Not-That-Bright
Andrew Quah
But... Aboz are pricks :/ [1]MoonlightSonata said:VB and football, my aren't you a productive one. So you are saying that everyone should try to adopt this "culture"?
You really have no right to assert your very narrow visions onto others. How dare you tell people what attitudes they should adopt? The first and foremost defining element of this country is freedom. That includes the freedom to be different and possess different tastes, ideas, associations, religions and property.
Aboriginal rights activists are not asking for you to give your land back. They are pushing for unused Crown land to be made available for Native Title applications. Additionally, many modern Aboriginal activists are not concerned with the symbolic "sorry" gesture - they are more interested in obtaining practical benefits and opportunities to enhance the living conditions of their people.
But it didn't stop there did it? Instead of being made a part of our society indigenous people were kept socially ostracised. They had no redistribution of land. They had their children stolen. They faced racism at every corner.
As a result, many are now at extreme social disadvantage and the health and prosperity of the Aboriginal people are significantly lower than everyone else. A large proportion of indigenous people live in areas of social deprivation, including rural and remote areas where education and work opportunities are limited. Many communities are without adequate health and housing. Indigenous people are less likely to own their own homes. [1] They are more likely to live in improvised homes and in places with a greater number of people. [2] In some communities there are issues of safe drinking water, sewerage, electricity and rubbish collection. [3] Indigenous people have higher unemployment [4], lower average income [5], greater death rates [6], and are extremely over-represented in deaths in custody [7] as a result of high prison rates [8]. Indeed, the very biological status of Aboriginal people has been impinged upon – life expectancy is significantly lower than for non-indigenous people [9].
But hey, they should just "get over it" right?
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References:
[1] Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), ‘The Health and Welfare of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples 2003’, p 49.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), ‘Population Characteristics, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians’, Article No. 4713.0. Indigenous people are approximately three times as likely to be unemployed.
[5] ABS, ‘Incomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’, Year Book Australia, 1301.0 – 2004.
[6] ABS, ‘The Health and Welfare of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples 2003’, p 182.
[7] Royal Commission into the Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (1991).
[8] ABS, ‘Indigenous Prisoners’, Year Book Australia, 1301.0 – 2004. Indigenous males and females comprise 20% and 25% respectively of the prison population, despite indigenous people only constituting 2% of the entire population.
[9] Ibid. From 1999-2001, life expectancy for indigenous peoples was 56 years for males, 63 for females, in comparison to non-indigenous life expectancy of 77 years for males and 82 years for females – approximately a 20 year difference.
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References:
[1] Guy accross the road from me.
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