… comes weeks after policy of abandoning Aboriginals in remote land areas
The Federal government has been accused of funding racist policy by Aboriginal lawyer Michael Mansell. Mr Mansell said “the abandonement of any support to keep Aboriginals on the land in remote areas in WA contrasts with the $60m made available for white farmers for drought relief.”
Mr Mansell said, “Here we have people struggling on the land – farmers and Aboriginals. Both groups need help to stay on the land but only one group gets Federal support – the farmers. The needs of both groups are the same but the race of each group is different and that is the only plausible explanation behind treating Aboriginals on the land differently from farmers on the land.”
Mr Mansell said, “It is no answer to say some farmers may be Aboriginal. If all farmers were Aboriginal the money would not be made available because of an underlying racist mentality among politicians. It is because everyone knows the farmers are overwhelmingly white that funds are readily made available to them. The Federal governemnt may give a flat denial of its race designed policy but cannot offer up any plausible explanation to justify an ethnic-based funding arrangement ”
Aboriginal lawyer Michael Mansell
