Silence, ongoing genocide...

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Close the gap!!!!!!!

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uploaded by pierre pouliquin

Per capita, Australia
is one of the richest countries in the world. But living conditions of numerous
indigenous people are appalling; one striking aspect (among others) is the
health issue. For example, life expectancy of indigenous people is ca 20 years
shorter than for non indigenous Australians. The main political parties show no
interest in solving such issues (hence this continuous neglect is part of a
multifaceted silent genocide).

Following texts from the "getup" site

Monday, April 30, 2007 :

"Today, an Indigenous baby born in Australia is statistically likely to
have a shorter life than a child born in remote rural Bangladesh or
Nigeria. We can take a real step towards ending this disgrace at next
Tuesday's federal budget by demanding the Treasurer commit just a small
portion of our bumper $16 billion surplus to ending this preventable
injustice. The budget decisions are being made right now, so put your
name to the petition and together we will end the inequality within a
generation.



www.getup.org.au/campaign/CloseTheGap



The solution to this problem is within our grasp - all that is lacking
now is the political will to fund and implement it. A fully costed
health strategy has already been approved by the health experts,
including the Australian Medical Association. We have the support of
Cathy Freeman and Ian Thorpe. Given the surplus, it would be
inexcusable not to use next Tuesday's budget announcement to make the
plan a reality."

And, as not surprisingly the budget once again neglected those issues; Wednesday, May 9, 2007:

"The Federal Government has delivered its budget - with more than $10
billion remaining in surplus. Yet Indigenous health only received an
additional $30 million per year - just an extra ten bucks for every
Indigenous Australian on top of the last budget's increase.

Sign the urgent petition below to tell our
politicians to fix this preventable crisis, and commit to achieving
Indigenous health equality within a generation.

The solutions exist to close the health gap, but the political will does not. The Close the Gap Coalition has released a detailed plan, and we're calling upon our politicians to commit to it on May 27, the 40th anniversary of the historic '67 referendum."