Gold just went over AUD $3,000 per ounce troy today...

Looking good for those who seek it out.  Should be interesting to see how these record prices will affect other aspects of the prospecting industry.  Will we see a new rush plus crowding on the goldfields... or is it looking pretty bleak out there at the moment? I'm not seeing many young folks getting into the hobby these days and recent restrictions to Crown Land access in some states might also be expanded soon if "The Voice" ends up with a 'Yes' vote at the upcoming referendum proposal.
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Hmmmm, might flog off the rest of my gold coz it is actually worth something now.

"The Voice" would be a good thing for the aborigines but the problem is that not many of them want to get up off their buts and do something constructive and those that are active are part white part aborigine..It is the part white bit (DNA) that causes these people to want to achieve something instead of just continuing on as they have done for the past 60,000 years.

I for one hope that "The Voice " goes ahead because the Aborigines have had a seriously raw deal in this country and it will give the Gov & parliament a real shake up.

Why do Aborigines still call themselves a "Mob" when this term was given to them by the whites at a time when Mod meant:

A large and disorderly crowd of people
especially : one bent on riotous or destructive action
2
informal : a large number of people
a mob of shoppers clogged the aisles
a team greeted by mobs of fans
3
: A criminal set : gang
especially, often capitalized : mafia sense 1
a member of the Mob.

Time they dropped the term Mob.

For those who do not understand what 'The Voice" would mean.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_Voice_to_Parliament

Yes .... in the last few days here in the West it has dropped from 40 to 30c. The early prospectors started arriving that very day

I expect it to be bumper to bumper this year and who can blame them it is probably the trip of a lifetime for most.

Even if they don't find gold, if they take a breathe and enjoy the ambiance of nature then they have achieved their ambition. It is truly the real gold.

As far as the voice is concerned it will happen I think, but like anything to do with the indigenous peoples the outcome will not be what is desired.

And yes a permit system of some kind will be levied to access their native lands will be implemented on top of the fees for the 40e (that the mines dept make a killing out of).

But the way gold is going up a gram or 3 should cover it....

As far as the word mob is concerned it is a part of the aboriginal language from earlier times integrating in the pastoral regions.

For instance.... every station had an aboriginal family or community... Thats the Annean mob, or the Belelle mob. or in speech my mobs over there.. all from the sheep days no doubt.

Yes for better or worse the Voice is going to happen and the freedoms we once enjoyed will be a thing of the past.

My advice .... Get out and enjoy it while you can.

More than 50% of Australians today are first and second generation with a parent born overseas. These people know almost nothing about the plight of our Aborigines and do not associate themselves with or even want to know about our pioneering history. These people are going to have an influencing say in the outcome of "The Voice" when they vote for or agin something they know nothing about.
The Irish, Scottish, English and German... Yes there are others but our basic culture was embedded in the Irish.

https://www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/not-just-ned/background

Bungarra1 says, "... Yes for better or worse the Voice is going to happen and the freedoms we once enjoyed will be a thing of the past."

Freedom for fossicking and detecting have long been curtailed by the sad fact that so much of Australia's land mass is fenced off and trespassing is not allowed. 63% of the Australian land mass is privately owned. 54% of that is taken up with livestock. 14.4 million hectares of farmland are owned by Chinese interests and 16.4 million owned by UK interests. 86% of WA's 125 mining projects are foreign owned.

Referring to Aborigines, Adrian say's, " the problem is that not many of them want to get up off their buts and do something constructive and those that are active are part white part aborigine..It is the part white bit (DNA) that causes these people to want to achieve something instead of just continuing on as they have done for the past 60,000 years."

To attribute the desire to want to achieve something to white DNA is pure and simple racism. Across the years I have know many full blooded Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have striven mightily for change. The "part white bit" of activists have usually had the benefit of education and other opportunities that has enabled them to be more conspicuous and articulate.

The reality is that Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders were not even citizens of this land well into the 20th century and had to apply for citizenship. And under the various acts across the country they were a people without basic rights. Aboriginal people under these acts could be moved hundreds of miles away from one reserve to another without any right of appeal if in the view of a reserve superintendent they were deemed troublemakers. People were gaoled for a whole range of actions that were not illegal outside the reserves and personal property could be be taken without any means of redress. Conditions for Aborigines on cattle stations were tantamount to slavery. Miserable wages were "managed" and frequently stolen. In the courts people who did not speak English often had the local police prosecutors supposedly speaking also on their behalf.

Quite apart from a long history of massacres and mistreatment whole groups were pushed off their traditional lands and banished to reserves in areas thought to be of no interest. Ironically many of these reserves were later found to have valuable minerals.

No longer being able to live off the land and with their traditional way of life a thing of the past those Aborigines who moved closer to towns became despised fringe dwellers with few educational or employment opportunities and have been looked down on and regarded as undesirable. As it happens in this last twenty years or so we are beginning to bear the results of this long shameful history as bored, uncontrolled young people resort to alcohol, drugs and crime to a point that places like Townsville, Alice Springs and elsewhere are seeing a huge upsurge of violent and criminal behaviour. It seems to me a bit rough then considering this history of grinding Aboriginal communities into the dirt that we should now condemn them for not getting off their butts. It also is a comment showing a lack of awareness of the many thousands of Aboriginal people across the years that have struggled to bring about change.

But back to the relevance of freedom for fossicking and gold detecting it seems we really don't amount to much worth consideration when it comes to big monied investors taking up mining leases and locking us out. It is a bit rich to resent contemporary Aboriginal ownership of land where access requires a permit.

I am no Racist Harry! End of story

The racial mix of the world, in which only 16 percent are white. That’s about 1.19 billion people out of a total world population of 7.4 billion. And it’s predicted that by 2060 only 10 percent of the world will be white. There are 3.33 billion Asians, who constitute 45 percent of the world population, and 1.26 billion Indians, who constitute 17 percent. That’s 4.59 billion Asians and Indians combined, making up 62 percent of the world population — almost two-thirds.

The white race is despised by all of the coloured races of the Earth and is being bred out of existence....So who are the real racists.

G'day gents

This is why management prefers to keep politics & or religion "Off" a gold detecting/prospecting for gold forum. The 3 simply don't mix with one another.
So before this topic gets out of hand, (after all, the main headline is on & about the rising price of gold) I'm locking it down & having it moved under the "Off Topic" section.

Management