the acquisition by the krudd government of freehold ownership of the aboriginal town camp of ilpeye ilpeye on february 1 is but another sickening example of the krudd and henderson governments blatant land grabs, especially around alice springs and darwin.
i do not know the situation landwise in darwin but i have read reports that alice springs is severely contained within its present boundaries and needs more land to expand its tourism sites and housing for its non-aboriginal inhabitants. by taking over the land of the town camps, whether compulsory or otherwise, will allow them to expand those boundaries.
as in communities everywhere there are those who would hasten that prospect occurring. they, of course, will enrich themselves at the cost of those in the towncamps, but as they explain, 'hey, you can't stop progress.'
aboriginal land, like all traditional lands, is normally and historically, communal and is not 'owned' by any individual. in some areas such as papua and a couple of first nation communities where this theft has been allowed to occur, it has failed miserably and caused hardship not only for those 'selling' the land but also the rest of the community.
this is of no concern to the governments that con the traditional owners to accept this fraud. anything that breaks down the communal ethos and ethics is seen, once again, as progress.
what non-aboriginal land-owner would agree to hand over their land without knowing the range of compensation that is going to be given to them. absolutely none. why is it seen as a right for them but not for the traditional owners?
the krudd government has expanded on the howard social engineering agenda of assimilation, to wipe out the concept of native title and to eradicate our black/white history since the invasion 222 years ago.
i am still waiting for the governments of this country to clearly explain why there is a two tier system of funding, one to the aboriginal communities and the other to non-aboriginal australia. why is it seen as normal for governments to fund social programs such as health, housing, education, etc. to non-aboriginal communities, regardless of location or cost, whilst our communities either must give up our lands to governments and mining companies for those same services, or 'pay' for those services out of the miserable royalties paid for the rape of our lands and the theft of our resources. the silence is deafening.
the ntner must continue to be resisted by all means possible, and i do mean 'all means.'
fkj
ray jackson
president
indigenous social justice association.
See "Australian government sets new precedent in Aboriginal land grab" at http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/feb2010/ilpe-f23.shtml, World Socialist Web Site.