No progress for Australia's remote Aborigines-minister

SYDNEY, May 27 (Reuters) On the 40th anniversary of a 1967 vote which allowed Aborigines to be counted as part of the Australian population, the government said living standards of indigenous people in some remote communities had gone backwards.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough said there had been enormous progress made in cities and major regional towns, and thousands of Aborigines have been through university and have ''all of the normal things that the rest of us take for granted''.

''But then there is that other side of the coin,'' Brough told Australian Broadcasting Corp. television today.

''Those in the remote communities and those in what is commonly known as the long grass, in other words the fringes of town, there has been not just no progress, but in some cases, we've gone backwards.'' About 120,000 to 150,000 Aborigines live in remote communities and on the fringes of towns, Brough said.

Australia's 460,000 Aborigines make up 2 per cent of the country's 20 million population. They are consistently the nation's most disadvantaged group, with far higher rates of unemployment, alcohol and drug abuse, and domestic violence.

Aboriginal male life expectancy was 59.4 years, compared with 77 years for all males. For indigenous women, life expectancy is 64.8 years compared with 82.4 years for other Australian women.

The 1967 referendum was by far the most successful vote in Australia. It passed with more than a 90 per cent ''yes'' vote.

It removed words from Australia's constitution which discriminated against Aborigines and gave the federal government the power to make laws on indigenous affairs in the six states.

REUTERS SV VC1320