Comments on: A new paternalism for Aboriginal Australia

By: Ugg Boots Australia

Ugg Boots Australia — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 13:10:19 +0000

I am appalled at the conditions these poor people have to live under.

By: Completely Unnecessary | Family of ‘Rape Girl’ Finally Interviewed

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 21:10:45 +0000

[...] Links: A new paternalism for Aboriginal Australia , which nicely sums up a number of the problems with the Intervention and the Howard [...]

By: Jovan

Jovan — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 14:53:08 +0000

Yes, what you say is quite true, Vicki, though it’s hard to see how these sorts of facilities can be provided when communities are so remote and economically depressed. I agree that a lot more money needs to be spent, but it needs to be spent appropriately. Of course the solution can’t be just plonking plumbers, corner stores etc in the communities in question if there isn’t the infrastructure and other economic factors to make them viable.

I’m not sure what the solutions might be but I’m certain that merely throwing money at the problem is not going to help, and in some cases probably makes matters worse.

By: vicki

vicki — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 10:37:54 +0000

I am appalled at the conditions these poor people have to live under.What happened here?How could any government in this country have allowed its communities to exist in these conditions .What were they set up with a bit of unmaintained public housing, given a bit of funding and left for dead.Surely a skills base in these communities was necessary for them to be able to help themselves.Remember these people live in isolated communitites in the desert they need among their own communty the things we take for granted eg plumbers, accountants, electricians etc…also a corner store with good quality fruit and vegetables at reasonable prices that will ensure ongoing good health

By: Jovan

Jovan — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 02:56:10 +0000

Yes, over the last few days Howard has reiterated that he could not have ignored this report and not be condemned by history, but he seems to have been very selective about which sections he deals with. I haven’t read the report yet, either, so thanks for your summary of some of the key recommendations. It’s my hope that some of these will begin to filter through into public debate once the initial craziness settles down a bit.

By: llwynn

llwynn — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 14:16:13 +0000

Jovan, thanks for bringing this new report to our attention and providing a link to the report in its entirety. It’s 320 pages so I haven’t had a chance to read the whole thing yet, but I did go straight to the report recommendations to see what the compilers of the report thought should be done to deal with the issue of child abuse. Strikingly, the first recommendation calls for the importance of consultation with local communities about how to address the problem: “In the first recommendation, we have specifically referred to the critical importance of governments committing to genuine consultation with Aboriginal people in designing initiatives for Aboriginal communities, whether these be in remote, regional or urban settings.” So the Howard government’s response seems to directly ignore what the report filers consider the most important aspect of dealing with the problem, which does seem to lend support to Nursel’s and your suspicions that the measures are being taken for political gain. Making sure that children are in school and finding ways to promote responsible alcohol consumption are also central to the report’s recommendations, among other things — but, of course, nowhere will you find the recommendation that welfare payments be tied to school attendance or that alcohol be banned entirely (rather, the report recommends the development of community drinking clubs, to promote alcohol consumption within communities that can enforce responsible drinking social norms). The recommendations can be read on pp.22-33.