H G Wells was no doubt a pretty smart fellow. He was especially knowledgeable about history, which is why his science fiction was so often prescient. Yet, Wells was also in many ways a living endorsement of Orwell’s observation that intelligent people could often believe very stupid things.
After all, Wells was a staunch socialist – although, to cut him some slack, he didn’t really live long enough to see socialism’s uninterrupted track record of failure, even if he did live to see his eugenic fantasies come to horrific life in the Third Reich.
Wells also stated, in his most famous work of fiction, The War of the Worlds, that, “The Tasmanians… were entirely swept out of existence.”
Wells might be surprised to learn that there are in fact six times more “Tasmanian Aborigines” alive today than in 1788. Wells would probably be even more surprised at how pale and European-looking “Tasmanian Aborigines” are, these days.
And they all want a finger in the handouts pie.
Control of Tasmania’s Indigenous land council – and its land – will be dramatically broadened, prompting praise from some Aboriginal leaders, but claims by others that the body will be “overrun” by “whitefellas”.
You mean, whiter than Michael Mansell?
The Rockliff Liberal government is preparing legislation to remove barriers to enrolment to vote for the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania and to give regional Indigenous groups management of their land.
Its aim is to broaden the voting base of the ALCT and access to its 63,000ha, ahead of plans for more land “hand-backs”.
Naturally, everyone’s scrambling for a grab at the gibsmedat.
[Aboriginal Affairs Minister Roger Jaensch]’s plans were welcomed by regional Aboriginal organisations, who accused ALCT and the closely aligned Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre of controlling land for the benefit of a small number of family groups […]
According to the census, 30,186 Tasmanians identify as being Aboriginal, but only about 135 vote in ALCT elections.
So, a nepotistic land-grab, or a Fauxboriginal free-for-all?
For the wet Rockliff government, it seems the latter. Heck, if Bruce Pascoe and Lidia Thorpe are “Aboriginal”, why shouldn’t everybody be?
Some accepted by registered Indigenous groups as Aboriginal have been denied a vote because of a requirement for archival evidence of ancestry and the right to object to someone’s enrolment.
The government has decided the process is “stressful, adversarial and a barrier to participation”.
It plans to remove the right of objection and accept declarations of community recognition by “any registered Aboriginal organisation”.
So, anybody can be “Aboriginal”, if they can get their mates to say they are.
Unsurprisingly, the current gaggle of gatekeepers are determined to shut the gate.
ALCT and TAC said [ …] the changes would result in the ALCT ceasing to be an Indigenous body.
“It will be completely overrun by 30,000 people who simply tick a box to claim Aboriginality,” said TAC campaign manager Nala Mansell.
“You’ll see land that’s currently owned by white people being returned to white people, which is absolutely ridiculous.
Indeed, imagine having a bunch of white people claiming to be Aboriginal.
The bandwagon-jumping is getting so egregious that some are even countenancing what was denounced as “racist” when Pauline Hanson suggested it.
[Rodney Dillon of the Tasmanian Regional Aboriginal Communities Alliance] conceded there needed to be a means of deciding Aboriginality that everyone could accept.
“It might be DNA (testing),” he said.
The Australian
Here’s the thing, though: do we really want to be keeping a government “race register”, in 21st century Australia? Perhaps they ought to be awarded with black stars to wear in public, lest anyone doubt their Aboriginality?
Or would it simply be best to abandon the whole idea of racially preferred beads and blankets?
