AT
least 50,000 Aborigines in tiny Outback communities may be forced to
uproot and move to larger settlements under a plan by federal
Indigenous Affairs Minister Amanda Vanstone.
Senator Vanstone says
more than 1000 communities with fewer than 100 people are unviable and
government funding cannot solve poverty, unemployment and health
problems caused by isolation.
She said the Government could not go on supplying money to suit the
whims of chardonnay-sipping commentators who wanted to keep the
"cultural museums".
The only way to provide a proper education and chance of a decent job was in a larger community, she said.
Hundreds of tiny Aboriginal communities are dotted across the
north and west of Australia; most have fewer than 50 people each,
according to the minister.
Land councils in the Northern Territory estimate more than 50,000 people would have to be moved under such a plan.
Victoria has one such tiny community - Framlingham, near Warrnambool - home of ex-ATSIC chairman Geoff Clark.
Mr Clark said Vanstone's plan was an example of "kicking blacks".