Australia - an update

" Under the Howard government, support for Aboriginal health and legal services has diminished.
In western New South Wales, the life expectancy for Aboriginal men is 33; Australia is the only developed country on a United Nations "shame list" of countries that have not conquered trachoma, a preventable blindness that affects mostly Aboriginal children, and is a disease of poverty.
Six years ago, I interviewed Ruddock [Australia's Justice Minister] when he was the federal minister responsible for ensuring that uppity black Australians did not embarrass the government in the run-up to the Sydney Olympics. I asked him: "How do you feel receiving Amnesty reports on human rights violations with 'Australia' written across the top, such as 'Aborigines are still dying in prison and police custody at levels that may amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment'?"
Smiling, he replied: "Why do they use the word 'may'?" "
- by John Pilger