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Bali jails have bars

Unfortunate co-incidence of this post and story two days afterwards 15 August 2020

CO-INCIDENCE or PAR FOR THE COURSE?: Bali jails have bars, written 14 years ago, was published on this site on 13 August 2020. Two days later The Weekend Australian carried the following page 2 story (see link and initial paragraphs below) headed Covid-fuelled grog violence hits remote kids with a breakout piece called Demand to end rorts over royalties.Mismanagement and theft of money intended for Indigenous people is still rife.

Details in Bali jails have bars are correct and actually happened. From where I sit not a great deal has occurred in the ensuing years to improve the lot of Aboriginal people in Western Australia. Something different must be done. Having a Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt, who is Indigenous, may help change things. I sincerely hope so. 13 August 2020

Demand to end rorts over royalties

https://theaustralian.smedia.com.au/HTML5/default.aspx?publication=NCAUS

“Claims of gross mismanagement of native title royalties have prompted calls for a full judicial inquiry into governance of Aboriginal corporations, amid suspicions some powerbrokers may have stolen funds that should have been shared among local communities.

“Several Indigenous corporations and “charitable trusts” — which were ostensibly established to control and regulate the distribution of the royalties that flowed from native title deals between mining companies and Indigenous groups — are now the subject of police investigations, under special administration or trying to rebuild after periods of dysfunction.

“Some senior Indigenous figures have told The Weekend Australian that corruption is so rife that a judicial inquiry is needed to flush out those responsible.

“Native title royalties are, effectively, a charge for the extinguishment of certain traditional cultural rights over land to be mined. The payments were seen two decades ago as a way forward for traditional owners in areas where economic development had been slow or nonexistent. However, a lack of proper oversight has allowed strong-arm tactics by some rogue elders to flourish, which in turn has led to allegations of systemic mismanagement.

“There are also concerns the complex structure of the mining royalties system is a bonanza for some non-Indigenous professionals who take a significant portion of the money in consultancy and management fees.

“South Australian elder Mark Koolmatrie is a critic of the “big man, big clan” domination of the nation’s $2bn-a-year native title royalties system. SA is home to 20 of the country’s 220 native title bodies corporate.

“These guys believe that it is their birthright to control everybody,” he said. “They believe they have a right to do what they wish with country and with financial assets. Everybody who is a claimant to native title for a particular area should have a right to transparent access to the financial records of that native title association.” READ MORE IN LINK

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Bali jails have bars

WA’s Aboriginals shuffled off the news by Schapelle Corby   17 May 2006

They’re back.

Who?

The Aboriginals.

For a while there Australia’s media – and thus the nation – had a fleeting and fickle flirtation with Bali and a body board bag containing baddies.

During this time, the plight of Aboriginals became secondary. They drifted from the collective consciousness but they are back – and how.

Places like Halls Creek, Balgo, Kalumburu and Wangkatjungka are tripping off the tongue as we welcome back the indigenous people who no one gave a fig about for some time there.

It was all too exciting. Terrorism on our doorstep, the casting-couch perfection of Schapelle Corby and Michelle Leslie, the hapless members of the Bali Nine and the non-New Idea friendly Renae Lawrence.

No one seemed to remember that their grandparents had probably been warned when they first went overseas that it wasn’t a good idea to take drugs into Asia. Nothing new here.

The mugs lapped it up. All of a sudden the Indonesian judiciary were monkeys and people who smuggled drugs in foreign lands were okay.

People who smuggle drugs in Asia get extinguished. Simple really.

The Aboriginal problem could not compete with this. This was Big Brother in the slammer. Low-rent white kids shown on TV locked up in seedy-looking, foreign jails. The public wanted more … and they got it.

A bit further north another Australian got strung up for possessing heroin. We all had an opinion on this one and it dominated the airwaves and the print media.

Meanwhile, closer to home but not too close as to be offensive, teenagers were raping four-year olds; petrol sniffers were stringing themselves up after comparing their lot with those of other Australians their age; and the mums started hiding their children from the dads – not easy when you’re one of 12 living in the same abode.

Cracks in the Bali romance began to show. A story emerged that parents in Halls Creek were given rewards if their children attended school. That is, they got their welfare money.

Seemed like a good idea but then some politically correct chap or lassie branded it unconstitutional – slightly more official than un-Australian – and the deal was off.

Kids could stay home, mum and dad went back to doing nothing to encourage their children to attend school.

The crack in the Bali story widened. The flirtation with Schapelle (I’m told it’s French for stupid, young white girl but I haven’t checked?) and Bali was over.

I blame Renae, poor thing. She wasn’t media friendly. The Aboriginals’ story got a sniff.

With Bali off the boil and Iraq falling into the “I don’t care” factor, The West Australian sent its man Steve Pennells into the local war zone.

His report – and more importantly his photos – shook the bejesus out of the public, the State Government and the Opposition.

The punters came out strong, some calling for more money, their opposing-opinioned neighbours calling for no grog.

The Opposition said it was a disgrace.

The National Party called for a Select Committee to investigate the problem and have a decision within a month.

The government sent a Minister and some bureaucrats to ride in a tourist coach through town and gawp at the drunk vagrants. No one got out of the bus.

They were back. But they’re no closer to a result because they represent a problem that seemingly has no solution. Blaming successive governments for failure is worthless and wasteful, just like the millions of dollars that has been thrown at the problem.

What Premier Alan Carpenter does now will probably be undone by a future Liberal Government for no reason other than they will assess that previous governments have failed.

Educating children is the beginning. Find a way to ensure they go to school like everyone else. Teach the children to speak English despite the politically correct opinions. Teach them to add up.

If you have to penalise the parents to do it, then do so. As a reward for school attendance, give the children a voucher for fruit, vegetables and meat from the local store. Deduct the voucher’s value from the welfare money.

The idea will receive howls of derision that we are treating the Aboriginals as a different race of people.

Bad luck!

Rather a different race than an extinct one.

They’re back. They’re not going away this time.

Please help them.