TRIBAL BEAT

[Maureen K Clifford]

that's the thing Bob we ARE all Australians and the colour of our skin should not make the slightest difference to anything but it does and both sides are equally as guilty of playing the ends towards the middle when it suits them, and that I guess comes down to that human greed factor.

Agree that a level playing field is needed - certainly with respect given to cultural differences but a level playing field none the less.

We as a nation have to get past this issue that keeps raising it head - it is becoming like an ongoing committee meeting where nothing is getting done other than old issues being constantly rehashed by a new group, who are full of enthusiasm, get all righteous and think they are actually achieving something, but still nothing is being done. Wheels within wheels. The alternative is to ignore it and hope it goes away but of course it doesn't.

There has to be a workable solution and I wish our Government and people would find it.

[r.magnay]

...I have been trying to keep out of it but......there are plenty of workable solutions to the situation, just nobody in power at the moment with the guts to introduce them........and don't ask me to list them here, I don't really want to get into this again....

[Maureen K Clifford]

Fair enough Ross - you and I have agreed I think to disagree on this matter and I hope that we both hold each others opinions with respect - I certainly do fully understand where you are coming from because you are living in the mainstream of it so to speak.

My point of view I think perhaps comes more from the injustice of a system that just happens to involve Aboriginal people. I would feel no different if the people concerned were purple people eaters or Martians.

Injustice should always be acknowledged, addressed and amended if people are to move on - which is what needs to happen here. Not declared an invalid reason because WE didn't do it. Not have people be told to get over it as that happened years ago but take it like a man face on and try to remedy it.

When a generation of people have worked for no wages other than tucker, own no property because their lands have been taken from them, had their families torn apart, have not been recognized by the Government of their country as people until the mid 1960's what kind of legacy can they have to pass onto their children?

When I die my son will get a house free and clear of debt and a few other odds and sods.the end result of my being able to hold down a PAID job for over 40 years and that, through having a good education and opportunities. Had I worked for no pay, had a limited education and limited opportunities in addition to putting up with discrimination, living in areas with few facilities would my son have been able to have the good education he has also enjoyed or the opportunities that have been available to him - I think not - and that would have put us in exactly the same boat that so many impoverished indigenous people find themselves today. Many of them start from the back burner of life

My reasons for claiming injustice - these are a few that make my skin crawl.........and in my opinion for what it is worth any country that counts cows in a census and discounts real people (flora and fauna actually until the mid 1960's) probably has added somewhat to the problem by the injustice of that decision. Old news - but only by acknowledging our past, warts and all, can any of us move on. The dirt we hide under the carpet is still there.

http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/bara ... theme3.htm

I'm off my soapbox now Ross

Maureen
Clifford © 01/10