Gnads wrote on Nov 28
th, 2024 at 6:13pm:
You're absolutely clueless.
What were the right wages????
The Aboriginal Stockmen and their families were housed, fed as well as received a wage.
There would be flat out being any who had their monies managed for them that would be alive today.
They have existed on taxpayer welfare ever since.
Why should their descendants or communities be paid for work they never performed?
Jackaroos and Jillaroos today are paid a wage as well as being supplied with free board and keep.(food/meals) - their wages are commensurate with the board and keep component.
And btw there are still employers today who do not pay the right wages..... and get away with it.
re: the last highlight - profit? bollocks.
They had a job & housing & keep ..... more than they do today.
The tax payer keeps them now for nothing.
After all those years - I think any debt has been paid many times over.
If you have to ask that sort of question about what are the right wages, that undoes your first sentence about me being the "clueless" one.
I also had this idea that stockmen should not complain about not getting all of their wages because some of it went towards food, housing, clothing, medicine, etc. But, it took the viewing of a documentary about stockmen in the 1980s getting treated like rubbish because there was no way that they could fight back against their employers. If that is how they were treated in the 1980s, imagine how bad it was in the 1960s or the 1930s/1940s when their indigenous grandparents had to go through worse ordeals.
Admittedly, I watched that documentary in high school history class. Nearly 30 years ago, to be honest. And having done my own research on the topic (even if it is a few articles in the publc library and the journal articles I have viewd online). I am convinced enough that indigenous Australians did not get paid the proper wages, regardless of whether they were fed, housed, etc. I would bet that the indigenous stockmen probably got new clothes and boots during Christmas; had to go hunt for some of their meals; lived in shacks not worthy of being called a shed; and were probably medicated during times when they broke their legs. Otherwise, sure, they were paid enough money to buy some rare items brought in from the towns or cities.
You have every right to say that most modern indigenous Australians have little right to complain about their lot in life. Again, another thing that I have barely researched over the years is the amount of privilege that indigenous Australians receive. I get probably $700-something a fortnight if I was unemployed. However, my underemployed status (until I get a second job soon) means that my meager income reduces the amount of welfare that I receive. Indigenous people don't have that kind of mutual obligation to fulfill. And I have to attend job network meetings, fill out job applications, be in training, or be doing a work for the dole. So, this "clueless" bloke is not so clueless.
We might only be talking 13 or 14 years ago. However, I was paid about $4/hr less than the standard minimum wage, just because we were still on some kind of antiquated award rate. The Fair Work Australia got a hold of the information and forced the business to pay us the right minimum wage. Given that my job was about as monotonous as flippin' burgers in a barely airconditioned environment, or as rewarding as gardening around the school ovals, a $4/hr increase in my payment was evidently welcome.
Happy to be done with that business. It folded when the head office could not give a damn about treating their workers correctly. Not clueless at all.
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