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ELECTRICITY GENERATION

According to the ABC:

The co-author of a new report which assessed the quality of around 4,000 houses in Aboriginal communities says many children are exposed to dangerous wiring.

Why, these children are in danger! The government must rescue them! Oh ... wait.

(Via Craig Mc)

Posted by Tim B. on 02/18/2008 at 01:54 PM
  1. Probably got some lead paint on the walls, too, if they have paint.  To say nothing of exposure to dangerous chemicals and/or furniture. Ah, well.  Different standards for different folk, right?

    Posted by JorgXMcKie on 2008 02 18 at 02:16 PM • permalink

  2. “I’m sorry!”

    Posted by paco on 2008 02 18 at 02:52 PM • permalink

  3. Well, if the aborigines cared about Mother Gaia at all, they’d go back to living in brush shelters.  And so should we all.

    [/sarc]

    Posted by RebeccaH on 2008 02 18 at 02:56 PM • permalink

  4. daddy dave

    If you’re out there thanks for all of the information on the Stolen Generation.  I’m still going through it, about halfway now….

    Posted by Old Tanker on 2008 02 18 at 03:03 PM • permalink

  5. certainly exposed electrical wiring is the worst of the dangers facing aboriginal children…

    Posted by Harry Buttle on 2008 02 18 at 04:32 PM • permalink

  6. “Well, if the aborigines cared about Mother Gaia at all, they’d go back to living in brush shelters.”

    That would damage the enviroment, and we’d have to make an apology to the brush.

    Get naked.  Sleep in the open…if you really love Gaia.

    Posted by Dave Surls on 2008 02 18 at 04:35 PM • permalink

  7. Personally, I hate Gaia.  The dirty bitch has been trying to kill me with things like bacteria, viruses and great white sharks ever since I was born.

    I don’t want to live in harmony with Gaia, I want to beat the slut into submission, so I can live as long as possible.

    Mother Gaia?  Some mother.  What kind of mother trys to give her children smallpox or AIDS?

    To hell with mother Gaia.

    Posted by Dave Surls on 2008 02 18 at 04:42 PM • permalink

  8. Dave S, I fully agree.  Just looking at the poisonous bugs/snakes/toads/mammals/fish in and about Oz, I’d say the entire continent is trying to kill everyone in it.

    I hope the snake-milkers apologize for all that anti-venom they’ve been stealing from our scaly moral betters over the years!

    Posted by ushie on 2008 02 18 at 05:04 PM • permalink

  9. #7, Dave, you’ve just supplied the entire reason for civilization.  Civilization is an ongoing thing, and considered in evolutionary terms, it’s just part of the survival mechanism.  Too bad civilization-hating moonbats don’t get it.

    Posted by RebeccaH on 2008 02 18 at 05:14 PM • permalink

  10. I would have though wiring was the least of the dangers Aboriginal children face today.

    The exposure of Aboriginal children to electrical wiring is largely a result of violent adults smashing the walls in one of their ice-induced rages. If a child happens to be standing in front of one of those walls ...

    Posted by Contrail on 2008 02 18 at 05:18 PM • permalink

  11. Dangerous wiring out in the remote areas, eh?
    No way that would happen in Redfern.

    Posted by blogstrop on 2008 02 18 at 05:38 PM • permalink

  12. We should have another sorry day for the faulty wiring, then set up a compensation fund.

    Posted by damo on 2008 02 18 at 06:52 PM • permalink

  13. Many moons ago I worked as a plumbers apprentice in a country town. We had the job of fixing up damaged govenment housing. I couldnt work out why nearly every bathroom we went into had the walls smashed.
    It was to get the copper piping and fittings out so they could be sold for scrap. The damage that appears random is often aimed at getting the last bew bobs worth of saleable copper out of the place.

    This Is still going on, the damage is seldom “wear and tear”, its deliberate and costly.

    Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2008 02 18 at 07:09 PM • permalink

  14. 25 per cent of our money, we spend on things that have been built upside down, back-to-front

    Does this refer to Aunty or to the abo housing?

    Posted by egg_ on 2008 02 18 at 07:57 PM • permalink

  15. Researcher: Erm , what are those boys doing to each other over there?

    Resident: Nuthin

    Researcher: over there near the girl with the runny nose, next to the kid eating out of a fly-blown tin, the boy who is being held down by those other two older boys, it looks like

    Resident: Oh they just playin

    Researcher: Hmmm, yes yes, gee, look at those wires over there near the broken glass, they look dangerous to me.

    Posted by Nic on 2008 02 18 at 08:18 PM • permalink

  16. The exposure of Aboriginal children to electrical wiring is largely a result of violent adults smashing the walls in one of their ice-induced rages.

    Are they still building these places out of prefab concrete like they used to do here down south? Or are they easily damaged, user-friendly plasterboard?

    Posted by Burbank on 2008 02 18 at 08:21 PM • permalink

  17. Jeebus, couple exposed electrickery wiring with petrol sniffing ... that cocktail will sure pack a punch!

    Posted by egg_ on 2008 02 18 at 08:54 PM • permalink

  18. Definitely a different clan to those resourceful ‘bush mechanics’ (black)fellas ...

    Posted by egg_ on 2008 02 18 at 08:56 PM • permalink

  19. KRudd i$ popular $o all mu$t be right with $orry. We mu$t move on.

    Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 02 18 at 09:06 PM • permalink

  20. Would it come as any surprise to know these houses were built by Aboriginal contractors?

    Posted by Jay Santos on 2008 02 18 at 09:18 PM • permalink

  21. Didn’t we solve all this bothersome crap last week?

    Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2008 02 18 at 09:24 PM • permalink

  22. Times don’t change much. The aboriginals I went to school with in the 60s used to wreck the homes that the State provided. Yet Rudd doesn’t seem to get it. That if one doesn’t work for one’s own material needs and the State continues the hand outs - then the hand outs become a ‘right’.

    Thanks for the very funny insight Nic.

    Posted by mehaul on 2008 02 18 at 10:02 PM • permalink

  23. I would formally like to apologise for my tax payer dollars supplying free housing for Aboriginals.  I trully am sorry.

    Posted by damo on 2008 02 18 at 10:31 PM • permalink

  24. I bet the reason why they are exposed to dangerous wiring is because walls have been smashed in. There’s probably lots of floorboards missing as well - gotta have something to keep the fire going don’t you know.

    Posted by jorjac on 2008 02 18 at 10:32 PM • permalink

  25. #7

    Mother Gaia?  Some mother.  What kind of mother trys to give her children smallpox or AIDS?

    Hmmm. Same type of mother as Cinders Sheehan.

    Posted by kae on 2008 02 18 at 10:37 PM • permalink

  26. Bright sparks these report writers. Hey, what happens if I lick this wire?

    Posted by Irobot on 2008 02 18 at 10:47 PM • permalink

  27. I worked at a local council and knew a finance officer there who worked for a council which looked after an aboriginal community.
    They consulted with the aboriginal people about what type of housing they wanted and found that the people preferred simple dwellings, besa block (cinder block) construction and so on.
    The Housing Commission (Government Body) would not pass the housing for construction becuase they said it was sub-standard. Now it might be sub-standard for a city suburb, or Toorak, or Double Pay, er, Bay, but it was just perfect for the aboriginal people and could be built cheaper than those that were currently being built - and it was almost indestructible and mostly vandal proof.

    The project was shut down because of the Housing Commission not approving it because of it being sub-standard. I think the aboriginal community is probably still waiting for their houses well over 15 years later.

    Posted by kae on 2008 02 18 at 10:58 PM • permalink

  28. #24

    Floorboards make excellent firewood.  Good for smoking traditional foods such as lizards and witchetty grubs.

    Posted by damo on 2008 02 18 at 11:00 PM • permalink

  29. Kae, if cinder block & cement block are the same thing, that’s what our house in Jax is built of. Been here over 50 years now & is certainly sturdier & longer-lasting than the cardboard boxes they’ve been building since the 70’s. I see there are new developments going up that BRAG about building block houses. The aboriginal people may be uneducated by city standards, but those talking to the council knew their stuff. How very helpful of the pompous pols to muck it all up because they’re so ignorant of anything beyond their upturned noses.

    Posted by KC on 2008 02 18 at 11:12 PM • permalink

  30. I’m sorry, but you obviously mistake me for someone that gives a f*&k.

    Posted by mr creosote on 2008 02 18 at 11:13 PM • permalink

  31. #16, Burbank, I dont know about the Territory or FNQ, but up in north WOZ, prefab concrete is just too heavy to cart around over the kind of distances involved.  The trucks would just trash the dirt roads.

    So pretty much all of them are steel framed.  Ive never been inside one, but i’d guess they went for the nice thin (and cheap) plasterboard (Gyprock) for most interior surfaces.

    #27, Kae, Your right there, what wouldn’t be upto standard in most cities is perfect for the bush.  90% of all city houses ive been in would last about 5 minutes in a cat 3 cyclone or higher. 

    Those old circa 1970 besa block houses in Exmouth have seen more cyclones than I ever will, and all are still standing.  Now they dont look pretty, but whats more useful, a pretty roof thats 25km’s from you pretty house, or an ugly shack that will still be standing there in 100 years?

    Posted by The_Wizard_of_WOZ on 2008 02 18 at 11:16 PM • permalink

  32. The current that has escaped from those exposed wires should be referred to as the “Stolen Generations.”

    Posted by Penguin on 2008 02 18 at 11:55 PM • permalink

  33. It is a disgrace that the Australian government is so careless that it has not sent workmen to clean the muck off the streets in that aboriginal community. It will not be hygienic to have trash laying around like that and it is only whiteys who do such menial jobs. Send them in.Pronto.

    Posted by waussie on 2008 02 18 at 11:58 PM • permalink

  34. obviously the KRudd government must immediately:
    1. say $orry and pay appropriate compen$ation to the appropriate aboriginal representative body on behalf of the electrocuted generations;
    2. fund the aboriginal housing authority that failed to build said houses properly in the first place to engage contractors at appropriate rate$ to go through the appropriate motions.
    note: contractors must:
    (a) be culturally aware and not interfere with traditional abuse ceremonies, and;
    (b) support progressive government policies which they will demonstrate by appropriate financial $upport to the ALP and its operatives.

    Posted by larrikin on 2008 02 18 at 11:59 PM • permalink

  35. Smoldering generations?

    Posted by egg_ on 2008 02 19 at 12:00 AM • permalink

  36. Funnily enough, when I drove to Kakadu some years back, I passed numerous blocks where the inhabitants were clearly living under an open-walled tin shed, with a caravan parked under the roof in the corner.

    Concrete slab for a floor.  Maybe a proper dunny out the back somewhere.  Perhaps some flyscreen around the walls to keep the bugs out.

    I also noticed that the really old houses in Darwin all had louvre walls - the whole way round.  Best way to catch the breeze.

    They were all white-fellas.  Funny how the whiteman has adapted his housing to suit the climate, but the stupid bureaucrats can’t make the same transition.

    If we were living in igloos in Canberra, that’s what they’d be telling the blackfellas in Kakadu to be building.

    Posted by mr creosote on 2008 02 19 at 12:26 AM • permalink

  37. Better SAFE than Sorry Kevin, you symbolic git.  Help the Aborigines to help themselves instead of wanking on with an apology.

    Posted by Howzat on 2008 02 19 at 02:28 AM • permalink

  38. Give a starving man a meal and you feed him for a day.

    Teach him how to grow food and you feed him for life.

    Philosiphising off/

    Posted by surfmaster on 2008 02 19 at 03:44 AM • permalink

  39. “Co-author Paul Pholerous says common problems include water pipes not attached to taps, and faulty electrical wiring.”

    Advice to residents:

    1.  Buy some tools.

    2.  Fix problems.

    Posted by Dave Surls on 2008 02 19 at 03:46 AM • permalink

  40. #38, Surf, Build a man a fire and he will be warm for the night.

    Set a man on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life.

    39, Dave, I’d bet you dollars to dust the day after they fixed their own house, some bureaucrat would come by and ask to see the permit for the work.  Then tell them they’d have to put it back the way it was for the next year till a “qualified” tradesman could be found to come and replace the washer in the tap.

    Posted by The_Wizard_of_WOZ on 2008 02 19 at 04:08 AM • permalink

  41. 39 Dave; Yeah! Right on! 40 Wiz; Oh, man.

    Posted by dean martin on 2008 02 19 at 07:48 AM • permalink

  42. #29 Pretty much the same thing.

    #39 interesting syntax in the report.  a chicken and egg thing but revealing…...‘water pipes not attached to taps”.....usually plumbers attach the taps to the pipes.

    Maybe I’m just pedantic

    Posted by Rod C on 2008 02 20 at 06:39 PM • permalink

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