Tony Abbott is an utterly appalling, maliciously deceitful, dangerously incompetent and just plain bad prime minister, says Natalie Cromb. He also doesn’t have the best interests of Indigenous people at heart.
Tony Abbott — you, sir*, are a troglodyte of the highest order!
Let me preface my rage by saying that I appreciate different points of view and having perspectives broadened and challenged by healthy debate in a diplomatic manner. I appreciate that we all come from different life experiences that can enrich our understanding of certain situations and people. I respect everyone’s opinions as exactly that and try not to become emotional if their opinions are ignorant or offensive.
But having said that, Tony Abbott is a malevolent scum bag. He doesn’t utilise his unique position for the good of the nation, he doesn’t try to listen to the citizens of the nation to broaden his understanding of social, moral, familial, cultural and religious issues.
He pushes his agenda and, when people who actually are actively representing their electorate question his policies and motives, he makes threats and tries to circumvent the process. This sort of behaviour breaches the intent of the separation of powers, upon which this nation’s legal system was built. It is tantamount to a toddler having a tantrum in order to get a Kinder Surprise at the supermarket checkout.
Tony, you have undermined this country in every conceivable way. You say you are a conservative, but you are a radical fascist that is intellectually impotent and emotionally infantile. You cannot grasp simple concepts of decency let alone complex concepts of cultural connection and identity and yet, you say you are “comfortable with your credentials” when it comes to Indigenous Australia.
Cut the crap Abbott, you are not fooling anyone. You are a narcissistic bigot stuck in the 1950’s. You seek to marginalise and berate all that disagree with you. You seek to vilify and undermine all that stand in your way.
You think women are simply housewives that iron and don’t always have the right to withhold sex; you think that gay people are threatening in their audacity to want equality to love without condemnation or exclusion from rights and privileges afforded heterosexuals; you expect all Muslim people to speak out against a radical few that happen to share their religion, while excusing the entire Catholic faith of which you are a member for not speaking out against the widespread child abuse perpatrated by its representatives; you have opined that scientifically proven climate change is “absolute crap” and you think Aboriginal people are bludgers.
Now Abbott loyalists, dismount your high horses before you bombard me with your vitriol (I assure you, I have heard it all before) and look at the facts.
There are far too many to list them all, but here are a few:
He repealed the carbon tax and cut funding to scientific and environmental programs, so there goes the future of this nation from an environmental perspective.
He has postured about his opposition to domestic violence while he crosses his fingers behind his back and axes funding to all of the services that are helping vulnerable women and children.
He says that he has a plan for Indigenous people that will Close the Gap and proceeds to cut over $600 million in funding to Indigenous grass root programs – including access to justice.
He ran an entire campaign vilifying people who he dubbed ‘leaners’ on the premise that the small percentage of Centrelink cheats are to blame for the poor budget but then proceeds to give his biggest donors tax cuts that would make us sick to the stomach and undoubtedly have our budget well on its way to the black had they not been granted.
Ignorance is something that we have come to accept from the national shame that is our prime minister, but enough is enough, he isn’t a kooky uncle that we try to ignore for the most part and cringe when they open their mouth. This is the leader of our nation, democratically elected and the fact that he uses this platform to advance his racist agenda royally (pun totally intended) really pisses me off!
The prime minister of Australia, rather than listening to the Indigenous people he purportedly represents, has been having pot shots and kicking Aboriginal people in the guts for far too long and it is about time that we called him out for the overt racist he is.
Tony Abbott has, since becoming prime minister referred to Australia as
“… the then unsettled or, um, scarcely settled, Great South Land”.
And on a separate occasion, in order to perpetuate the fallacy of terra nullius, referred to pre-colonial Australia as [IA emphasis]
“… nothing but bush … the Marines, and the convicts and the sailors … must have thought they’d come almost to the Moon…. Everything would have seemed so extraordinarily basic and raw…”
“… the First Fleet was the defining moment in the history of this continent … [bringing Australia] … into the modern world.”
His contempt is clear.
The prime minister and supposed minister for Indigenous affairs is so far out of his depth in not only relating to Indigenous Australians (notwithstanding his bromance with his token Aboriginal friend, Warren Mundine) but of having basic qualities of empathy and historical awareness to attempt to make reasonable decisions pertaining to Indigenous people. He does not conceive of the notion that the Australian Government owes a duty to Indigenous people to make reparations for past wrongs and symbolic constitutional change years down the track does not constitute reparation, it constitutes patriarchal condescension continued.
How dare he purport to make decisions for Indigenous Australia. How dare he prioritise corporations above the rights of people and communities. How dare he denigrate a race of people and have the audacity to imply he cares.
He is the sadistic child that taunts ants with a stick to see what happens. Well, guess what? Us ants have had enough and we are going to crawl up his legs and bite him!
The Indigenous people of this nation have been oppressed for long enough, have been polite for long enough and been drowned out for long enough. We are going to be loud and we are going to make sure that Australia, regardless of Abbott’s attempts to sanitise the history of this nation, knows the truth of the atrocities committed against Indigenous people for their gain.
This is not about white guilt. This is about honesty so that we have white voices speaking loud alongside our black voices. So our voices strengthen instead of being deliberately drowned out or vilified. Australia deserves to know the truth so they can stand for what is right, hand in hand with Indigenous Australians against the injustice that continues today.
It is clear that Tony Abbott has no idea why Aboriginal people make the ‘lifestyle choice‘ to live in remote communities, or God forbid, their traditional lands. (Many though, are one and the same).He has been slammed from Indigenous and non-Indigenous community leaders for the tactless, insensitive and ignorant comment.
But why was it so wrong? Nobody has been able to tell us.
I’m not the Minister for Aborigines – Tony Abbott has that distinction – but I am qualified* to tell him where he was wrong.
It comes down to the attitudes towards the land (which I have written about previously in Land ownership: it’s not all black and white). Though written a number of years ago it is brought into relevance following the Prime Minister’s comment.
Let’s have a look at land.
In most western societies land ownership is considered a form of security or an expression of status. Most non- Aboriginal Australians aspire to own a piece of real estate, and to meet that dream they work, save, borrow and mortgage their lives away. Land ownership is confirmed with a Title Deed which is identified with a Volume, and Folio and sub-section number on which the land dimensions and boundaries are clearly marked. On this land the owner may build a dwelling, grow or raise produce for income, or rent out the land for profit.
In rural Australia most land is used for growling cereal crops or raising live-stock. This is done within the boundaries of the owner’s land. These ventures are filled with risk: Dramatic seasonal changes; fluctuating market prices for the produce; diseases; cash flow problems; farming on unsuitable land (poor land management) and a host of other variables could force ownership to be relinquished.
Traditionally, Aboriginal people do not own land. Instead they are a part of the land and this link was formed during the Dreaming. In the Dreaming, people were created from the land and this is the land they still inhabit. It is on this basis that Aboriginal people are claiming legal title to land, supported by the belief that the spiritual ancestors who shaped the land still inhabit it; the land still embodies the sacredness of the Dreaming events. Traditional ownership was validated if your Dreaming Ancestors inhabited a particular area of land. Traditional ownership certainly does not shield Aborigines from some of the dangers that face western land owners. However their land management techniques and their attitudes to the environment make the land more sustainable.
As Aborigines are not land owners they feel that they have a responsibility to the environment. The environment, the land, and even the sky were created in one – as were the people – and all are related. With this attitude (belief) is it any surprise that the Aboriginal people never took anything from nature? Aborigines are the original conservationists and their use of land management promoted ecological health.
An example of this is fire stick farming: The burning of undergrowth in wooded areas that would promote the germination of new plants, and thus attract the animals that were an important part of an Aborigine’s diet. This burning was carried out before the dry season and was done carefully and systematically. No more was burned than necessary. Burning was also more than just sound land management; it was evidence that the land was healthy and being fully utilised. There was also a religious significance to burning: As the Ancestral spirits of the Dreaming still inhabit the land, the burnings provided these spiritual inhabitants with lands on which they could hunt.
Conservation was also extended to all practices of hunting and gathering. No more food was taken than required and no food source was over exploited. In some societies prohibitions were placed on the taking of immature plants or animals. In times of crisis, such as drought or flood, land ownership need never be relinquished. The resources have been preserved.
The western attitude to the land did not encourage sound management or preservation techniques. Whereas the Aborigines were careful in their exploitation of resources, the westerners unwittingly created vast tracts of land devastation. For instance, the over grazing of stock has rendered many areas infertile. The senseless chopping down of forests has destroyed delicate eco-systems. The salinity of the waterways is largely due to pollution. It is evident that no consideration had been given to the protection of natural resources. How little are the changes of attitudes since 1788? Land exploitation was used to advance British colonisation and became the rationale for European land ownership. It is ironic that most European-Australians view Aboriginal lands as inhospitable, barren or unforsaken, when it could be argued that the reverse could apply.
But the crux of the issue is this: Living on traditional land is not a lifestyle choice – it is an obligation. Not only to the ancestors, but the land itself.
* The author holds a BA in Aboriginal Affairs Administration; a BA (Honours) in Aboriginal Studies; worked for three years in Aboriginal communities in the Flinders Ranges and the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Lands; formulated law and justice policy in Indigenous Affairs for two years; and has written extensively on Aboriginal culture.
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