Throughout our modern world, we are seeing people being thrown into a battle over land rights. It seems strange to me that the welfare of the land is becoming a secondary issue to money. Much like parents bickering over who gets custody of the kids. It is no longer about the land. It is about the money. The power. Control.
And the people who prosper? Well, it's not really black or white, is it?
Australia is heading to the courtroom later this year in a custody battle that is turning ugly and becoming more divisive by the day. It will ultimately end in divorce proceedings and the separation of the aboriginal " mother " and the rest of us, also known as " Dad ". Without " Dad " Australia would not be the country it is today. " Up until " The Voice ", we were mucking along quite nicely and I didn't even realise that we had a problem in the marriage.
So let us have a look at how we got to this sorry state of affairs.
Land rights are an integral aspect of human civilisation, shaping societies, economies, and ecosystems. In many ways, the struggles over land rights can be compared to the battles that divorced parents engage in when seeking custody of their child. This analogy serves as a thought-provoking lens to view the conflicts and decisions surrounding land ownership.
Just as the welfare of a child should be the paramount concern in a custody dispute, I have to wonder if the focus in discussions is about land rights or simply a matter of greed? Money. Power. Control. There is almost a communistic undertone to all of this.
For example, cutting off access to land is cruel. Unhealthy.
It is not cause for celebration. It is cause for grief. For anger. For frustration.
When divorced parents find themselves in a custody battle, emotions run high, and differing perspectives on what is best for the child can cloud the judgment of those involved.
Our land, Australia, belongs to all of us. Not as a commodity to be bartered and traded for a few dollars more. This is not about land rights. Australia is my home. It is your home. OUR home. No one should have the right to take our home from us.
Which brings me to the current global debate over land rights and why the big loser will be everyone. The only winners will be, as usual, the lawyers, big business and the government.
Who will benefit if The Voice referendum ends up with a " yes " vote? Why, it will be the leftist inner city latte sipping people buying bottles of spray on tan, that's who.
It will not be the people in the rural aboriginal communities. After all, there have been hundreds of millions of dollars set aside in the past and to what end? Nothing. Nothing has changed. In fact, if anything, it has gotten worse.
Little ones are still being sexually abused, neglected and beaten. Women are still being treated with extreme violence.
Books written by faux aboriginals about a mythical history of thriving communities and pastoral bliss are not going to cut the mustard in the real world.
All that will happen is more money will be channeled into the rivers of gold that bloat the war chests of the rich at the expense of the ordinary person.
The true aboriginal will, just like now, have no say in anything. It will be up to a selected (not elected ) few who will turn up to galas with the galahs and pontificate about the injustices perpetrated against " their people " by Captain Cook. Or Captain Hook as they are increasingly painting him.
Talking of galahs......
The money spent on this referendum could have built boarding schools for the kids; purchased kidney dialysis for the communities; bought cattle stations where young people could learn skills and participate in the real world. We could learn how to have pride in a job well done, a day spent in something meaningful. And we could ride together as people who love our country.
Instead? More money will be thrown into the coffers of lazy loafing layabouts in Canberra preaching poisonous dribble to children in schools and telling them to feel guilty for being born with white skin.
We will have a generation of young Australians made to feel shame for their heritage and shame for having been born. Fear that they have caused so much pain to their planet - through so called climate change - pain to their aboriginal fellow citizens and pain to children yet to be born.
What a crock this is.
Surely it is more important to be engaged in Nation Building? Not the destruction of a Nation?
Can someone please explain how making 97% of the people pay rent and reparations to 3% is going to make for a better Australia?
Particularly when the people who stand to gain are, well, not really black or white.....
Anyone?
We, the people who bought our homes, our farms, have " they" the Canberra mob, forgotten that we worked hard to get what we have? And now it is now about to be taken from us?
Hell, we had fathers, grandfathers and sons and daughters who fought to call Australia home. Brothers, sisters, none showed up as aboriginal or white. They fought as Australians.
Meanwhile, some unknown person is having his home taken from him. Or access to a national park is being denied. Or access to a beach. Towns and communities are having names changed. Why? Will it make an iota of difference?
No big deal for Canberra. It is just " for the greater good. "
But they are not under threat as individuals.........yet.
Be careful what you wish for Canberra. Brisbane. Melbourne. Adelaide. Sydney. Hobart. Perth.
We, in the regions, can smell the poison already. Pumped out from Federal and State parliaments.
We are the canary in the coal mine and we know that this divorce will end badly.
Like I said at the beginning, this is not about black or white. It is about money, control and power.
Only the politicians are too stupid to realise that the custody battle will end with China as the legal guardian.
If The Voice gets up, the losers will be both Mum and Dad. And isn't that a shame?
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