People must be wondering what's going on in the Territory at the moment. Is it some kind of Blackfella rebellion?
Indigenous Members of Parliament turning against their party, Town Camps in Alice Springs turning down multi million dollar offers from the Federal Government, and Traditional Owners in Kakadu refusing to allow a Uranium mine when demand is booming! (Click here)
Ha! ...
But isn't it all so confusing!
I've heard radio announcers and commentators speculating all week. What is to be done about these trouble makers? Of course each one of these cases is totally separate from the others but the collective question is why would they do such a stupid thing?
Maybe the whole country's gotten so used to rolling over when the bucks come out we really are baffled! I reckon the average Australian has so successfully divorced finance from ethics that we really are confused about why anyone would do anything on principal if it interfered with making a profit. Is it possible that in this day and age there could actually be things that can not be bought?
This reminds me of a page from the book 'Stark'. I think it went something like, "This place may be a dingo's toilet but it's ours and you can't have it!"
So the Federal Government's offer may be a good one and would possibly go a long way toward improving the situation in town camps, by the sound of it anything would be an improvement on the current situation. But why do the people say no? Could it be that with all their problems they still don't trust the government to do the right thing? Surely for anyone to knock back such a huge amount there must be more to the story than just pig-headed stubbornness?
It astounds me that a respected Territory radio announcer has been voicing his opinion and criticizing the community leaders for refusing the $60M. Wouldn't it be a good idea to ask why people would knock back such an offer. It seems though no one cares much to hear that story. Everyone is too caught up in the rapture of blaming the blackfellas for perpetuating the whole atrocious state of affairs.
After voicing his own opinion the radio announcer then proceeded to ask callers to phone in with their opinions without providing any more information than you might find in a tabloid Headline! Why not dig a little deeper and find out what the offer consists of, or what this might mean to the autonomy of the communities? Why would the people distrust their so called saviors?
It seems the offer could do a lot to improve living conditions in Alice Springs. If it is genuine maybe discussion in a public forum could be useful in extracting some of the background and help to build understanding of the issues. It's possible the radio could facilitate information sharing which might improve the negotiations in some way but this is not what I see happening. Not by a long shot. Just another page in a history of oppression and condemnation. Three cheers for the Righteous White. Why can't everybody be more like us?
Indigenous Members of Parliament turning against their party, Town Camps in Alice Springs turning down multi million dollar offers from the Federal Government, and Traditional Owners in Kakadu refusing to allow a Uranium mine when demand is booming! (Click here)
Ha! ...
But isn't it all so confusing!
I've heard radio announcers and commentators speculating all week. What is to be done about these trouble makers? Of course each one of these cases is totally separate from the others but the collective question is why would they do such a stupid thing?
Maybe the whole country's gotten so used to rolling over when the bucks come out we really are baffled! I reckon the average Australian has so successfully divorced finance from ethics that we really are confused about why anyone would do anything on principal if it interfered with making a profit. Is it possible that in this day and age there could actually be things that can not be bought?
This reminds me of a page from the book 'Stark'. I think it went something like, "This place may be a dingo's toilet but it's ours and you can't have it!"
So the Federal Government's offer may be a good one and would possibly go a long way toward improving the situation in town camps, by the sound of it anything would be an improvement on the current situation. But why do the people say no? Could it be that with all their problems they still don't trust the government to do the right thing? Surely for anyone to knock back such a huge amount there must be more to the story than just pig-headed stubbornness?
It astounds me that a respected Territory radio announcer has been voicing his opinion and criticizing the community leaders for refusing the $60M. Wouldn't it be a good idea to ask why people would knock back such an offer. It seems though no one cares much to hear that story. Everyone is too caught up in the rapture of blaming the blackfellas for perpetuating the whole atrocious state of affairs.
After voicing his own opinion the radio announcer then proceeded to ask callers to phone in with their opinions without providing any more information than you might find in a tabloid Headline! Why not dig a little deeper and find out what the offer consists of, or what this might mean to the autonomy of the communities? Why would the people distrust their so called saviors?
It seems the offer could do a lot to improve living conditions in Alice Springs. If it is genuine maybe discussion in a public forum could be useful in extracting some of the background and help to build understanding of the issues. It's possible the radio could facilitate information sharing which might improve the negotiations in some way but this is not what I see happening. Not by a long shot. Just another page in a history of oppression and condemnation. Three cheers for the Righteous White. Why can't everybody be more like us?
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