Do you think that aborigines are equally represented in the political system in Australia?
on what metric?
are you simply refering to population percentage to minister percentage.
i will say, hand on my heart, that the political will is there, im not sure what percentage of Australians 26(is it?) Million people are of first nations heritageā¦but i think there is real political and community will to make amends for past transgressions.
i dont want to backed into a corner here and make it seem like im defending conservatives viewsā¦im notā¦
one thing i always say though, and i understand the (historical and current)complications of the statementā¦ but what if we all had a right to this land?..
what if i could belong to this land as much as a person of first nations heritage, wouldnt that be good?
what if the two kids born tomorrow morning at 7amā¦one a child of greek and italian decendants and one a child of first nations and irish, had exactly the same spiritual ties to this land? wouldnt that be good?
i like to think(hope, maybe a better word) that my childrens generation will be bought up where its a non issueā¦the same way they look at women in sports, at homosexuality, at racismā¦as if the discrimination is an out dated process from an era long pastā¦
Do you think that ANY first-nations communities worldwide are equally represented in their respective governing bodies?
My father-in law made a couple of interesting statements. First, he said that growing up in the 60s and 70s the thought was that there would be no such thing as religion in the future. Second, that in the 80s when the wall came down, the notion was that it would be the end of history, that the great war was won and there would be no more conflictā¦ I hope we will change but oftentimes/more and more now, the more we change the more we are the same and that there is nothing new under the sun - sadly.
Obviously not, but that doesnāt mean that nothing should be done. There are alternatives. Compare the situation of the MÄori in Aotearoa for example. Not perfect, but certainly better.
Why canāt you? Why canāt they?
Spiritual connection to the land is something we can definitely learn from the Aborigines. Pre-Christian societies in Europe had that relationship with nature, but it has been lost.
I donāt see why any of that would make you vote against a measure which aims to begin the process of healing between the communities.
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I donāt know the specifics in Australia but in our region here, we also have the original people. In Singapore, we are very careful in handling policies regarding the rights of the original people of our land, giving them certain privileges and help so that they have every chance to succeed as like every other Singaporean, but yet not to the point where it becomes counter productive like allegedly in one of our neighbouring countries, their original people policies had instead been accused of discrimination against the other ālaterā races that came to the country and for some of the original people to stop being productive and leech off the system.
I guess for me the important thing, in acknowledging the rights of the land like any of their spiritual rights of certain regions and their contributions to building of a nation, it is also equally important that the original people must have the support of policies to give them every equal chance to succeed in Australia. I think that is also as important as having a voice in government.
Just curious and perhaps ignorance, couldnāt the committee be setup by means of policies instead of a referendum? I also find it strange that they are saying if you do not vote yes, it closes the door to move forward. Isnāt it the government role to ensure with or without a referendum, they need to devise policies benefitting the original people in the context of the country?
theres no reason why they cant.
id argue not every first nations person has maintained a connection to the land either. infact, the very thought that someone born in the same birth year as me, has some etheral connection to the land that i dont have based solely on a happenstance of birth, is actually a bit on the nose.
no issue with the final statement apart from to suggest the word ābeginā is incorrectā¦surely weāve already began that processā¦have we been successful? perhaps not, but to be honest, the first steps need to be taken in the hearts and minds of the people of the nationā¦in my local community, this is definately the caseā¦the process has definately began, and began before this referendum.
do i have an issue with the first nations people having a direct voice to parliment?..no.
do i think its a good idea?..in theory, yes.
do i think its as pivotal to reconciliation as suggestedā¦probably not.
am i concerned about the framing of the narative from both sides of the debate and do i think it will polarise opinion?..yes.
i hope that assistsā¦
What are your concerns about the framing of the narrative?
Obviously it has polarised opinion, but why is that when itās a measure that is not unreasonable?
Who is likely to be adversely affected by it? Mainly mining companies. Are they likely to be agitating for a no vote? Absolutely.
Should aboriginal people do more to improve their lot? Undoubtedly, and many are, but they are a people who lived for 70,000 years in harmony with their environment until the Europeans came and destroyed everything they had. Itās no wonder that their community is damaged. Surely itās incumbent on the part of society that has benefited so massively from this interaction to do anything it can to redress the balance.
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the problem is their system of living is irreparably damaged. western society has invaded with a monetary system which doesnāt work with their standard of trade. go back to when the Americas were invaded, the indigenous communities traded with the colonials at first. that is how they ādid businessā.
Now that first nations society has been forced into a system of having to generate revenue to survive over the past 150+ yrs, whereas before their ways didnāt have āmoneyā.
They were a stone age pre-agrarian society without all the benefits and deficits that came with the adoption of agriculture.
In many ways agriculture enslaved the people who lived in societies which adopted it.
It was a Pandoraās box, once opened never to be closed again, but for the planet it has been a disaster.
definitely a double-edged sword, but so has every major advancement that mankind has achieved since fire.
Very few understand how difficult it can be for some of these societies who have spent thousands of years (tens of thousands?) as hunter-gatherers, then be thrown into a western culture that relies on trade and commerce system which was really invented so the ruling parties can TAX the commoners to gain riches.
we all know, the systemās a fucking sham. itās no wonder that indigenous cultures think weāre stupid.
If youāve never watched āThe Gods Must Be Crazyā, Iād highly recommend it.
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I think people in general are stupid.
disagree. Think people have been conditioned to ignore critical thinking.
I gave a 
for the general post, but this needs its own 
Seriously feel sad for todays youth who will never know such genius
The latter ones arenāt as good as the first two 
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The sequel is rarely as good as the first of a series, unless itās been written to be broken up into parts.
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Thereās A Certain Bleak Beauty To These Abandoned Places In Australia (msn.com)
BTW - Shouldnāt the thread title Downunder be two words not one, as in Down Underā¦ 
Nah, itās all one word meaning the Antipodes.