Sorry i thought the point was something else, i thought we were trying to learn and understand each others countries, the laws, prisons and it's people.
In every post i have made here, i have tried to convey to you that while the stats maybe correct in the links, many are out dated and have been improved on. I have shown this in links i have posted. Government spending in mental health is up over 22% on this years budget, Sorry Day reconciliation, how many are actually incarcerated. It is much more than the lip service you perceive it to be.

No where in my thought process do i think America an "evil empire." What i am trying to do is learn and i can only do that by asking questions, seeking opinions. But every time i do this it is seen in your eye's to be attacking America, throwing stones or trying to find fault.
Asha, i honestly think it wouldn't matter what i said to you, i feel your perception of me and my motives is not the same as how *I* feel about your country and those that reside their.

__________________
The last of all freedoms is the ability to choose one's attitude in a given set of circumstances.
G. W. Allport.

Wanted to add...no edit button.......

And i am sorry if i have lead you to believe other wise.

__________________
The last of all freedoms is the ability to choose one's attitude in a given set of circumstances.
G. W. Allport.

As of now, I am closing this thread For further Review.

__________________
I need coffee

I DO agree with Asha on this subject. Regardless of the age of the links, they do provide information that shows where Australia has at least been.

Even in present years, The UN deemed the Australian Government to be a racist government. To me, that act alone speaks volumes.

It really makes me wonder what life is really like, when your government is deemed to be that way. While I understand that racism is everywhere, It usually isn't the country, or the government that are deemed that way, but people who have views that are a bit off that are that way. I really wonder if ALL people are treated fairly over there, as the government and their views impact the whole country.

__________________

I agree Skye. Not to mention that MANY of these atrocities have occurred in the last 40 years. I’m not saying that Australia is not a wonderful country. No one has ever said that. I’m sure Sydney is an incredible city and I would LOVE to visit there someday so I could get a very real perspective on some of these issues. My point was that it’s a little nicer if you are a wealthy white living there. If you are an indigenous person, eh, not so much.

__________________
"Thats it then, they will go on double, secret, probation..."

I agree. Each country has it's flaws, and pretty much being wealthy anywhere doesn't hurt. . . but to have the treatment based upon your skin color is absurd. In current times, it really seems like they haven't evolved with time in that aspect.

I would really love to travel over there and experience their 'culture' with my own eyes, but I don't know if that day will come anytime soon. I have done pretty much all of our continent so, who knows where my journey to see the world will lead me next.

__________________

Asha you want to go to Sydney to experience our culture? That's rather funny. I think you may want to expand your horizons a bit more. go a bit inwards and northwards if you want a clear understanding of our indigenous frineds.

Figures lie. When you want to put a particular agenda forward Statistics can be anything you want them to be, and show anything you want them to show.

To understand the unique cultures in Australia you have to understand each and every one of them. This takes time, a long time.

I grew up with our indigenous friends and I can tell you right now the average Australian is not a racist to the point of other nations (yes granted there is bickering sometimes) but we still had old laws on the books and old government understandings. Our prime minister was voted in one three major issues. One of which was "sorry day". and what's important to understand is that it was not australia or white australia that siad sorry....It was a sorry based on government policies. the government said sorry on behalf of the government. Our indigenous situation is a unique one, on the one hand you have blacks in the cities growing up white. and are being encouraged to find their black roots and culture. You also have to understand that there are still indigenous children outback who have never seen a white man. Then you have those caught in the middle of two very seperate cultures, who are neither one or the otherbut each culture forcing themselves on them

I can tell you right now that it takes triple the time to process a black than it does a white when arrested. Their are special cultural considerations to implement, and people that have to be contacted. and I can tell you right now that when an elder is woken at two in the morning he really couldn't give two hoots about having to advocate for the latest drunkeness of the offender . You'd be surprised at how hard they are on there own people.

We have a voluntary (prison/ court order holding area) where I live. It is purely indigenous and they can choose to be there or walk out. It's experimental at the moment and just to process any mishaps in that facility, there are firstly tribal representatives to contact, (because individuals can be from different tribes) then the elders and then the family representatives and spokesman. No one else in the entire country gets that kind of preferential treatment.

And no Skye the government does not impact the whole country. Australia doesn't work that way. There is very little outward patriotism, "and government knows best" in this country. That is not how we do things here. The majority of Australians were shocked at some of the information that came out ............it was covered up or hidden from us and the media.

My mother was one of those people who took in some of those so called stolen generation kids. Granted at one point in time there was wholesale taking of children but there was also neglect and infanticide in tribes that didn't like the mixed blood as well. It depended at one time in who's mob you were a part of.
There have been also circumstances of tribes mistreating their own and where recently the army was sent in to oversee some pretty major crisis situationsbrought on by themselves not whites. People say this is the governments fault for not allowing whites into closed communities. Our government decided to give some mobs exclusive rights to cut themselves off but then that turned into an out of site out of mind scenario. There are many many blacks here who do not want interference from whites at all . And people from overseas see videos etc of black children covered in flies and naked and playing in the dirt and somehow come up with the word "poverty" and want to trounce in there and put clothes on them and feed them western food and make them go to school and then are shocked when they agian take their clothing off throw away the food and pick up and leave the area.

So as you can see our problems are unique to us and it's not a 'one size fits all' situation. It just simply doesn't work that way.

And our government was deemed a racist government because of our immigration policies which will be phased out as well under this new government. The UN only criticsed us because our government at the time criticised another countrys indigenous policies.

May I suggest some reading , firstly "white fella black fella". To get a basis from history found in the forgotten Victorian state parliament archives in recent years. That should open your eyes a bit. Then there is "Mabo" and land rights. Then you need to investigate the Torres Strait Islander cultures and history which are different again. Youtube should have recordings of an aboriginal show called "message stick" i watch that show myself it's very informative and interesting.

Enslavement was mentioned earlier ..........well it's not a very huge leap to enslave aboriginals when most of the white population were enslaved as well and the basis of this countries foundations. Seems people tend to forget that.

And yeah Smiley I cried too. Like a baby

thank you megsy for your input xxx whiterose.

__________________
be nice to the people on your way up,because you will meet them again on your way down

Megsy just wanted to thank you for taking the time to post. I smiled knowing the things you shared, especially .........

There are many many blacks here who do not want interference from whites at all . And people from overseas see videos etc of black children covered in flies and naked and playing in the dirt and somehow come up with the word "poverty" and want to trounce in there and put clothes on them and feed them western food and make them go to school and then are shocked when they again take their clothing off throw away the food and pick up and leave the area.

That is the truth in FULL. Sometimes at first glance we get the wrong picture, until we actually care to take the time to learn and understand another, their culture and life without putting our own meanings into the equation. Enjoyed the read.

__________________
The last of all freedoms is the ability to choose one's attitude in a given set of circumstances.
G. W. Allport.

Good God what a thread, how dare you people judge Australia, you guys have far more issues than we ever could!