Cashless Welfare Card

Last evening there was show on this subject.I think it was called Insight?

Men who were abusers were there, some along with their partners.
They did state the abuse was to control their family. Many, many of them also grew up in a similar family atmosphere. They saw it as normal, along with some of their partners.

They also conceded that alcohol intensified the problem.
One woman said, police were called when the fight was getting out of control, so one would be taken away, for a few days, until they cooled down.

Today, Studio 10 was talking about a 7 yr old aborigine who was sexually abused in Alice Springs. The media was called racist, because if this had been a blonde & blue eyed child, there would have been more of an uprising.

Having spent a few months outside of Tennant Creek, and have friends that actually live there (and one of them works in the hospital) it is been quite an eye opener. Soooooo many children do not go to school. Violence is common. They spend their days sitting on the footpaths, yelling back and forth. The stench from them is unbearable. Police stand guard at the liquor store each day.
The grocery store has security guards.

If people could actually see how these children were living, they would be pushing to have these children removed from the parents. Leaving them in these situations, is actually being racist....because we would not tolerate it in the white community.
 
Last evening there was show on this subject.I think it was called Insight?

Men who were abusers were there, some along with their partners.
They did state the abuse was to control their family. Many, many of them also grew up in a similar family atmosphere. They saw it as normal, along with some of their partners.

They also conceded that alcohol intensified the problem.
One woman said, police were called when the fight was getting out of control, so one would be taken away, for a few days, until they cooled down.

Today, Studio 10 was talking about a 7 yr old aborigine who was sexually abused in Alice Springs. The media was called racist, because if this had been a blonde & blue eyed child, there would have been more of an uprising.

Having spent a few months outside of Tennant Creek, and have friends that actually live there (and one of them works in the hospital) it is been quite an eye opener. Soooooo many children do not go to school. Violence is common. They spend their days sitting on the footpaths, yelling back and forth. The stench from them is unbearable. Police stand guard at the liquor store each day.
The grocery store has security guards.

If people could actually see how these children were living, they would be pushing to have these children removed from the parents. Leaving them in these situations, is actually being racist....because we would not tolerate it in the white community.

Yes, I too think that there are double standards. If this were to happen to a white person, we'd be up in arms. When it happens to an indigenous person in a rural community, no one talks about it. Somehow, those of us who live in cities just turn a blind eye to it.

I don't think taking the children away from their parents works. That's been tried and it was an abysmal failure. I don't think kids should be taken from their parents.

imho, the communities themselves are the best to direct the way out of this. For a long time, the women have been asking for help to stop their men drinking. Perhaps this card will go some way to stopping that. There are very few women's shelters in these areas and they are desperately needed. As Abbott is the minister for women, don't think it will happen soon.
 
in the communities, the do-gooders let it slide because its "cultural"

that's not culture there should be any interest in preserving

We had men from the community come to buy booze,
they'd been refused at every liquor stop in town, so they'd drive out to the roadhouse (Some would drive 250km to the next one after we refused them)
we would refuse them,
they'd get agro at the girls, stop when I went to assist,
'Fixer' has repercussions in the community
would just restrain them till the women came to get them, those are 'I am woman hear me roar' women
all power to em,
but keep the city bound, latte sippin, I want to take pictures of aboriginals, everyone is good deep down, ignorant SOBs away, and let the gubbmint make changes.
The changes have been REQUESTED BY THE PEOPLE THEY MOST EFFECT
There were dozens of community and 'community' meetings over the last 3 years about this, changing the basics card they use now to be more restrictive


everyone is good deep down, that's why graves are 6 foot deep
 
in the communities, the do-gooders let it slide because its "cultural"

that's not culture there should be any interest in preserving

I think there has to be some degree of autonomy and ownership of the issue. Any solutions foisted on them are doomed to failure. They have to be part of the solution. It's a difficult & complex issue. imho, 'culture' is only part of it.
 
Yes, I too think that there are double standards. If this were to happen to a white person, we'd be up in arms. When it happens to an indigenous person in a rural community, no one talks about it. Somehow, those of us who live in cities just turn a blind eye to it.

It really is a sad situation, because the government is "damned if they do & damned if they don't."

As one person on the tv show said (an abuser, himself)
If I beat my wife, it is domestic abuse
If I beat someone else, it is assault.

They all agreed the most dangerous time for a woman (because it generally is a woman, but men face this too) is when she is leaving, or just left, the relationship.

IN many ways, this could be a reason behind Tony Abbott, withdrawing services to certain remote communities. He isn't forcing them to move, just removing certain services.
Really...how is DV even reported in those remote communities?Would a murder even be reported? If they can be 'encouraged' without forcing families to relocate closer to civilization, vulnerable people may have some protection.
 
It really is a sad situation, because the government is "damned if they do & damned if they don't."

As one person on the tv show said (an abuser, himself)
If I beat my wife, it is domestic abuse
If I beat someone else, it is assault.

They all agreed the most dangerous time for a woman (because it generally is a woman, but men face this too) is when she is leaving, or just left, the relationship.

IN many ways, this could be a reason behind Tony Abbott, withdrawing services to certain remote communities. He isn't forcing them to move, just removing certain services.
Really...how is DV even reported in those remote communities?Would a murder even be reported? If they can be 'encouraged' without forcing families to relocate closer to civilization, vulnerable people may have some protection.

You are right Kathryn--reporting is half the problem. When one man killed his wife for not having dinner ready when he got home with a boomerang, he got off with the defence that it was 'tradtional'. When the police are notified of an assault, it can take them days to attend. I don't know how you solve the problem.
 
If people could actually see how these children were living, they would be pushing to have these children removed from the parents. Leaving them in these situations, is actually being racist....because we would not tolerate it in the white community.

Lol you know you just described the "stollen generation".
 
Lol you know you just described the "stollen generation".

I've heard a lot of people discussing this subject, and when possible watched news shows when this subject was discussed.

From what I gather, there has never been a case of 'stolen generation'.
The children who were removed from the homes, were shown to be given up by their parents, in the hope of better opportunities.
 
the "stollen generation".

fancy-stollen-december-1st.jpg
<<stollen
 
I've heard a lot of people discussing this subject, and when possible watched news shows when this subject was discussed.

From what I gather, there has never been a case of 'stolen generation'.
The children who were removed from the homes, were shown to be given up by their parents, in the hope of better opportunities.

Really? I sit in classrooms every year where it is taught to our kids that the govt passed a law along the lines that it would be in the children's best interests to be raised as much as practical as white children. As far as the Aboriginal elders recently interviewed have said, they were taken from their families and put into missions (schools) and as soon as they were old enough, were placed in what is realistically slave labour on farms and stations all across the outback. They were paid wages by their bosses, but the money was sent to the Department of Aboriginal Affairs to be "banked" on it's owner's behalf. In most cases that money has never been passed on to its rightful owners. I believe there is a Royal Commission into it.

Have a watch of the movie "Rabbit Proof Fence" which is a true story.
 
With the backlash after the Stolen Generation had been exposed, it was decided that removing children from abusive parents is not such a good idea. Hence we now have these children left in abusive homes, especially in the outback, and the decision to leave children with their parents in the immigration detention centres.

Yes, the govt is damned if they do something and damned if they don't.
 
Really? I sit in classrooms every year where it is taught to our kids that the govt passed a law along the lines that it would be in the children's best interests to be raised as much as practical as white children. As far as the Aboriginal elders recently interviewed have said, they were taken from their families and put into missions (schools) and as soon as they were old enough, were placed in what is realistically slave labour on farms and stations all across the outback. They were paid wages by their bosses, but the money was sent to the Department of Aboriginal Affairs to be "banked" on it's owner's behalf. In most cases that money has never been passed on to its rightful owners. I believe there is a Royal Commission into it.

Have a watch of the movie "Rabbit Proof Fence" which is a true story.

Don't watch the movie, the author of the book says that the movie gives the wrong impression, reading her book is better.

When she was interviewed she said she has no regrets that she was removed from the squalor and given an education which completely changed her life.

Her sister went back to the mission and has lived there all her life, so one sister is educated and takes part in the modern world, the other lives in what WE call squalor.

The media are very quick to hold up the living standards as "horrible" but very slow to add that it is that way because the people who live there have made it like that.
 
With the backlash after the Stolen Generation had been exposed, it was decided that removing children from abusive parents is not such a good idea. Hence we now have these children left in abusive homes, especially in the outback, and the decision to leave children with their parents in the immigration detention centres.

Yes, the govt is damned if they do something and damned if they don't.
I think you really have to look at what is best for the child. Whether they be white, black, or inbetween, if the child is a victim of abuse, then I feel they should be removed from the parents. Of course, the whole stolen generation thing brings up all kinds of sentiments, and from what I've been lead to believe, children were removed from parents simply because they were aboriginal, which is just plain wrong.

There are a lot of people who want kids & can't have them. Why should those who can have them, be allowed to abuse them? Just make the laws the same for everyone, no matter their heritage.

Don't watch the movie, the author of the book says that the movie gives the wrong impression, reading her book is better.

When she was interviewed she said she has no regrets that she was removed from the squalor and given an education which completely changed her life.

Her sister went back to the mission and has lived there all her life, so one sister is educated and takes part in the modern world, the other lives in what WE call squalor.

The media are very quick to hold up the living standards as "horrible" but very slow to add that it is that way because the people who live there have made it like that.
I have no issue with people living in squalor in the outback, if that is their choice. I do feel that they should be given an education, (whether they want it or not), so they can make a choice on whether to stay or to go. As above, some will want to leave and live their life away from their family. Some will choose to stay.
 
I think you really have to look at what is best for the child. Whether they be white, black, or inbetween, if the child is a victim of abuse, then I feel they should be removed from the parents. Of course, the whole stolen generation thing brings up all kinds of sentiments, and from what I've been lead to believe, children were removed from parents simply because they were aboriginal, which is just plain wrong.

There are a lot of people who want kids & can't have them. Why should those who can have them, be allowed to abuse them? Just make the laws the same for everyone, no matter their heritage.

I have no issue with people living in squalor in the outback, if that is their choice. I do feel that they should be given an education, (whether they want it or not), so they can make a choice on whether to stay or to go. As above, some will want to leave and live their life away from their family. Some will choose to stay.

My reading on the past is that in general, the children removed from the camps were "yella fellas" part aboriginal and part white or chinese usually. Because they were not full aboriginals they were discriminated against by the tribe, their Mum may have loved them but they usually did not have a father so the tribe saw them as a burden. They were allowed to follow along or live on the fringes but not really welcome.

When they were part white it was felt by white society that they should be removed and placed in white society to be trained as house maids, farm hands and other basic jobs.

We know now that given educational opportunities they are just as smart as anyone but this was not believed back then. The problem we have now is the same as then, uneducated parents do not value education as much as we do. The biggest problem in isolated societies seems to be lack of motivation, as Bob said about T. Creek so many of them just don't want to live in today's world or accept responsibility for their own future.

Yet in other areas they are doing great things, guiding tours, running tourist operations, hospitality, rangers, mining maintenance, driving trucks, it really is a personal choice but peer group pressure means it takes a unique person to break the mold then others follow.

I have an aboriginal friend who has been called a coconut (an insult) for 20 years because he wants to train the next generation to live in the modern world. It has taken him years but finally others are realising that he has been right all along.

In the meantime his own family have done very well for themselves in the building industry and now the local land council is embracing the concept with lots of training schemes and things are much more promising.
 
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