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Statistics in Perspective
Issue 131 - 14 Jun 2007
Issue 131, June 14, 2007: To equal the number of avoidable Aboriginal deaths each year we would need...
110 Cyclone Tracys
DEATH TOLL: 71
In December 1974, Cyclone Tracy devastated the city of Darwin, killing 71 Australians. To equal the number of avoidable Aboriginal deaths in a year, we would need 110 Cyclone Tracys in 2007 - that's one every three days.
223 Port Arthur massacres
DEATH TOLL: 35
It remains the world's worst gun massacre. In April 1996, Martin Bryant launched a killing spree in Port Arthur, Tasmania taking 35 lives and leaving 37 injured. The same death toll is achieved every day and a half in Indigenous Australia. Australia would need 223 Port Arthur massacres in 2007 to equal the number of avoidable deaths that occur among Indigenous Australians every year.
89 Bali bombings
DEATH TOLL: 88
When 88 Australians died at a Bali night club in 2002, it served as a wake up call to the nation with the realisation that we may not be as safe as we thought we were. Obviously, if this tragedy happened 89 times over in the space of a year, Australia would be in a state of constant crisis and fear. But it is already happening in Indigenous Australia - 88 Indigenous people die every four days from avoidable causes.
Almost 3 World Trade Centre attacks
DEATH TOLL: 2752
The 2001 September 11 attacks stunned the world and launched a 'War on Terrorism'. But Indigenous Australians suffer a September 11 death toll every four months. In fact, Indigenous Australia is already a quarter of the way into their second 9/11 for the year and it's only June. It's still not enough to shock mainstream Australia into action.
22 SIEV-X tragedies
DEATH TOLL: 353
SIEV-X (or Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel, Unknown) sank in waters north of Australia in October 2001. 353 men, women and children died. The amount of avoidable Indigenous deaths surpasses the SIEV-X death toll every three weeks.
104 Ash Wednesday bushfires
DEATH TOLL: 75
The Ash Wednesday bushfires in February, 1983 remain among the worst tragedies suffered by mainstream Australians. The fires killed 75 people in Victoria and South Australia. Indigenous Australia suffers its own 'Ash Wednesday death toll' every 3 and a half days. In order for annual avoidable deaths to be equal between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, there would need to be 104 Ash Wednesdays in the course of a year.
15 Vietnam Wars
DEATH TOLL: 520
The Vietnam War raged for almost two decades, and claimed the lives of 520 Australian soldiers. But it still does not even come close to the amount of Indigenous Australians who die each year from avoidable causes. There is a Vietnam war death toll once every three weeks in Indigenous Australia.
520 Childers Backpacker fires
DEATH TOLL: 15
Every 17 hours, Indigenous Australia loses 15 people from avoidable causes - that's almost one and a half Childers Backpackers tragedies every day. The disaster occurred in 2000, the same year that 250,000 Australians walked across the Sydney Harbour Bridge in a sign of reconciliation. But the statistics show that Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia are still far from reconciled - 520 Childers death tolls occur each year in black Australia.
While the nation was watching....
The Beaconsfield Mine Rescue
INDIGENOUS DEATH TOLL: 299
On ANZAC day last year, a gold mine in the small Tasmanian town of Beaconsfield collapsed, killing one and trapping two. This would begin the story that captivated the nation. After 14 days, miners Brant Webb and Todd Russell were finally rescued. But while Australia watched on anxiously, around 299 Indigenous people died from avoidable causes.
The 2000 Sydney Olympics
ABORIGINAL DEATH TOLL: 342
The Sydney Olympics was truly the event that stopped a nation. Over 16 days in September 2000, our country was on show around the globe. But while the world's gaze was fixed on Sydney, 342 Indigenous Australians died from avoidable causes.
SEE ALSO: The Awful Truth
SEE ALSO: Body Count: The Awful Truth by Gideon Polya
SEE ALSO: Editorial Opinion
Related Links
http://www.nit.com.au/news/story.aspx?id=11555
http://www.nit.com.au/news/story.aspx?id=11552
http://www.nit.com.au/opinion/story.aspx?id=11551
 
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