It would appear that this a topic where 'angels' fear to tread - not without good reason, as it is 'fashionable' to label anyone racist if they criticise a person, or a group, that is of another race or colour than themselves.
Having said that, there is no doubt in my mind that racism exists in Australia, just as it exists in most other countries, however, the 'race card' is also often played by many as an easy out in a discussion.
In the case of David Gulpilil, I think that he is more a victim of alcoholism than he is of racism - he received a 2 month jail sentence for his sixth drink driving conviction.
There is no doubting that he is a brilliant actor, in a minimalistic sense, by virtue of his animated facial expressions. In real life, David does come across as a 'good bloke' in the manner of 'a bit of a larrikan'.
He has had a bit of a stint of living the 'good life' in Melbourne, Sydney & Noosa, going through a fair bit of the money that he had earned. The rest of it went to relatives, friends & hangers on. With most of the money gone, he returned to Ramingining, where it appears that he hasn't been well accepted by most of the aboriginal community.
He has made claims that he has been ripped off by the film industry, by not being paid very much. I would have thought that he would be in the same situation as any other actor, by being able to negotiate his fee for a film & the film company negotiating to pay him what they thought it was worth to have him in the film then a contract is signed. Obviously, the actor asks for as much as he can get & the film company offers as least as they can to secure the actors services, otherwise they look elsewhere.
Like you, I can't see how he is entitled to a 'free' house from the government - I'm sure that other aboriginals, or other Australians for that matter, aren't given a 'free' house.
I found the end of the interview strange - when the interviewer acclaimed David as a "national treasure" & an "icon", he replied, "Thank you brother, you are the only one who told me. No one has told me about myself before." I found that strange, as he has been awarded the Order of Australia for services to the arts & I have read many reviews acclaiming his acting abilities.
As I said in the beginning, it is a touchy subject.
