The name is absent

discrimination when they employed people, in that they would
rather not employ Aborigines.

Both groups supported the notion that Aborigines should
merge with the general population. They did not believe they
should try to be white (Statement 51), but they believed that,
even while merging, Aborigines should form groups so that they
could get somewhere. While the measure of support by non-
Aborigines was less than that of Aborigines, the evidence does
*
not support the assumptions of policy-makers and writers in the
multi-cultural field that Aborigines place themselves outside
the conceptual framework of a multicultural Australia. In the
light of the response to the other statements, one can only
interpret the responses as showing that Aborigines and non-Aborigines
in the population studied believe that Aborigines should merge
into the population without losing their Aboriginal identity.

This belief is at odds with the theorizing of the Government
that places Aborigines outside the framework of the multicultural
society.

There are two areas where there is a marked divergence of
view. One is the question of Aborigines forming groups to get
somewhere (69.6 per cent Aboriginal support, compared with 41.8 per
cent non-Aboriginal support). The other is the question of
Aborigines getting jobs before migrants.

Statement 44 had the strongest measure of agreement of all
the responses on the part of Aborigines (35.6 per cent agreed
strongly). Only one other statement, Aborigines should form
strong groups to get somewhere, had a similar degree of support.
The statement relating to positive discrimination in job opportunities
is one heard very often in conversation with Aborigines. Gale
(1972:34) noted the resentment Aborigines felt in the sixties towards
the encouragement of migration rather than the provision of
opportunities for Aborigines to gain skills. This resentment is
still felt.

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