jayr

and Dame Joan Sutherland

and would you say Charles Kingford Smith was internationally famous (for having roads approaching airports named after him)?

notice no-one has mention little Johhny Howard yet...

Megalania

Local Heroes:

Famous Australians

(Barrie Humphy???)

loose

I hope I am Florida, i really do. Just thought your post was a bit pointless.

however - I was in a bad mood, and apologise for calling you a tool.

Amazulu

I mean't Internationally famous Aboriginies. Freeman is the only one I know.

datamile

Went to the http://www.tjapukai.com.au/ centre is cairns with the kids.

Had my daughter (age 4) in tears after watching a film of the Aboriginal history over the last 200 years. The shootings , forced missionaries, taking of children etc.

Hard things to explain to a child.

MrsDagboy

But famous for what? Does famous mean that everyone in the world knows who they are? The whole phrase is too ambiguous. Who are you comparing them to? Kylie Minogue? I bet there are millions of people in the world who havent heard of her. So I guess shes not really *internationally* famous either?

Fame is something that is almost exclusively reserved for royalty, top sportspeople, actors & rockstars. A very select few. On the other hand there are many internationally successful people on that list. I think anyone who is recognised in their field on an international level can be labelled "internationally successful". Certainly anyone who is an olympic competitor or has played sport at an international level would qualify wouldnt they? People world acclaimed in their field, whatever it may be? There are five international sportspeople on that list just for a start.

Your definition seems to only include popstars & actors. If I asked you to name 25 people from England who are famous (from say, the last 20 years), but excluding rockstars/actors etc as above, I bet I wouldnt know half of them either. Ditto for France. Germany. Im an aussie, I know of all of those people that I mentioned. Yes, compared to Kylie Minogue, they arent "famous". But I dont think that you can say that they arent internationally known or successful.

Their successes are just as important as any "white" australians.

Florida_03

Sorry if it appeared out of context. It always seems that any discussion of Australian Aboriginals will eventually lead to accusations of generalised blame for their treatment and predicament.

This blame is usually laid at the feet of all Australians. My point (in highlighting poverty and health concerns in Wales) was that the poor treatment (past and present) of the underprivileged in society (and their apparent invisibility) is not uniquely Australian.

sdwis

Florida_03 is bringing the original point back to the forefront, which is the unjust treatment and reduction in population of indigenous people all over the world. Even here in the US, if we were asked to name "famous" people claiming Native American(Indian) heritage, the only people that would come to most minds would be Wayne Newton or Cher.

WBB

flo, i dont think you can really compare welsh people to the indigenous people of australia, different ball game mate.

Florida_03

You are right, there is a fundamental difference. Whereas, the Australian aboriginals maintain a contemporary culture which relates directly to their traditional culture, the welsh have not. However the aspects of poverty, lack of access and opportunity, and health remain common.

loose

You're right, certain aspects are constant, however I think the causes in Wales are similar to any capitalist country. There will always be the haves and have nots, but the reasons and causes are very different to those experienced by indigenous races and historical oppression.

(I am sorry about jumping down your throat yesterday tho!! )

WBB

the same could be said of the scots, irish or english, what is your point?

MikeStanton

I guess it had to happen sometime. I agree with WBB (no that is not a typo) that it is a different 'ball game'

How can you seriously compare the lot of the Welsh and the indigenous Australians? If you want to attempt a comparison, do it with the moral values that we have today.

So let's look at today.

Since when did the Welsh have an average life expectancy 20 years below the rest of the UK?

Florida_03

I am not sure that the reasons and causes are that different. There is no denying the past but why do the problems persist? You cannot continue to look at historical issues to explain what happens today. There may be a cultural aspect but does that explain why Australian aboriginals continue to suffer? Does their culture amplify the same problems that are faced by others living in poverty?

In today's Australian...

Editorial: Latham puts ATSIC out of its misery

April 01, 2004
MARK Latham's decision to consign ATSIC to the historical dustbin shows the Labor leader at his best: innovative, unconventional and free-thinking. The announcement gazumps the Howard Government, which is planning an overhaul of the peak Aboriginal body within weeks. What is most important in Mr Latham's decision, however, is that, with its power to allocate funds already gone, ATSIC now loses the final plank of its political support. The organisation is history.

ATSIC, a failed experiment of the Hawke government, is unique in the Westminster tradition. With its commissioners elected on a racially restricted basis, until recently it was given direct responsibility for a portion of the federal budget. It is simultaneously an adviser to the executive arm of the federal government and a representative body. Lack of commitment and interest by Aborigines, which meant their representatives were elected by only a handful of votes, has rendered ATSIC vulnerable to a partisan, clannish, pork-barrelling culture that has resulted in a long string of rorts and flawed decisions. As recently as last month, ATSIC decided to kick in $85,000 to support the campaign by its suspended chairman, Geoff Clark, to hold on to his $240,000-a-year job, and also decided on an expensive High Court challenge to the Government's removal of its direct authority over $1.2 billion worth of indigenous programs.

These people have completely lost the plot. But what really condemns ATSIC is the fact that, as a Productivity Commission report last November put it, the conditions of Aboriginal life have "deteriorated or regressed" during the 15 years ATSIC has been operating. Mr Latham has been honest enough to recognise this, ignoring those on the Labor Left who have kept faith in the centralised, and segregationist, vision that ATSIC embodies long after it was abandoned by a new generation of Aboriginal leaders. Whatever the complexion of the next government, assistance to Aborigines will now be delivered along the lines suggested in The Australian last April by Cape York leader Noel Pearson: at a regional level, where indigenous leaders are best equipped to respond to the needs of communities, and where the problems are so acute that a massive national bureaucracy is too clumsy to respond to them.

prankster

I've just got to say jayr... God that Avatar looks familiar!