Headlines Tuesday 6th January 2009

Patronising pollies just don’t quite get it
Piers Akerman
SADDLED with the legacy of past Labor government’s failed Aboriginal policies, the Rudd Government is about to pump a further $30 million into remote communities in yet another job creation project, Working on Country.

Former rock star Peter Garrett, a one-time member of the elite group of Labor’s super celebrity candidates, and now minister for Very Little of Any Importance announced last week that jobs and training would be provided for more than 80 “indigenous” rangers, in addition to the 130 indigenous ranger positions already created under Rudd Labor’s environmental scheme.

Under the school-marmish and politically correct governance of uber-bureaucrat Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, the word “indigenous”, when capitalised, is now officially meant to describe only those Australians of Aboriginal and Torres Strait heritage, not as is universally accepted “people born in a region”.

While it is recognised the level of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander unemployment is, in some areas, as great as Middle East immigrants in parts of Sydney, the creation of ranger-style jobs panders to the old Labor view that Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders are best employed in positions which fit the stereotype of the romantic hunter-gatherer with mystical ties to the land.

Said Garrett: “With these latest projects, we continue to provide real employment opportunities for indigenous people in remote and regional communities.

“Indigenous men and women from South Australia, Western Australia, Queensland and NSW will be part of unique ranger groups who work in some of Australia’s harshest and most remote environments that cover millions and millions of hectares.”

The funding comes from the Rudd Government’s $2.25 billion Caring For Our Country scheme, which was introduced after it dismantled the Natural Heritage Trust. - This is Rudd at his bureaucratic best. I can almost hear Garret singing “The ALP Cabinet gives the nod. It’s a setback for your country.”
Basically, these rangers will walk the countryside with a permit to face developers and say ‘no’ for no reason.
We haven’t been allowed an education, but we are to apply modern scientific understandings to environmental issues based on no actual knowledge beyond gut feeling .. that is how the Global Warming issue began.
I have Aboriginal ancetry but have never had Aboriginal heritage .. no way my US vowels would find recognition from a family we’d forgotten. Still, maybe I could look up Rudd’s definition of heritage to see if I fit. I could do with some outside walking. I could visit my neighbors and say ‘no.’ - ed.
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