a black day

There are a number of stories in the news about Aboriginal rights and what I consider to be the namby pamby, do-gooder, feel-good, pampering of indigenous Australians that is not offered to other Australians.

This is meant to be one country. With one set of laws and one set of standards and responsibilities for all Australians. Sure you can have your cultural differences no matter if you were born here or migrated here.

But this endless campaign to give rights and favours to 400,000 Australians who happen to be dark-skinned often at the expense of the 20 million who are not is out of control.

Admittedly, the Government’s sacking of ATSIC was a start. I know I run the risk of sounding like a racist. I am not. And I can’t raise these issues any other way.

Some examples  -- and I’ll start with a small one. The Australian newspaper has a story today about the death of Peter Coppin the last remaining leader of the 1946 Aboriginal pastoral workers strike.

Copping was a brave leader. He was one of the prime movers in that strike when hundreds of workers walked off the job protesting their ill-treatment and slave-like conditions.

Today’s newspaper report says ‘The Australian has been granted permission from his family to publish Mr. Coppin’s name’.  Why was permission needed? I understand it is an Aboriginal mourning tradition. Presumably it came into being before Australia even had newspapers.

But it got me wondering. Would The Australian not publish the name of say, Justice Marcus Einfeld, whom they have been reporting on, if he requested it. Not bloody likely.

If an Aboriginal member of Parliament or a state Governor like Sir Douglas Nicholls died would they not name them in the news if  the family objected?

The second issue today is the scandalous decision by the Melbourne City Council to waste ratepayers’ money by confirming a $10,000 grant to an art exhibition celebrating what they call Camp Sovereignty.  That’s the pretentious name given to that ragtag, illegal, tent city that was set up by a motley crew of protesters in King’s Domain to demonstrate against the Commonwealth Games.

It cost taxpayers more than $100,000 for security and cleaning up the mess after the State Government and the council kow-towed to the  misfits – one of whom did a runner when it became known there was an arrest warrant out for him.

And the third is the long overdue move by the federal Government to get rid of the permit system  which prevents outsiders from even setting foot on parts of Australia  that are claimed as off-limits by Aboriginal groups.

Those restrictions do a lot to explain why child rape has gone unhindered and unreported in some outback communities. For example: If I had information that a six-year-old girl or boy had been raped and the crime covered up I could not – as an investigative reporter – enter that township in Arnhem Land without a written permit that could be refused.

The permit system is racial discrimination in reverse. It should be scrapped.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

©Copyright Derryn Hinch 2006