Utopia -A film by John Pilger.

bignev23 · December 20, 2013

A few years ago my friend who lives in Australia was telling us about the way the Aboriginal people were mistreated there and how there is a lot of racism towards them. I've seen a few bits here and there about it myself, The latest being Utopia - A film by John Pilger which was on ITV1 last night.

I've always liked John Pilgers Stuff here is a brief description of the film and a trailer.

[video=youtube;ht8_5UlcgSQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht8_5UlcgSQ[/video]

There's much that's truly shocking in John Pilger's ironically-titled documentary about the plight of Australia's aboriginal or 'First People' population. There's the shamefully abusive treatment while in police custody of one young man that lead to him dying in his cell. There's the sickening neglect of another man who, while being transported in a mobile cell across the outback, was effectively locked in an oven in which he baked to death. There's the health spa where affluent white guests remain ignorant of the fact that the resort used to be a concentration camp. Then there is the politician, Mal Brough, who, while serving in John Howard's government in the 2000s, allegedly engineered a false propaganda campaign labelling several dozen aboriginal communities as being havens for paedophile gangs in order to steal the mineral wealth the locals happened to be living above. And then there are the scores of white Australians who, interviewed on Australia Day, admit to being totally unaware that that day of celebration also marks the day the aboriginals had their land stolen from them and that these First People lived in Australia before the white settlers invaded.

That last charge is astounding. What's even more astounding, and perhaps the most shocking thing of all in Pilger's film, is that nothing has changed for the aborigine people. At one point, while surveying the sorry state of a community in the arid interior of northeast Australia, Pilger is reminded of another documentary, one he made 28 years ago. He shows us the old footage alongside the new and it's the same, exactly. How can this still be happening, asks the veteran journalist? One answer comes from an academic who suggests Australia continues to endorse the kind of apartheid system South Africa got rid of years ago. Another argues Australia needs overseas aid to find a solution to this appalling state of affairs.

Pilger made Utopia to make Australians sit up and listen.

It's no-nonsense, provocative, powerful and sickening stuff.

I find it hard to believe that Australia, being a so called civilized society is allowed to get away with this in this day and age and so little is made of it by other so called civilized societies like Britain USA etc who are quick to point out oppression in other countries like Zimbabwe,Iran,China,North Korea etc.

Anybody else got any thoughts on it??