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Tuesday, 24 October, 2000, 20:13 GMT 21:13 UK
Aborigines attack welfare culture
![]() There are 360,000 Aborigines in Australia
Welfare dependency is the major cause of the poverty and alcoholism which has destroyed Aboriginal society, indigenous leaders have told a conference.
Aboriginal lawyer Noel Pearson said the current system had failed and Australia's Aborigines must be encouraged to take responsibility for their own finances, health and education.
Mr Pearson recently said that fuel sniffing was so endemic that "crying infants are silenced with petrol-drenched rags on their faces".
With no job prospects, they turn to alcohol and other drugs, which in turn adds to domestic violence, their leaders say. The conference, attended by indigenous leaders and senior government officials, focused on how the Aborigines' strong family structures could be used to help build economic independence. Culture Aborigines, who number around 360,000 people, remain the poorest and least healthy section of Australian society.
But community leaders said welfare cheques were exacerbating, not solving, the deprivation. Evelyn Scott of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation said welfare had almost totally destroyed Aboriginal culture and an educational process was needed to get them off it.
Another Aboriginal leader, Joe Ross, said the current situation has starved communities of hope. He added: "All our people are on [benefits], with no jobs and no opportunities to aspire to the great Australian dream." |
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