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Is it any wonder?

Once again the state of our aboriginal people, and issues affecting them personally and their place in the community, is in the news. Politics aside and the usual blame-game in various quarters, there clearly are critical issues which require urgent attention - health, inter-personal matters, housing, customary law, etc. etc.

When one reads this report in The Australian today one does have to ask - is it any wonder that matters such as crime and poor health are rife?:

"More than 40 of the 205 houses in the Hopevale Aboriginal community north of Cooktown in Cape York are "not fit for animals to live in", council mayor Greg McLean has warned.
Health inspectors have condemned 43 of the homes, but people have nowhere else to live, so they stay there - in some cases accommodating up to 27 people.

Mr McLean said 20 of the homes were more than 40 years old and were built in the days when Hopevale was run by the Lutheran missionaries, with every part of the building containing asbestos."

Read the full article here. But then, question where the blame for all this mess lies? The churches, State Governments, the Federal Government, well-meaning but misguided individuals or aboriginal people themselves?

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