Indigenous Constitutional recognition about respect

mary wide bay says:

07:23am | 22/11/10

Don’t take this personal Jenny, but can we please stop the waffle and just embrace Originals. Treat them the way we would like to be treated ourselves. Just embrace them as in really.

BK says:

07:36am | 22/11/10

The referendum will definitely be symbolic, just not necessarily successful.

mike says:

08:01am | 22/11/10

Jenny, can your government PLEASE get on with tacking big important issues and start building vital infrastructure instead of faffing around the perimeter with this kind of fluff.

We want improved transportation, better rail links (that high speed rail between Brisbane and Melbourne for example), improved ports and access to foreign markets for business, higher standards of health care. Make out country a better one with improved facilities and a better standard of living. Please, make us feel that the government is doing something substantial.

Markus says:

08:43am | 22/11/10

This is the third Punch article about how momentous Indigenous recognition in the Constitution will be that has failed to provide a single point on how this will change anything.

Suggest one tangible way in which changing the Constitution in this way will improve the lives of Indigenous Australians or improve the relationship between our peoples, and I may reconsider my position.
I won’t be holding my breath.

Rossco says:

09:01am | 22/11/10

I will lol when this referendum fails on it’s big fat arse. Aboriginals are already Australians and are already reconised in the constitution. All non-Aboriginal Australians for the most part just want everyone to be treated the same and recognised equally, they dont want special mentions to particular sections of the community.

I already respect the Aboriginal people, I dont need some fancy symbolic bullshit lines of text in a constituion to realise that.

But sure if special mention is really that bloody necessary then go for it, it just wont achieve anything at all except further dividing the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities.

Anjuli says:

09:20am | 22/11/10

While out walking around the park I saw a boy climbing a tree ,he would have been about 10 years of age he was after a nest I asked him not to raid it as it had young in it .the first thing he snapped back Is it because I’m black !.The sooner they get this chip off their shoulders and start respecting themselves and others the sooner they will earn the respect of those around them.
As for housing we live in a area where the Aboriginal service must have bought up some homes and put their people in them well one family took all the doors of and had a gathering in the back garden while the kids were on pieces of card board sliding from the roof the once beautiful home was soon made to look as if it had been under attack.Thankfully the council took notice of the people who signed a partition and move the problem to some where else which is not the answer . The children of this family also wasted a lot of the teachers time at school dealing with their antics .
They are not all like this but it is families such as these that take the gloss off those who are really trying to get ahead of the game.

Barry says:

09:57am | 22/11/10

Im happy to recognise Aboriginal Australia in the constitutuion but it would be a silly not to also recognise every other race that has called Australia home as well. Identify a single race out as special drives a wedge between them and us.  If it is a symbolic gesture like the sorry issue fair enough but nothing good will come of identifiying one race being special than another and in some way it also the core of racism.

acker says:

10:16am | 22/11/10

Another smokescreen by this Minister who has failed to deliver on earlier funded promises of providing new housing in remote indigenous communities.

Jotun says:

10:17am | 22/11/10

This will do nothing to increase respect. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that this referendum will once and for all entrench the idea many have begun to develop over time - indigenous / Aboriginal people in this country are special, are to be pandered to and need to be looked after by everyone else.

This is the next step in dehumanising these people and praising them for nothing more than being complicit in the kicks and punches they took until the end of the White Australia era.

They do not want to be a part of wider Australian society, they want it to disappear. This government should be opening society’s doors to them, not putting them up on a pedestal to be admired like a mantelpiece artefact.

Tombowler says:

10:57am | 22/11/10

The problem is the referendum has the potential to create a further false divide:

When it fails it will appear that there is a strong racist element in Australia when it is more likely that people (such as myself) will vote against it because of the symbolic nature and inherent racism in building false walls between two communities that must essentially be one community in order to prosper.

jane wallace says:

10:59am | 22/11/10

if the aborigines get respect from the australian government, they will be the first australians to do so.

Trish Leehan says:

11:01am | 22/11/10

Ms. Macklin:

Would you please detail the concrete quantitative changes for the better we saw for Australian Aborigines under your government?

Thank you.

Trish Leehan says:

11:03am | 22/11/10

Also, if Aboriginal Australians are to be granted EXTRA respect for having been the “first Australians,” does it follow that later waves of Australians are to be granted less and less respect, until we get to the “Latest Australian” (ie our most recent citizens) who should probably be spit on for their low status?

And how does that fit in with your refugee/asylum seeker schemes?

jim morris says:

11:12am | 22/11/10

It is comforting to read how many people see the waffle for what it is but the political class are hopelessly entrapped and the wasting of billions of dollars will continue into the indefinite future. Honesty has become an endangered species and if you speak the truth you may pay for it for the rest of your life.

Daryl says:

11:22am | 22/11/10

Do Aboriginal leaders/elders recognise our constitution? What about getting some respect from them for our constitution? If they wont recognise it, what’s the bloody point mentioning them in it. Will this move end the calls for a treaty and for a separate Aboriginal state? Will the tent city be removed as a result?

This move is a bit like having one welfare state for Aboriginals and one for the rest of the population. It’s divisive and descriminatory to the 98% of the population who are not aboriginal.

Sharyn Wills says:

11:42am | 22/11/10

I feel we are patronising the first inhabitants.  Since the title of Australian of the Year came into being, how many Aboriginal winners have there been?  Work this out as a percentage of the winners and then work out the percentage of Aborigines as opposed to the rest.  There is a large discrepancy.

John L says:

11:56am | 22/11/10

We are all Australians and should be recognised equally, no matter which failed culture we come from

MarK says:

12:51pm | 22/11/10

Oh dear Jenny.

Not one positive or supportive comment to date.

Jenny, give Julia a call. Tell her you need a new Unicorn. This one is running out of puff before the race starts.

simon says:

12:54pm | 22/11/10

is there a chance of you replying to any of this fair criticism Mrs Macklin or do the 100% of comments who think this is usual Canberra bullshit scare you off?

Tombowler says:

02:40pm | 22/11/10

Massive cred to the punchers here…

Whether your a dirty unwashed hippy, or a minke-coat wearing baby seal clubbing capitalist we can all agree that this does NOTHING for the aboriginal population and creates false division in the community.

I argue that the unity AGAINST this ridiculous, “symbolic” empty vessel is a greater sign of tolerance and respect than any constitutional bauble that is offered.

Kelly says:

03:24pm | 22/11/10

Yep they’ll get my respect when they start to respect themselves. Act the way in which you would like others to act. Be the person you would like others to be.
Also, I would like to know at what point in the history of this nation can non-Indigenous Australian born citizens be allowed to consider this our ‘homeland’.... I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m tired of being treated like an unwanted outsider in my own country of birth by certain factions.

Trish P says:

03:53pm | 22/11/10

Oh Jenny - do you REALLY believe that misguided nonsense? Is it another excuse to pay unnecessary wages and expenses to unnecessary people for an unnecessary outcome? Do you REALLY believe that symbolism and pandering is what Indigenous/Aboriginal Australians need to make their lives better? “I am hopeful that this is an issue that will unite people and allow us to formally recognise the unique contribution Indigenous Australians have made to our nation” - oh really? How can you unite people by splitting Aboriginal/Indigenous people off from the rest of Australians and THEIR unique contributions?? Get a grip Jenny - if you really believe this stuff you need to get out more.

Hans says:

11:26pm | 22/11/10

I demand that Europeans be given special mention in the constitution. How about something like ‘turning a desert wasteland into a place where every race wanted to come and live just so they could complain how racist these nation building white devils were’.

Dan says:

12:46am | 23/11/10

If we really need to keep apologising to Aboriginals for settling this country and attempting to bring them out of the Stone-Age.
How about instead of continuing to patronise them with meaningless words and half-arsed attempts at saying we are sorry, the government asked everyone who considers themselves to be an Aboriginal if they’d prefer it if everything was as it was before Whites et al came here.
Those who say “no” can continue to be treated like everyone else it by the government and society, while those who say “yes” can have areas put aside for them to live their traditional way, after all this is a big country places can be found.

However anyone who chose to say “yes” would have to give up things like; Medical Care, anything made of metal (correct me if I’m wrong but they didn’t have metals pre-settlement did they), computers, phones, watches calanders, matches and lighters, pre-packaged food and drink, houses, any “rights” at all bar what they give one another, access to welfare/government help and I suppose we’d have to get a promise from the first generation to not teach any children anything that wasn’t around 223 years ago.
While I am aware that this may be expensive at first, at least in the end everyone could put the issue behind them and get on with their lives

Ian says:

12:56am | 23/11/10

So wait, you want me to give them special treatment because of the colour of their skin?

Erm…. No?

mags says:

08:51am | 23/11/10

Respect is a two way thing. If real aboriginal people have respect for themselves and the rest of the people of this country, then respect will flow back to them. There are many who attract that respect ,such as Noel Pearson, who actually DO something about bettering the lot of those of his race.

I don’t know about the rest of you but I’m heartily sick and tired of the divisions in our society caused by the bleeding hearts who are using the issue of aboriginality as another in a long line of meaningless causes. As for Jenny Macklin, how about getting the job done that you were given instead of blathering on about another time and money wasting effort that will, as usual, accomplish nothing of value.

resh says:

12:30am | 24/11/10

Its all fine to day the there should be no difference between “Australians” and “Aboriginals” and that real racism lies in this distinction, however, it is undeniable that any issue affects different demographics, differently. Why is it that people constituted as belonging to the Indigenous demographic have shorter lifespans, access to less significantly education and employment and thus turn to alcoholism and drugs making them more susceptible to disease and illness? You can say that this is their own doing but you can’t argue with the fact that mainstream “Australianism”, the one that constitutes most of Australia’s public policy and opinion came about heavily influenced from a European-liberal background. Very little of mainstream Australia has acknowledged or been influenced by much of Indigenous culture, philosophy or history. So does this mean that we nullify this distinction? Do we expect them all to move to the city and assimilate so we can ‘rid’ them of their problems while we make the Indigenous uniqueness obsolete? How about acknowledging the damage that has been done by mainstream Australia to this demographic as a step towards a peaceful negotiations and coexistence between the many identities in Australia. It is not patronizing, it is recognition. The largest obstacle Indigenous people face is trying to define their place in society. They are expected to pick up the pieces which outsiders to their cultures and traditions dismantled long ago (without any provocation). Furthermore they are expected to do so fitting into a well established system that has left them far behind, desperately uneducated in how to ‘catch up’. Giving them a house or free vaccinations does not do anything to show them that their identity as unique Australians has any value or place in mainstream Australia. Its easy to homogenize Australian identity when you are a part of the majority. Try living as a young, female indigenous youth in a rural town for a couple of years and then tell me how you see yourself as being “Australian” and how Australia sees you in return.

A. Penrith says:

01:05pm | 25/11/10

there is a vast difference between Aboriginal and Australian, there in lies the issue, imposing a foreign culture upon Aboriginal Australians is genocide. The inability to live our own way of life and continually be subject of overhaul and scrutiny and social engineering is why young Aboriginal Australians dont perceive themselves as having the right to be different. Id recommend learn your history, its the blue print of this nation. I dont support the constitutional changes as are. I believe if Australia wants to deal with this issue correctly its important that they enable real change, not lipservice. Real change would mean empowerment legally, socially economicly and the right to independence for our cultural continuity. Australian governments of past and present have been very seductive if not out right racist in their threatment of Aboriginal Australians.  Just because our generations are lacking political dexterity, it doesnt translate that former generations have been, it doesnt give us the right to belittle their continued struggle and self indulge. This is a path we have taken far too lightly. We have a legacy to uphold and responsibility to maintain. Too many people sitting back on their nintendo’s not informing themsleves on their own history and claiming an “intelligence” which is really based on ignorance complacency and laziness. Our old people had their guts kicked in for us to be educated to have the right to choose our future on OUR terms.
I want for my future generations to inherit a treaty, as oppose to this constitutional shift and for many decades so have the majority of our peoples. Treaty is regconition in its entitled format. We are soveriegn people and this proposed constitutional change is absolutley patronizing. Its also embarrassing to see how little we value the hard work of our ancestors and poor understandings of how our decisions will impact future generations. Respect is not something we should have to jump hoops for, Australia is Aboriginal land and this question of constitutional shift is really about legitimizing landgrabbers who have built wealth of the back of our dispossession and the inept and ridiculously conservative “nationalist” leadership of persons like Noel Pearson and Larisssa Beherendt. Howards era of political tyranny was instrumental in displacing real leadership on Aboriginal affairs in this country, but then that is the true constitutional legacy of Australia. Displacing truth.

Billigflug Vergleich Testsieger says:

09:35pm | 31/03/12

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