Where are the Aborigines?

I refer to the Australia Day article in The Jakarta Post, Jan. 26, 2001. Predictably this nation, along with its corporate sponsors, promoted itself by telling us yet again how beneficial they are to Indonesia.

The advertisement from the Construction Company John Holland was indeed telling, depicting a vast tract of Indonesian land ravaged and ruined for the exclusive wealth of Australian entrepreneurs. The cheek and insensitivity of these people who are not content with exploiting our natural resources for their own gluttony insist on promoting their deeds as proud Aussie achievements.

I note also in the special coverage of Australia Day there was no mention of Australia's indigenous people -- the Aborigines. Does this mean Australia has finally wiped them all out, or are the few remaining survivors of the 1788 British invasion, the actual cause for Australia Day celebrations, now so insignificant they don't even warrant a mention. Or is Australia just hoping that the rest of the world, including Indonesia, will forget how they have annihilated and continue to brutalize a nation of indigenous people? Not likely mate!

AMIRUDIN

Serang, Banten