Australian Aborigines rewarded for face-washing

A leaked draft of one agreement obtained by Labor's indigenous affairs spokesman Kim Carr shows Aboriginal children in the Kimberley will be forced to wash their faces twice a day in return for the Howard Government installing petrol bowsers in their town.

Heres the link
www.sundaytimes.news.com.au...

Sounds like a good idea to me, the health problems in indiginous communities have been getting worse while the government is wasting more and more money on it. This way people will be encouraged to take responsibility for their own health and their own lives. You cant treat an entire race like babies, it is time to grow up.

51 views and no posts? You uncaring cold cold people

i work with a lot of aboriginal people, and for the most part they arent dirty or smelly, sometimes the are cleaner than everyone else.

mind you i dont work in an outback community so i dont know what it is like in the outback, or in other cities for that matter.

Yeah I saw this on sunrise this morning, watching them get all high and mighty, suggesting racism / FORCING people to do what they want otherwise the govt. would cut funding... what a load of rot.

Like was explained, the community in question has severe health problems, and approached the government asking for help to fix the problems, one of which was related to poor hygiene. Govt. said okie dokey, here's a list of things we suggest you start doing (such as washing your face twice a day), and here's some funding for infrastructure.

If it was an all white community I bet you wouldn't have heard boo about it :S

I'm already starting to see an outcry over racism blah blah blah... Political correctedness has gone WAY too far. On the whole racism / feminism / equality topic...if you kick up a stink saying you want equal rights.....then don't expect to be treated like royalty. Equal rights is exactly that. You get treated exactly the same as the rest of the population. No special benefits, no special payments for attending school aside from the standard payments the general population is eligable for, no special days off etc etc. How are you having "equal rights" when you are given access to resources the rest of the general public aren't able to access?

There ya go SiRiNO. That should get you a few responses...maybe not specifically on the topic you started but anyways hehe

Originally posted by LordGoofus
I'm already starting to see an outcry over racism blah blah blah... Political correctedness has gone WAY too far. On the whole racism / feminism / equality topic...if you kick up a stink saying you want equal rights.....then don't expect to be treated like royalty. Equal rights is exactly that. You get treated exactly the same as the rest of the population. No special benefits, no special payments for attending school aside from the standard payments the general population is eligable for, no special days off etc etc. How are you having "equal rights" when you are given access to resources the rest of the general public aren't able to access?

Exactly, all these special payments and entitilements do is build up the divide between the indiginous and those who are not (even though most ofthem are half to one quarter breeds at best).

Originally posted by LordGoofus
There ya go SiRiNO. That should get you a few responses...maybe not specifically on the topic you started but anyways hehe

Hehe yeah I can feel the politically correct flamers coming this way... for the hills!

This is totally condescending.

These aboriginal peoples have survived just as long as societies obsessed with hygiene. Perhaps they do not live according to Western standards, but that's hardly saying that they are wrong in how they live their lives.

You cant treat an entire race like babies, it is time to grow up.

Enforing this would be treating them like babies. Doing so suggests that these people don't know how to take care of themselves or what's best for them, but the government involved does know.


[edit on 13-12-2004 by parrhesia]

Originally posted by LordGoofus

Govt. said okie dokey, here's a list of things we suggest you start doing (such as washing your face twice a day)

Suggesting, rather than forcing them to wash their hands, rather than faces, would be more beneficial. IMO.

Originally posted by parrhesia
This is totally condescending.

These aboriginal peoples have survived just as long as societies obsessed with hygiene. Perhaps they do not live according to Western standards, but that's hardly saying that they are wrong in how they live their lives.

No, they haven't survived, that's just the point.

You've clearly never lived in central Australia. Aboriginal society did not survive the coming of white man, white man's food and white man's diseases, let alone white man's culture.

They might not live by western standards but they don't even live by their own standards any more. Why don't you check out the infant mortality rate of indiginous Australia, or the diabetes incidence, or othe prevalence of obesity, or the half a dozen diseases that have been eradicated in mainstream Australia but which they still suffer from?

Per capita they have the highest health budget in Oz (probably the world on a percentage of GDP basis) and it still isn't enough. If this is what it takes, fine.

Suggesting, rather than forcing them to wash their hands, rather than faces, would be more beneficial. IMO.

Like I said, the reason behind this face washing suggestion is due to the numerous dental / oral problems relating to poor dental hygiene. Naturally they have also been told they should wash their hands etc etc as well...this is a case of the media picking parts of a story out to make it sound juicier and more controversial...they don't mention all the other guidelines, only the face washing one which makes it sound like the aussie govt. is being racist