Tony Abbott tells indigenous Australians taxpayers can’t fund their ‘lifestyle choices’

LABOR is demanding Prime Minister Tony Abbott apologise for telling indigenous Australians in remote communities taxpayers shouldn’t fund their “lifestyle choices”.

While backing the WA government’s plan to close 150 remote communities, Mr Abbott declared governments couldn’t “endlessly subsidise” people who choose to live far away from schools and jobs.

“It is not the job of the taxpayer to subsidise lifestyle choices,” Mr Abbott told ABC Radio in Kalgoorlie on Tuesday. “Fine by all means live in a remote location, but there’s a limit to what you can expect the state to do for you if you want to live there.

“What we can’t do is endlessly subsidise lifestyle choices if those lifestyle choices are not conducive to the kind of full participation in Australian society that everyone should have.” Opposition indigenous affairs spokesman Shayne Neumann demanded a public apology to all Australians for the “deeply disturbing and highly offensive” comments.

“This is a prime minister who doesn’t understand the importance of these people to their connectivity to their land,” he told AAP. Mr Neumann accused Mr Abbott of trying to undo any progress made in closing the gap of indigenous disadvantage.

Australian Greens senator Rachel Siewert slammed the comments as “unbelievably racist” and completely out of touch with reality. Mr Neumann said the self-declared prime minister for indigenous affairs had form in this area, referring to Mr Abbott’s claim that Australia was unsettled before British “foreign investment”. “He has trashed his reputation, he doesn’t deserve that title,” he said.

Mr Mundine, a respected indigenous leader and the head of the Prime Minister’s Indigenous Advisory Council said this morning Mr Abbott had failed to understand the connection Indigenous Australians have with the land.

He said it was not a lifestyle choice.

“I think it’s a bit more complicated than that,” Mr Mundine told ABC radio.

“These people are connected to their home land ... it affects their cultural activities.

“It’s not as if someone has decided to have a sea change in the bush. This is about their life. It’s about their very essence and culture.

“It’s not a lifestyle change for them, it’s actually about their culture.”

Mr Mundine said Mr Abbott needed to display a greater understanding about exactly why Indigenous Australians lived in such remote areas.

“There does need to be a bit more understanding of the connection Indigenous Australians have with the land,” he said.

“It is a different connection to the land than European settlers have.”

This morning Mr Abbott defended his comments and said he was simply stating a “general principal” yesterday.

Apparently Indigenous Australians living in poverty is a “lifestyle choice”

Australia’s Prime Minister, a man who told you he would be the first "prime minister for Aboriginal Affairs" and would regularly visit Indigenous communities, has now said Indigenous Australians have made “lifestyle choices” to….well, live in poverty and have zero access to services and basic living conditions.

"What we can't do is endlessly subsidise lifestyle choices if those lifestyle choices are not conducive to the kind of full participation in Australian society that everyone should have."

The comments were in response to the West Australian government plans to close 100-150 indigenous communities as covered in a previous edition of 10 Things. I’m also guessing the comments came in light of the fact the Closing the Gap report has shown a complete failure to support and treat the First Nation with humanity.

"If people choose to live miles away from where there's a school, if people choose not to access the school of the air, if people choose to live where there's no jobs, obviously it's very, very difficult to close the gap," Abbott said and then possibly clapped his hands together to rid himself of any lingering doubts that it’s totally not his fault Indigenous people are often denied access to running water, electricity or the chance to use their own money as they see fit.

Running Indigenous Australians from their land: something that still happens in Australia.

The only choice that happens when it comes to the First Nation is ignoring what we do to them.

veya_victaous wrote:they lived on those lands before white man came and made the towns and cities..
from the lands stolen from other aboriginals...

MR Abbott is One of those fuck wits that think we pay tax to pay politicians exorbitant salaries ..
We pay tax to provide health and education to all Australians and Aboriginals have the right to claim it before all others.