Originally Posted by FFYR

Ok everyone when Australia was first "settled" by the english government they completely ignored the inhabitants. At first they were acting kind however this kindness soon stretched to aggressive attacks by english soldiers. Eventually an australian government was formed and all the aboriginals were declared outlaws in nearly all states. Even after the commonwealth was made racism still exsited in the constitution itself.

Aborginal familys were taken from each other making it nearly impossible now a days for them to track back to there tribes and familys which in turn forced a huge loss of aborginal culture.

What has been done?
We have made an apology.
We pay the aborignals back

IS this enough?
NO

What more needs to be done?
I have no idea

I agree, the aborignals in Aussie, have been treated terriby. The maori in New Zealand, have been given billions in land, appologies, and ownership of some minerals (eg greenston/jade).

We had said sorry, although we should never have apologised for the wrongdoings of a past government, yet they still complain. What more do they want?
Honestly, I wish they'd just shut up and go away because all they seem to do is bitch and whine and moan.

Originally Posted by My Winter Storm

We had said sorry, although we should never have apologised for the wrongdoings of a past government, yet they still complain. What more do they want?
Honestly, I wish they'd just shut up and go away because all they seem to do is bitch and whine and moan.

Very well said! Being half-Australian myself I can partially identify with some of the problems this has caused, and not wishing to be unkind to the Abos, if you ever go out to any of their townships or even where they congregate on the edges of settled towns and cities, odds are you'll find most of them just lazing around more drunk than sober!

Plenty of land has been given back to tribal communities and what happens? Restrictions get placed on who can have access to it, preventing some beautiful parts of the country from being seen or used by many visitors and residents alike.

Originally Posted by Midas

Very well said! Being half-Australian myself I can partially identify with some of the problems this has caused, and not wishing to be unkind to the Abos, if you ever go out to any of their townships or even where they congregate on the edges of settled towns and cities, odds are you'll find most of them just lazing around more drunk than sober!

Plenty of land has been given back to tribal communities and what happens? Restrictions get placed on who can have access to it, preventing some beautiful parts of the country from being seen or used by many visitors and residents alike.

Showing a very australian attitude, (which is bad). Though many Aussies are compared to rednecks from the southern states in the USA. So ignorance like this is not surprising.

Originally Posted by Kiwi 1691

Showing a very australian attitude, (which is bad). Though many Aussies are compared to rednecks from the southern states in the USA. So ignorance like this is not surprising.

I'm sorry, it's far from ignorance, it's a fact! Have you ever been to see the situation for yourself? As far as I've been able to ascertain the situation in Australia is not the same as it is in New Zealand, where the Maoris would seem to have been far more capable of both managing their own affairs and successful in integrating into the community as a whole whilst still retaining their traditions and heritage. Perhaps the relative differences in size of the countries has a bearing on this.

As they say, "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink"; the same applies to many of the Aboriginals, you can give them what they demand but they still carry on in their own way to the benefit of no-one.

You keep wondering what could more could they possibly want?
They want to be treated equally in their own country. Indigenous Australians are still expected to die younger, have less access to education and are several times more likely to be in prisoned. Clearly the playing field is yet to be levelled.

or

How about you get out of their country like many of us Brits tell tell 2nd or 3rd generation migrants

Originally Posted by Lorence

You keep wondering what could more could they possibly want?
They want to be treated equally in their own country. Indigenous Australians are still expected to die younger, have less access to education and are several times more likely to be in prisoned. Clearly the playing field is yet to be levelled.

They are being given every opportunity to be treated equally, and as soon as they show signs of responding to that by not grabbing everything that's been offered to them then still carrying on in their same old ways, the playing field will slowly be levelled. That's not a racist comment by the way, it's simple fact. Yes, they do die younger and have less education, however the laws are all in place for equality in those and in other ways. It's not the Australian's fault if the Abos don't avail themselves of what's on offer, after all, you can only hold out your hand so many times, and if it's continually refused with demands for more, you reach the point of saying enough is enough.

or

How about you get out of their country like many of us Brits tell tell 2nd or 3rd generation migrants

And that's likely to happen?? It's not the 2nd and 3rd generation immigrants here that most people are opposed to though, they're mainly well integrated, it's the flood of new ones that are objected to.

Originally Posted by Midas

I'm sorry, it's far from ignorance, it's a fact! Have you ever been to see the situation for yourself? As far as I've been able to ascertain the situation in Australia is not the same as it is in New Zealand, where the Maoris would seem to have been far more capable of both managing their own affairs and successful in integrating into the community as a whole whilst still retaining their traditions and heritage. Perhaps the relative differences in size of the countries has a bearing on this.

As they say, "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink"; the same applies to many of the Aboriginals, you can give them what they demand but they still carry on in their own way to the benefit of no-one.

The Australian Govt has done nothing to help them, all it has done is systematically make them welfare dependent.

If the new Zealand example was followed then the situation in Australian would be far better.

My major problem with current treatment of Aboriginals is that we're treating them as not Australian, why do they have their own flag? Why can't every minority have it's own flag? And why do we give them Crown land? Crown land is usually used as reserves, or other such political nonsense, but fundamentally, that political nonsense actual puts the land to (usually) good use, which is FAR better than most of the Native title lands. When Aboriginals get hold of it, they do little or nothing with it.

Something that has to be rammed through people's skulls is that Australia is not Aboriginal, and its non-indigenous peoples are not just guests, yes, Aboriginals need help to bring them up to the non-indigenous standard of living, but they don't need huge tracts of land or token acts of saying 'sorry.' They need practical help and guidance, something they have often refused.

Originally Posted by FFYR

Ok everyone when Australia was first "settled" by the english government they completely ignored the inhabitants. At first they were acting kind however this kindness soon stretched to aggressive attacks by english soldiers. Eventually an australian government was formed and all the aboriginals were declared outlaws in nearly all states. Even after the commonwealth was made racism still exsited in the constitution itself.

Aborginal familys were taken from each other making it nearly impossible now a days for them to track back to there tribes and familys which in turn forced a huge loss of aborginal culture.

What has been done?
We have made an apology.
We pay the aborignals back

IS this enough?
NO

What more needs to be done?
I have no idea

Do nothing, multiculturalism is good, aboriginals are holding on to an outdated system of values, they should get up with the way things are or be left in the past.

Originally Posted by pauli007001

Do nothing, multiculturalism is good, aboriginals are holding on to an outdated system of values, they should get up with the way things are or be left in the past.

This is true Pauli, and whilst I agree with you to a large extent - keeping certain traditions alive is always valuable to any culture - the very fact that Aboriginals have some of the lowest average intelligence in the world by virtue of them never having moved out of what's basically a stone-age life - I have the greatest of doubts that they can "get up with the way things are". Certainly they seem to show little or no signs of having done so this far.

Originally Posted by Midas

never having moved out of what's basically a stone-age life

I agree, a lot of people don't realise how socially backward the Aboriginals were, they were about as advanced as Neanderthals when White settlement occurred. Their society, at its most basic roots, is well behind every other culture on the planet, and it'll take time and effort to move them forward.

Originally Posted by Kiwi 1691

new Zealand example

You can't compare the Aborigines and Maori peoples for this reason, they are two radically different cultures, and don't assume otherwise because of their skin colour. The Maori are closely related to Polynesian peoples, while Aboriginal ancestry goes back to extremely old Africa-Middle East peoples who no longer exist there. The Maori were much more advanced than the Aborigines, demonstrated by the existance of permanent settlement, advanced inter-tribe politics, and rudimentry farming. The reason New Zealand's white settlers were able to have a treaty with the Maori is because the Maori were able to understand and comprehend complex politics, the Aboriginals were not.