From: b_duke@darwin.ntu.edu.au (Brian Duke)
Newsgroups: aus.politics
Subject: Re: Aboriginal policies way out of line.
Date: 30 Sep 92 07:30:39 +0900
Distribution: world

In article <1992Sep30.000429.3865@darwin.ntu.edu.au>, nunn@nutmeg.ntu.edu.au (JsNO  BAR---NUNN) writes:
>   First of all, like would like to say that I've got nothing against the
> Aboriginal race and their indiginitive rights. Do do think that the laws
> that protect them and their rights are getting way way way out of line.
> 
>   One of my Uncles 1982 told me that, the Aboriginals will have that many
> rights in the future, that they will be able to walk in to your house and
> claim it as a sacrid site. And you do you know what?,....them starting to
> believe him.
> 
>   Laws like the Alice Springs dam, the Corination Hill, are all subjective
> decisions in favour of the Aboriginals.
> 
>   Take the Corination Hill case for example. Stockmen would tell you that
> they couldn't find an aboriginal within 58km's of that location back in
> the 60's.  When mining companies previously mined it (or an area near their)
> in 1958 not an aboriginal was to be found. That is until Bula appeared and told
> a different story.
> 
>   Take the user-pays policy for electricity for Aboriginal camps. It has been
> known for years that they have been moderate power abusers. NTEC (as the Power
> and water authority was known back then) have been telling them for years to
> go easy on the power, but with no effect. So they started charging them for
> their power, and according to them, it's been the first they've heard about
> it.
> 
>   With Aboriginal Deaths in custody, it was a serious case in Queensland
> and NSW and I do aggree with the investigations of human rights volations.
>   We must however, look at it from two perspectives. I invite any body to
> come up to a township called Katherine which is 350Km south from Darwin, or
> just about any other Northern Territory outback town.
> The amount of flack that the police have to put up with is incredible. They
> have to pick up the same old people, in the same place, copping the same
> abuse from them day in, day out.
>   Of course they are going to hand people like that roughly, no matter what
> your colour is. Now days, if the tourist walks down the street and gets attacked,
> all the police can do now is to tell the person of how silly they were of doing
> such an act. If there is domestic violence, all they do now is inform the
> aboriginal counseling services to influence them to stop what they are doing.
> 
> 
>   This list goes on and on.
> 
> 
>   In my opinion, It is fueled by greedy solicitors who don't give a flying shit
> on where the countries legal structure is heading. My question is: What will
> happen what the Australian government finally says "NO!". Could there be
> riots?, mass killings?. Will our politicians ignore their perceived duties that
> us white fella's (as they call non Aboriginal people) must carry out.
>   This seriously cercerns me, and all the money and extra rigths won't
> solve this problem. It's creating conflict between 1 race and the other
> 52 racies that are in the NT.
> 
I'm sure that many of you down south are thinking that this is just the kind
of insensitive redneck crap that you might expect from a university in 
the NT.

Well, it is not typical. The key point is sensitivity. Aboriginals in this
part of the country, as well as in other parts, have not had a very good
deal. Their problems must be approached with care. Our government here,
of course, do not. They blunder around with much the same arguments as 
those above and it does a lot of damage. One thing the Northern Territory
University is doing is making a real attempt to inprove education for
aboriginals. The numbers in higher education are very low. Mr Nunn might
stop to think why he has no aboriginal colleagues in computer science (I
think I am correct here) and do something about it rather than just sounding
off.
-- 
                  Brian Salter-Duke (Brian Duke)
School of Chemistry and Earth Sciences, Northern Territory University
        GPO Box 40146, Casuarina, NT 0811, Australia.
Phone 089-466702   FAX 089-410460    E-mail B_DUKE@DARWIN.NTU.EDU.AU