent. Not the tax-payer. I dare say the coastal indigenous tribal peoples’ needs are far different to the ones who are desert dwellers. I would like to see evidence they receive help according to their needs.
As for the tribes who seem to get all the attention, the ones around Alice Springs come to mind. A display of energy towards picking up the rubbish which surrounds them wouldn’t go astray. They are members of the Australian community, are they not? I don’t see why cleaning up rubbish should be beneath them. It’s something a non-indigenous person would be fined for not doing. Of course their recent history has done nothing to give them any pride in themselves.
But they must know the non-indigenous community spends a lot of money trying to help them. Perhaps a little quid pro quo may not go astray.
Venise,
I am non-Indigenous too. Secondly I live in remote northern Australia and have worked and lived closely with Indigenous people for five years, so am aware of the complexities beyond some putative ‘politically correct’ stance. I think the line “There’s no point feeling guilty or wringing your hands” might indicate I’m not holding you responsible.
The point I was trying to make is that we feel so free to continually blame Indigenous people and their culture for their own problems, then get offended when they (very occassionally) object, yet at the slightest hint we should change our ways there’s a tide of indignation (thank you for your classic example of the genre).
And just to clarify your point: -
“Does it occur to someone like you to try to understand there’s more to the problem than just repeating your mantra that all non-indigenous people are shits, culturally depraved, and non-thinking, insensitive clods.”
I didn’t - and have never - said anything like this.
I’m not sure how much you understand of our political system but taxpayers are by and large also voters (you know, no taxation without representation and all that), which is how they have say in the directions “these people” (you know, the ones you say are “members of the Australian community”) are “assisted”.
Well I’m just about to head down the street, so I’ll tell all the blacks if they pick up the rubbish they’ll finally get the respect from whitefellas that they’ve always wanted. Never knew it was so easy. Seems fair enough. Great suggestion.
Bob the Builder. You were at some length to say that non-indigenous culture was the problem. Why then do you get upset if one of us answers back? Accordingly I made the point that cultural associations can be a two- edged sword.
I don’t see how you can hold me responsible for the egregious harm done to the Aboriginal people. (despite the fact that you say it wasn’t me you were aiming at) Also, it may interest you to know I have always been a positive voice for the Aboriginal people. However, there comes a time when one too many pious and politically correct letters becomes one too many.
If you really wish to know who I believe to have been the cause of all their problems? All the members of the various churches who have missions wherein they have the nerve to imagine their God is superior to the Gods of the indigenous people.
Further more. I don’t know why you accuse me of saying I accused the Aboriginals of being ‘these people’. If it came within the quotation marks then I didn’t say it. The only people I would lump together as these people would be footballers, hoons and politically correct, pious nitwits. And the people who infest missions. Ditto all religious righters.
If, I have inadvertently caused harm to any indigenous person I apologize, without reservation. If, however, I’ve managed to get up your nose I am more than delighted. Give me another chance and I’ll do it again.
I dare say if it is people like you setting yourselves as an example to anyone at all it will be a miracle if the land of Oz hasn’t been buried in sh-t where ever you walk.
I notice you use the word ‘blacks’ and ‘whitefellas’. My my, how racist are you?
Venise,
this is all getting a little silly. My initial post was a general comment - if I inadvertently gave you the impression I was aiming it at you, I’m sorry, as I wasn’t.
Let me repeat, I don’t hold you - or any of my fellow non-Indigenous Australians - personally responsible for today’s problems. And I don’t set myself up as some sort of pious example - I’m not quite sure why you think that, particularly as I didn’t advance any particular attitude or action beyond have some humility and respect and try and learn a little.
On a petty note, if you read this sentence you wrote - “Taxpayers have no say in the directions they believe these people should be assisted” - you will in fact see the phrase “these people”.
And you haven’t got up my nose, unless you’re that little thing that came out onto my hankie.
Anyway, must dash through the sh-t and over to the lovely clean rubbish-free streets full of harmonious black-white relations.
Bob the Builder. Yes it is getting silly. But I’m going through a hard time right now.
If you had read my words properly you will notice ‘those people’ is part of a sentence which I thought you had written.
Anyway, as you say it is silly and I think it’s futile as well.
If you go over the ‘these people’ sentence in one of the comments you will know who wrote it originally.
I apologize if I have allowed my feelings towards my family over-run onto you.
Thanks for that. Not sure where the “these people” came from originally, apologies on my part if I was too snarky. Let’s bury the hatchet! It’s easy to get stupidly hot-under-the-collar about these very confronting issues. Apologies for my hot words.
Bob the Builder.
Thanks for that