Published "Without Fear Nor Favour".

THE EGALITARIAN SOCIETY (R. Johnson)

( We publish an article received by e-mail to our office today , it was contributed by a Riverina resident who has worked in social situations ).

Recent contributions to the Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser from the pro-refugee lobby have been long on emotion; they have also vented their spleen that Australians should not come first in their own country.

Many of these people purport to be Christians and others are from political parties ( Greens, Labor ) and they say they are striving for social justice.

I would ask these Christians and social justice advocates to take time out to consider other disenfranchised groups within our society ie. those who have fallen down the list of moral worth in the mind of the do-good group. I will refer to one particular disadvantaged group.

Now I have worked in the Northern Territory and other outback places. I recall the Howard Government screaming from the rooftpos about the national crisis regarding the forgotten Aborigines. Up to then, welfare was thrown at them and all was supposed to cure itself.

We still see a shameful situation today even after the so called Government intervention in Aboriginal affairs in the Territory. And I note these problems are just as bad in some areas that have had no attention at all. We note that exploitation of children by pedophiles is still common place; we note drug and alcohol abuse; we note petrol, solvent and glue sniffing, resulting in a mental health crisis; yet inadequate mental health intervention; we see families in a perpetual state of abuse and violence.

Do the refugee advocates really care for the Aborigines? I suspect not.

As it stands these Australians are in no mans land, without hope. There is no place for them in a country of open borders. Whatever is left of their culture will be swept away.

I challenge these so called Christians and others to accept if they have any faith in Jesus, they should also accept the needs and concerns of these forgotten communities, is just as valuable as their pet cause of letting aliens into this stressed land.

To go one step further, maybe one academic do-gooder who joined the Daily Advertiser debate, Dr. Strong ( a social scientist in the world of academia ), can furnish us with some real statistics regarding the plight of these forgotten Australians.

As I certainly wouldn't like to be labelled as someone with racist leanings, I must bring to the debate the reality of injustice within our society. I would challenge those do-gooders in their ivory towers to accompany me on my next tour of duty to remote locations in need; then, come down a few back lanes in our great cities where we shall comfort the unwanted, un-needed and forgotten groups of Australian people.

Some people need to come down from the clouds and wake up and smell the coffee. It may be a long way down to the back lanes of our cities and the riverbeds of the outback from their ivory towers, where they judge all others; but you never know, they just might learn something, or understand what Jesus really meant and how Jesus felt forsaken on the cross.

We note the pontifications of the so called do-gooder groups who tell us they are driven by their love of God and they are merely doing the work of God etc. I find all this a little hard to believe. Yet they strike out at anyone else who comes along with concern for fellow Australians, quite bizarre! The truth of the matter is these refugees and others have far more assistance, services and advocacy lobbies than these forgotten Australians ever had-or ever will have. We need to get things in perspective.

I note finally, Rudd's "closing the gap" agenda, regarding Indigenous affairs. A Productivity Commission report into Indigenous disadvantage revealed there had been no improvement in 80 per cent of the economic and social catagories examined-when it came to child abuse and imprisonment, the situation was actually getting worse rather than better.

Disadvantaged "indigenous" European-Australians are in a dire situation also. What are the refugee and so called social justice advocates doing regarding the plight of these people ? Do these people fall within their Christian outreach ? Are these people not also our "neighbours" who we are commanded to love as ourselves ?

FOOTNOTE:
I do hope the assertions of Weekend Advertiser ( Opinion 20.2.10 ) that "The Media Should Publish Without Fear Or Favour", is a genuine reflection of its commitment to the public. If not, then the natural course of history and democracy are hijacked by prejudice and exclusive vested interset groups.

It is with this concern I forward for publication to Australia First my article "The Egalitarian Society" ( R. Johnson, Wagga Wagga ).