'The journey has begun'
December 3, 2004 - 12:17PM/the AGE
Prime Minister John Howard agreed today to hold further talks about the plight of Aborigines after meeting former AFL player Michael Long.
Mr Long said after the meeting in Canberra that while he was unable to go into details about the discussions, they were open and honest.
"We obviously had a lot of common ground that we shared on the issues and challenges,'' Mr Long told reporters.
"We're not divided at all (about) the change that needs to work at the local level, we recognise that.
"Obviously the prime minister is prepared to have further talks, so the journey is still beginning."
With plasters covering his badly blistered feet, Mr Long spent more than an hour talking with Mr Howard and fellow Aboriginal leaders, including Pat and Mick Dodson.
Mr Long said he would be happy to join Mr Howard if he decided to visit more indigenous communities to learn more about the difficulties they faced.
"I think a lot of indigenous people would embrace him if he did go and visit more communities," Mr Long said.
"That's what life's about, walking together and understanding in respect of different cultures.
"Obviously the walk has ended but the journey of the nation has begun."
A spokesman for Mr Howard described the meeting as worthwhile.
"There was a lot of common ground," he said.
"They talked about tackling problems in local communities in areas including health, education, work opportunities, alcohol and drug abuse and domestic violence."
The talks with Mr Howard come after the government last month announced hardline changes to the way welfare is paid to Aboriginal families.
The measures, under which indigenous parents could be punished financially for failing to keep their children clean or send them to school, would be part of a plan to link welfare payments to behavioural requirements.
The plans were widely criticised by Aboriginal leaders, including Pat and Mick Dodson.
But today Pat Dodson said today's talks helped clarify issues surrounding the government's plans and the need to let Aboriginal communities solve their problems.
There was a need for governments, communities and businesses to work together to create jobs for Aboriginal people to pull them out of the poverty trap, Mr Dodson said.
"There's no short term fix here," he said.
"This is going to take a generation. It's not one meeting with the prime minister and it all gets fixed.
"If we can build the momentum out of the leadership that Michael's shown ... then it is possible to see changes within a generation instead of the same old lament every time the ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) stats come out.
"We're sick of being statistics."
Mick Dodson said he was encouraged by today's meeting.
"We have been sweeping these problems as a nation under the carpet," he said.
"Michael Long ripped that carpet (up)."
- AAP
Michael Long addresses Victorian caucus
December 7, 2004 - 1:09PM/the AGE
Former AFL footballer Michael Long took his crusade for a new accord on indigenous issues to the Victorian government caucus room on Monday.
Flanked by Victorian Aboriginal leader Paul Briggs, Mr Long told reporters indigenous people were prepared to be accountable for their lives.
"We need to be accountable as indigenous people and we want to be, but we need to be part of the process," he said.
"We want change but we want change together."
However, Mr Long brushed aside direct questions on the "mutual obligation" model put forward at last week's meeting between himself, Prime Minister John Howard and Aboriginal leader Pat Dodson.
Mr Long said such issues would be dealt with by Aboriginal elders.
He also swept away speculation he might enter politics.
"No. I'm just a black man ... what we see is just far too many funerals, far too much destruction in 2004.
"I love what I do in football.
"I'm passionate about football.
"Thank God for sport because it's given me an opportunity in life.
"Politics? - I'll always be interested, I'll always be interested in what's happening to my people."
Mr Briggs, a leader from the Yorta Yorta people of northern Victoria, said indigenous people wanted accountability but they needed skills and resources which they had not gained from welfare.
"The development of an economic base and the development of a social capital base is going to be important in the development of accountability models," he said.
Mr Long met Mr Howard last Friday after the former AFL Essendon footballer walked more than 300km from Melbourne to Albury on the NSW-Victoria to highlight Aboriginal issues and ensure the talks with Mr Howard.
© 2004 AAP
So, at least people are talking, eh?
I KNEW that would be you, k!
Yes, people are talking & there's so much to talk about it's mind-boggling!
<grin>
I love this man and I love his feet, er feat.
I have noticed a big change for the better in attitudes to aboriginals. 10 years ago, at the football, you would hear " black ***" all the time from the crowd. Now you never hear it. It is one of those things, that sitting in front of a computer, this doesn't have the same effect. But i remember, standing at the football, when you hear these things yelled out, it made me feel sick to the stomach. It is so much better now.
Msolga, this man is one of those monumental personalities that WILL cause change for the better. Too bad there doesn't seem to be anyone like that here in the States at the moment.
The similarities between the aborigines and the Native Americans are sadly similar. The Bureau of Indian Affairs has been incompetent to the point of actually doing harm. The movies, history books, old stories of the old west have distorted the perception of Indians here so much that it has been a long, hard struggle to finally get the facts into books instead of copy from film scripts.
In Denver, the statue of a soldier (Chivington) who was responsible for the Sand Creek Massacre was taken down only a couple of years ago. For so long he was considered a hero, when he actually was responsible for the mutilation of women, children and old men, whose body parts were paraded on the main street of Denver shortly after the massacre.
I hope that Michael Long will live on as a hero in the minds of all Australians. God knows the word 'hero' has morphed into something almost unrecognizable, but men like Long will, hopefully, bring back the true sense of the word.
If Long will follow through and build his base of support, the odds are good that real change will take place. The problem, which is something I've learned over many years of legislative meetings for people with developmental disabilities, is that the fight never ends; politicians always find some reason to cut funding or to change methods--and most of these decisions are absolutely arbitrary and usually without merit. The good fight is neverending.
Am I babbling? Guess so, it's late and I'm sleepy. Say goodnight Gracie.
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good luck to him and like you I hope the international press take it up
how very sad and what a lot of damage has been done
No, you're not babbling, Diane. Not at all. What can you say in response to the shocking circumstances that so many aborigines live with daily? At least Long's walk put some focus back on these concerns, via the media. There is so much more happening in here right now that I could include in this thread: deaths in custody, problems with authority, new federal government policy in this area... it is very complex.
Vivien
The problem is that there are so many different theories of how to approach/remedy the "problem". Even Aboriginal leaders have different ideas. I guess this won't become an international issue until something really tragic or sensational happens. That's the way these things seem to go ......
That is the big problem we are facing. Is how do you remedy the situation?
as a young child I always thought, when watching westerns or films on colonial Africa - but it's their country (native Americans/African tribes)!
I went to see the film Soldier Blue years ago and it made me feel sick - himself, then my boyfriend, said let's go for a meal afterwards - I simply couldn't. I think showing films similar to this at schools and getting to the kids young would help. and about the holocaust as well - show them what it can lead to when one group decide that another are sub-human (not suggesting that Oz is heading this way but it is just further down the same path)
Here I live in an overall pretty racially tolerant city. Of course there is some racism because humans are basically not always very nice, but there is no bar to jobs/promotion/education etc and people work together, have cross cultural friendships and the schools work hard to ensure that each culture is aware of the culture of others. Understanding and respect are essential for any progress.
My neighbours are multi coloured. We had the influx from the West Indies many years back, then the Asians from Asia and Africa, then the refugees from the various conflicts in the eastern bloc and more recently the Somalians and others that I can't think of right now. The local primary school had to cope with 17 different 'home' languages at one time.
I live in a very similar inner-city area to you, Vivien. When I walk down Sydney Road to do my shopping I pass almost every variety of nationality to migrate to Australia. We are all migrants in Oz, really. No problem. Apart from the indigenous Australians, who are experiencing the worst deal of any of us, it seems.
The good thing with AFL football is that so many aboriginals play for clubs. On average I think there are 4 per club which equals 64 in the league. What this does is to provide role models and also to highlight problems of concern. because Melbourne has a very small aboriginal population, we perhaps do not have first hand experience of the problems that the more northern states might.
