Our putative ‘prime minister for Aboriginal affairs’ has made so many mistakes that it’s hard to come to any other conclusion: he does not respect Indigenous culture
Read the full story at the link below.
Australia's Prime Minister, Tony Abbott said to ABC Radio on 10 March 2015 -
“What we can’t do is endlessly subsidise lifestyle choices if those lifestyle choices are not conducive to the kind of full participation in Australian society that everyone should have.”
SEND A STRONG MESSAGE TO PRIME MINISTER ABBOTT & TO THE PREMIER OF YOUR STATE - to continue to provide services
For the postal address or to use an online Contact form, for the Australian Prime Minister, click the Link below:
https://www.pm.gov.au/contact-your-pm
Earlier this year, Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania and Victoria agreed to take over the responsibility of providing services to remote communities, from the Federal Government. Shortly afterward, the West Australian Government said it may have to look at closing some communities.
Around the States
Western Australia - Closures a "wake up" call for better representation of Aboriginal people
Late last year Western Australia accepted a $90 million one-off payment from the federal government to take responsibility for the services, and Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania have reached similar agreements.
Mr Barnett said many of these communities were not only unviable in an economic sense, but were not sustainable because of poor health and education standards and social problems such as domestic violence and child abuse.
[ the Dreaming's response - don't give up on them, Mr Barnett, they are people, not numbers & the colonisers caused these problems in the first place ]
But South Australia refused the offer of a $10 million payment to take over the responsibility.
SA's Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation Minister, Ian Hunter, said the funding offered by the Commonwealth amounted to only three years of funding, and did not recognise that these communities were already under-funded and needed upgrades.
Read more at the Link below.
The State's "Royalties for Regions" funding drawn from mining royalties could be used to contribute toward supporting remote Indigenous communities, but is slated not to be used for this purpose, by the Premier, Colin Barnett - click HERE for more information.
ABC Report - 1 May 2015
The West Australian Government has softened its language about its plan to close scores of remote Aboriginal communities.
Last November, Premier Colin Barnett caused dismay when he said that between 100 and 150 communities would be forced to close.
Today, he would not say how many communities would close but said he expected there would be "significantly less Aboriginal communities" in the years ahead.
Source below:
Northern Territory
The NT Government has not yet indicated if it will agree to the [ Prime Minister's ] offer, but already Labor NT Senator Nova Peris has said the deal looks like that offered the West Australian Government last year.
"We saw the Abbott Government give [WA Premier] Colin Barnett a one-off payment of $90 million to deliver those services to remote communities," Senator Peris told the ABC.
"Colin Barnett came out and said 'we can't do that, it's impossible, so we're just going to shut those communities down'."
NT Chief Minister Adam Giles said his Government supported keeping homelands open and rejected Senator Peris' comments as "unhelpful".
Read more HERE
South Australia
A multi-million dollar deal between the Federal and South Australian governments has secured the future of remote Indigenous communities, but the fate of their Western Australian counterparts remains in limbo.
More than 1500 members of the remote Indigenous communities will be able to remain in their homes under the $15 million agreement, signed by the Federal and South Australian governments on Monday.
Under the deal, the South Australian Government will deliver municipal and essential services - including power, water, and sewage and rubbish collection - to the state’s remote Indigenous communities from July 1.
A compromise announced 13 April will also see the Federal Government continue to pay for services in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara ( APY ) region in the north west of the state for the time being.
Read more HERE
New South Wales
There has been no deal with NSW, which has not received any funding from the Federal government for essential services to remote indigenous communities.