> Australia has one of the most inclusive and affordable health systems in the world. However, the health status of and access to primary health care services by Australia's Indigenous people remains worse than any other sector of Australian society.
So it isn't about singling them out for 'special favours' its about providing them access to services that the rest of Australians have access to.
> For example, in 2001 93 per cent of discrete Indigenous communities had access to electricity compared to 89 per cent of those communities in 1999. In addition, there was a decrease in overflows or leakages from sewerage systems between 1999 (59% of communities with a population of 50 or more) and 2001 (48%). In 2001, 5% of the usual population of discrete Indigenous communities were living in temporary dwellings. This is a decrease from 7% in 1999.
> Nevertheless, the Australian Government acknowledges that there is still much to be done. In many remote and rural indigenous communities housing and related infrastructure are grossly inadequate.
They certainly aren't conditions that non-indigenous people live in in Australia. Not singling them out for special treatment, once more, just trying to advocate that they get their basic needs met similarly to how other Australians are getting their basic needs met.
(reference
http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/indg_education.html
> Also, leaders of the Mutitjulu community in central Australia say there is no need for military occupation. In a statement, the community says the Howard Government declared an emergency at the local health clinic more than two years ago. It says since then, Mutitjulu has been without a doctor, has had health and youth programs cut and the council has been sacked.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2...25/1961522.htm
And so they talk of sending in the military and police to deal with sexual abuse in a place where there is no doctor and where there have been cut-backs to health and youth programs. Banning alchohol and pornography has got to cost the Howard government less than providing doctors etc to be sure...
> The Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre's legal advisor, Michael Mansell, wants the Prime Minister to re-think his response to problems in the Northern Territory. He says by calling in additional police and military personnel John Howard has portrayed Aboriginal people in the Territory as evil. Mr Mansell says the decision is likely to do more harm than good.
> "I can see the old stolen generations behaviour all over again, where Aboriginal people are going to run into the bush with their children to hide them away from these authorities coming in in Landrovers and a whole stream of cars," Mr Mansell said.
[Has anybody seen the movie "rabbit proof fence"? It is a very realistic portrayal of the above situation where children who they thought could pass as 'white' were taken from their parents and placed in orphanages because it was thought they would be better off being raised as unwanted white citizens than with their families. This situation HAS NOT BEEN FORGOTTEN by people who stay well away from the life of the cities]
> "People are just going to be in fear of the very people John Howard's sending in to save them." Meanwhile, Tasmania's Community Development Minister Michelle O'Byrne says there has not been any discussion with states about the plan and she is not convinced it will address health and education concerns.
> But Liberal Senator Richard Colbeck says the Commonwealth has acted swiftly and taken the lead on the issue and the states should be offering help with resources and not bickering about the level of consultation. "My concern would be that the whole thing would have been watered down," Senator Colebeck said. "We would have spent weeks or months talking about what should be happening and it's not just about law and order," he said.
> "It's about attendance at school, it's about health checks for children, it's about removal of pornography from those communities, it's about dealing with the alcohol problems.''
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2...25/1961108.htm
> The Australian General Practice Network (AGPN) says the Government has to be careful it does not create another Stolen Generation as a controversial crackdown on Aboriginal child abuse gets underway in the Northern Territory.
> Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough is meeting senior government bureaucrats in Sydney today to discuss how to implement the Government's reforms, which include compulsory health checks for all Aboriginal children.
> AGPN spokesman Tony Hobbs says the Commonwealth faces a challenge trying to get health professionals for its plan and will need to deploy doctors with an understanding of Indigenous culture.
> Dr Hobbs says the Government must avoid creating another Stolen Generation, and warns that preventing abuse involves a broad range of factors. "There are very broad socio-economic factors at work here," he said.
> "Certainly housing, access to fresh water, access to a variety of fresh foodstuffs, employment - all those [are] really important things which are important in determining social and health outcomes."
> Prime Minister John Howard's reforms also include the banning of pornography, conditional welfare payments, a ban on alcohol and the end of the permit system for entry into local communities.