Thursday, April 14, 2011

Bess Price




After watching Q and A on Monday night, Indigenous lawyer Professor Larissa Behdrendt said watching bestiality on television was "less offensive than Bess Price". She is angry that an Aboriginal woman could possibly be in favour of radical Northern Territory intervention and considers her a traitor. She said "I watched a show where a guy had sex with a horse and I'm sure it was less offensive than Bess Price."


What a charmer you are Ms Behdrendt. "I'm going to seek legal advice," Bess said. "This is worse than what she is accusing Andrew Bolt of." Bolt has spent the past fortnight in court fighting accusations that he vilified a group of nine Aborigines, including Professor Behrendt, on the basis of their race.



Professor Behdrendt.



Bess Price said the comment showed how out of touch the indigenous academic was with central Australian Aborigines."I want what she has for my children," she said. "The white blackfellas should be happy about the lifestyle they have. They should help us rather than trying to put a barrier between us and what we should be saying. Who does she think she is? I'm very angry about that. How dare she have a go about me without talking to me or confronting me face to face if she has a problem with me. They think that they can control us, that I shouldn't be commenting or having an opinion on indigenous issues" and then "And the likes of her and others don't know anything about our people in the bush. Who are they to stand up and talk on behalf of our people. My background is totally different to hers, we are culturally different."


I could hardly believe my ears when Bess said on Q and A that the intervention was necessary and that the children were now being fed. She also said that the most important thing they needed right now was to get young teachers out of Uni into NT to educate their kids. We've heard so often about how the Aboriginal language must be preserved at all costs and in some cases, because of this philosophy, many desert Aboriginals can't even speak English.


Ms Price's husband Dave Price wrote in an email. "It's people like her who control the message, going to organisations like the UN and Amnesty International. Can the Race Discrimination Act protect people like Bess from this sort of obscene vilification or does she get away with it because she identifies?" She went on "Larissa Behrendt has made money out of being a blackfella and she isn't even in dire straits like other blackfellas who need funding."


I think this woman Bess Price has something important to say and hope that those who matter are ready to listen. She has the potential to make real difference for her people so "white black fellas" like the Professor Behdrendt need to STFU.



1 comment:

  1. This previous post just so adequately demonstrates why the indigenous debate is hijacked by the loudmouthed academic set and those who deem themselves to be the protectors of social policy, evolving natural justice and custodians of indigenous history. What a load of hooey. Can someone please tell me why it is that despite decades of intervention, social support, targeted social welfare programmes and millions upon millions of taxpayers dollars dubiously spent, the aboriginal dilemma still exists ? Can someone please tell me how it is that despite land rights, social inclusion, indigenous parks, 'welcome to country' trotted out and inflicted upon everyone at every possible opportunity, dual naming of public spaces in our cities and aboriginal flags flying side by side our national symbol of nationhood at all government sites, members of one particular cultural group fail to make plausible gains. Can anyone please tell me why it is that despite equal opportunity laws, free education, affirmative action policies and some proud successful indigenous role models, we have to live with such anger and resentment as a reward for social inclusion initiatives. In South Australia we have the gang of 49 or by now it could be the gang of 106. This lawless group of individuals who wreak havoc upon our community, threatening,robbing and inflicting violence using knives, guns and the imposition of fear upon the community. PLEASE EXPLAIN !

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