Couldn't Be Fairer

Couldn't Be Fairer
Directed by	Dennis O'Rourke
Produced by	Dennis O'Rourke
Written by	Mick Miller
Cinematography	Dennis O'Rourke
Editing by	Tim Litchfield, Ruth Cullen
Release date(s)	1984
Running time	50 minutes
Country	Australia

Couldn't Be Fairer is a 1984 Australian documentary film directed by Dennis O'Rourke, which paints a disturbing portrait of aboriginal life in Queensland, Australia in the 1980s. The title is from a 1983 statement regarding aboriginal people by then Premier of Queensland, Joh Bjelke-Petersen: "We treat them the same as everyone else – couldn't be fairer."

Aboriginal activist Mick Miller narrates and features in the film, which reveals how native Australian people are still suffering from social oppression and alcoholism. Aboriginal land rights are a central theme: Miller clearly demonstrates the contrast between modern civilization, which values land only as a resource to mined, grazed and developed, and traditional people who regard their land as sacred. Archival footage compares the original lifestyle of Australian aborigines to their current pitiful condition, and shows how European settlers attempted to "civilize" mixed blood children by taking them away from their parents and enrolling them in boarding schools.

The film ends on an optimistic note, with Miller introducing the audience to a cattle station in northern Queensland called Delta Downs, which is owned and successfully run by aboriginal people. Miller asserts that if the government would give sovereignty of the reserves back to the aboriginal people, they would be able to show the world what they are capable of achieving.

Mick Miller died in 1998.^[1]

References

1. ^ Mick Miller obituary

• Couldn't Be Fairer at Australian screen

External links

• Couldn't Be Fairer at CameraWork, Dennis O'Rourke's production company
• Clip 1 from Australian Screen
• Clip 2 from Australian Screen
• Clip 3 from Australian Screen