More Responses From the OPI enjoyed your post, Hobbes.I have...

More Responses From the OP

I enjoyed your post, Hobbes.I have great sympathy and empathy for indigenous peoples and all that they have suffered as a result of European settlement. I have no time for the argument that this was an event of 200 years ago and doesn't matter today. It does matter today. I recognise and acknowledge that indigenous people are still feeling the effects of that event, and many have suffered great cruelty. I do not believe there should be a time limit to acknowledging that. I do believe however that the discussion should not begin and end with that event. Seeking solutions/remedies is every bit as worthy a subject. The more indigenous people contribute to that discussion, the more power they will have over their own destiny.

Maybe, just maybe, the organisation you work for is doing something that discourages Indigenous people applying for jobs, or 'buying' the organisation. Too often Indigenous staff are used as the go-between person in service delivery, not fully valued for what they contribute. Could that be happening in your organisation?

And you know where all the money goes? Predominantly to non-Indigenous employees, contractors and government officials. Non-Indigenous contractors often bowl in to these remote areas, (sometimes employing a few local Aboriginal people), build houses designed by non-Indigenous people, for non-remote community needs and wants, and leave nothing in the community but essentially inappropriate housing, a lack of skills, perpetuating a lack of self-respect amongst the locals, and leave town with pockets full of cash.