Nelson wants to see 'sorry' speech before Feb 13

The Federal Opposition Leader is demanding to see the Government's formal apology to the Stolen Generations before he says whether he supports it.

The Prime Minister announced on Wednesday he will make the apology on February 13.

Barbara Livesey from Reconciliation Australia says it is a huge step.

"This is an historic moment, not just for Aboriginal people but for the whole of Australia," she said.

"It's Australian people standing up as a nation and saying 'we've come of age'."

But Federal Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson is not so sure.

Dr Nelson will not say whether he supports the apology until he sees the script.

"You would have to argue that it is surely reasonable for us to have an opportunity to examine what is proposed before it simply lands on table in the middle of the Parliament," he said.

Ms Livesey says the apology is important for all Australians.
 

Dodson welcomes 'monumental' apology

An Aboriginal leader has described the Federal Government's decision to issue a formal apology to the Stolen Generations as "monumental".

Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin says Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson has now been briefed on the plans for the apology, which will be delivered on February 13, one day after the opening of the new parliamentary term.

Reconciliation Australia co-chairman Mick Dodson has welcomed the decision to issue the apology.

"I think this is monumental. It is something people have waited for, for a very long time," he said.

"It's hugely important to us as nation and to members of the Stolen Generations."

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Gus: there will be many tears on that day as the hidden hurt surface in the soul of many... But the sense of justice and acknowledgement will make the same tearful people, proud.

"the rape of the soul so profound", as the title of a book tells us, will be hopefull vanishing...  

Letter to the Editor

Sydney Morning Herald                               February 9, 2008  

“Why does the word "sorry" still stick in the craw of so many?” asks Richard Glover (Herald, February 9). 

The fact is that saying ’sorry’ is easy.  

The more difficult part of a genuine ‘apology’ is to actually ask the offended party to accept it, whilst the hardest part is offering it sincerely, knowing that it might be rejected. 

Whilst Kevin Rudd may offer an apology to the Aboriginal people on behalf of the federal government & the Australian people, the reality is that it will have little meaning unless our government & community are prepared to abandon their arrogant & paternalistic mindsets & adopt a model of behaviour that is based on mutual respect & affection amongst all of us, regardless of race, religion or creed. 

Whilst it is important to learn from history to avoid repeating its mistakes, surely the challenge is less about what has been done in the past and more about who we are as a people today?  

John Richardson

Cheers, tears as Rudd says 'sorry'

There have been emotional scenes in Federal Parliament, where Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has delivered his long-awaited apology to Australia's Stolen Generations.

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Gus: Many people have shown their emotions, including a brave Prime Minister Rudd who in his own way has prepared the ground for more development on this important national front. Sure, saying "sorry" may not be enough, and Rudd knows this but it was a big necessary step. It was a day for an apology that had to be made to the Aboriginal people, not a day to make excuses in relation to the mood of the times when the "Stolen Generation" occurred. Hell is paved with good intentions and tonnes of bad ones as well. As mentioned by PM Rudd, in not so many words, in many people's view at the time the intent of the removal of children from Aboriginal families was to dilute the aboriginality out of "these" people to make them eventually disappear. I still met people in the mid 1980s who had this view still, and some harbouring the appalling belief in what they called "the Tasmanian Solution". Tragic and ugly. We need to grow up and say SORRY SORRY SORRY. without reservations.

It was good of Brendan Nelson to decide to participate on the offer by Kevin Rudd to create a bi-partisan task-force, even if he muffed it a tad by mentioning a few more things that made people turn their back to him, or to his image on the screens across Australia. Even without "seeing" the text of the Rudd's speech, he should have known not to make excuses for the white people "of those times" today...

Today belongs to this necessary first step in proper reconciliation. SORRY SORRY SORRY. 

The negative reaction to the nuanced and sensitive reply from the Opposition Leader, Brendan Nelson, tells you that, far from extinguishing the culture war, Rudd's apology has fanned its flames. Slow clapping and turned backs were the response in the Great Hall and elsewhere, and Rudd was forced to apologise for two of his staff who allegedly led the protests.

Rudd spoke to Parliament of an "elegant, eloquent and wonderful woman in her 80s", one of the stolen generations he visited a few days ago. When he asked her what message she wanted conveyed she replied: "All mothers are important … families, keeping them together is very important, [being] surrounded by love and that love is passed down the generations - that's what gives you happiness." But no one knows what to do when the family is toxic.

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Gus:

Miranda, Miranda... [SMH 14/02/08]

If culture wars there were, of all people you are front runner in the windshufflers.

if Rudd were fanning the flames, you are pouring petrol right over them.
No! what Am I saying? You are placing gelignite sticks in the embers that Rudd is trying to extinguish.

First, Rudd staffers were not "leading" the protests...
Second Rudd ask the staffers to apologise for what should only be seen as a personal expression of their feelings. Had they not expressed their feelings, they could have been lambasted by the crowds who did turn their back to Nelson and the staffers may have been singled out by a savage media claiming that their presence was insincere...

Third. "When the family is toxic" is a cheap shot at very complex problems that sometimes can be resolved simply, but often demands great understanding and micro management, not tanks. When such problems are due to a few people behaving badly, there is a bad deed should one punish entire communities.

Contrary to what you have said, Coombs saved the aboriginal communities from massive destruction, even if they have not emerged from a very difficult state yet...

But some people — like some former minister of police in one particular state — made sure that booze would infiltrate these communities. To destroy them and also to profit from the sale of liquor, at the same time. Sure there has been mismanagement, including what Noel Pearson has called "sweet money" that rots the power of participation and the ethic of work.

Farmers and stock grower that had used Aboriginal slave labour for years did not want to pay wages and sacked the Aboriginal stockmen who became unemployed.

When Whitlam withdrew the troops from Vietnam, the U.S. punished Australia by cancelling Aussie meat exports to the US, compounding the problem even further. If you are old enough, one would remember entire lamb, sold — quartered and cut in any fashion one liked — for two bucks at the butcher.

Black or white, Commo or Capitalist, Catholic or whatever, our societies have differences of colour, of knowledge and of choice. Some have more, some have less choices, some have very little.

In all instances of change and improvements there are always difficulties to surmount and PM Rudd knows that. No need to poopoo his genuine and measured efforts

Education for example can be a minefield. I know from experience that kids can learn several languages at once. Thus Aboriginal kids can learn English AND their own tribal language. Formerly (at school) and at play, both. Some children learn fast, some don't. Same with the whitefellows kids. More could be said here, including memory and comprehension, two very distinct area of learning and ability to process information in all of us.

May be Kevin and Noel could get together with other Aboriginal leaders and the leader of the opposition, Brendan to sort out a plan that provides employment to the Aboriginal people, by the Aboriginal people and for the wider community. It is for the wider community to play a greater part in this acceptance. Racism has permeated relations for too long and this apology was necessary to secure the footing of the following developments. It can be done and if anyone can do it, it's Kevin with the help of all of us.

Your article smells of sulphur... Miranda Devine? No... it looks like it came from a Miranda Devile... But I believe that your media masters pay you to be the Devil's advocate and you're doing a brilliant job at it...

There are many pathways to deal with "the Aboriginal problem" and many failures.

Tony Abbott claims that John Howard was the best PM for Aborigines...
This is debatable.

"I believe no Australian prime minister has done more for Aboriginal people, in practical terms, than John Howard." says Tony...
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Gus: It was under the leadership of Gough Whitlam that Aboriginal people started to own their land and it was not until the Mabo case that "Terra Nullius" was abolished. All this was prior John Howard....Of course, all during this time between 1972 and 1996, things were improving — too slow for many — for some Aboriginal people but in some communities things were going backwards because of grog, idleness and lack of work. Several factors were critical in this poor result (see blog above)... one being that the follow-through needed after communities were "established" was not implemented. And there was still a lot of distrust... One needs to know that It was only during the mid 1980s that the Queensland Aboriginal people got their own "freedom'. Till then they were kept at bay by the successive State governments. Thus there is a small but noticeable difference between some of the Cape York Aboriginal people's will to catch up or do things quickly, and that of Aboriginal people in other places.

Noel Pearson has helped his Cape York people greatly but he knows there is lot more to be done. And the resentment does not come only from some whitefellas and some conservationists but from his own people's inertia. Noel has chosen to help his people no matter what and, to some extend, he has radical views which are not radical but complex to implement because of some of the whitefellas welfare industry in need to keep the problem ongoing so they keep having a job to do — and because of some of his own people reluctance to work when they get money for nothing.

Because of the environment in which they live, there is little work to do for except in little industries, art, tourism or mining (if any allowed). On top of the difficult conditions some of these industries would require the Aboriginal people to acquire the whitefellas desires and business acumen in order to succeed... This the Aboriginal people can do and are doing, except some may be frightened they will loose their "Aboriginality" — not so much the ownership of their communal lands, but of their culture...

One of the great differences between "white" culture and Aboriginal culture resides in the "ownership" and also resides between "white" ethic and present Aboriginal "kulture" (not traditional) in the concept of work.

OWNERSHIP AND WORK
By and large, communities own Aboriginal properties not individuals. This is a very important thing to understand. Prior to Land Rights, most Aboriginal owned bugger all, except a few clothes.

Some city and country Aborigines had managed to acquire personal properties, but these were bought as individuals like "whitefellas" would. Were did they get the money? Some of my Aboriginal friends worked very hard but even for those who made some money, too often they were still being seen by the "whitefellas" as "Aboriginal" or second class citizens — not as "people" or persons with skills and abilities.

As Noel Pearson says often "work" has always been part of the ethic of the Aboriginal culture but it has been lost for many Aborigines because of the "easy" money from handouts...

Thus the ownership of Aboriginal land was made to a group of people, with many families living on it but not to particular individuals... In essence this has been akin to a communist system.

When the communist in Russia handed over the system to capitalism and private Enterprise, a few Russians with the help of the West got rich very quickly — all making billions in just a couple of years. Most are imprisoned or in exile for embezzlement or tax evasion.

For Aboriginal people, the question of personal ownership is being resolved slowly... including the acceptance of the concept of it...

The "intervention" created by John Howard in the Northern territory was mostly due to two things: Noel Pearson's plea for help to create work for his people (Queensland as a side issue) but mostly the investigations of the rape of children within communities in the NT (first publicly exposed on Lateline on ABCTV) — the latter being a sad chapter in Aboriginal history. John Howard's "intervention" was late, desperate and martially conceived, as if, dared to do something, he was going to something way out of proportion...

Due to the complication of communal lands, the whitefellas legal eagles had to find a way around the permit systems and other sensitivities to send "whitefellas" and armies to sort out the "mess" — including taking over some lands for soldiers and personnel to live on "Aboriginal" lands. In the process, some Aboriginal people saw the "intervention" not only as a way to grab the land back from under their feet but to make them pay for it as well.

Not so — but quite unclear in the way the "intervention" is set up in regard to the land ownership and new leases, and acceptance of these leases.

Also, families, or communities that may have had nothing to with raping children were put in the same basket : Yet another "paternalistic" approach to the problem, while Noel Pearson is trying hard to solve the problems from within — mostly in partnership with banks and other private enterprises — helping bypass the bureaucracy of the governmental welfare industry...

We have to agree thus — as our former PM would have postulated — that things do not change overnight but progress is being made and has to be made.

But as things move along, there will always be different points of views, including some mistakes made on all sides. For example Noel Pearson's attack on Rudd prior to the elections was uncalled for. Sure Rudd when a public servant in Queensland may not have seen the light as he should have but, Tony, to say that Howard did the most for Aborigines is pushing the barrow of credibility over the edge. He diluted Mabo into Wik amongst other things — although some may not see it as a dilution...

Rudd's government apology was vastly necessary to heal the mental and emotional block in many people's mind — blacks and whites. As I mentioned before: some people made sure that booze would infiltrate Aboriginal communities, to destroy them and also to profit from the sale of liquor, at the same time. Earlier, the forced removal of children imposed an unnecessary distress on the Aboriginal people... Even with the best intent in the world, one would have to see the distress... Mostly this removal was done by governments to dilute the Aboriginal race into "extinction". Full stop. Only the do-gooders did not see that.

As mentioned before, Kevin and Noel should get together with other Aboriginal leaders and the leader of the opposition, Brendan to sort out a plan that provides employment to the Aboriginal people, by the Aboriginal people providing products for the wider community and the Aboriginal people. Nothing less.

It is for the wider community to play a greater part in this acceptance of Aboriginal work not only in art forms like painting or dance, although Zorba has won the day for some... On this subject, some Aussie whitefellas are profiting in various sneaky ways, like copying the styles born from the Aboriginal culture or buying cheap from communities and selling high to private collectors.

There is more recognition of the modern Aboriginal art movement in Europe than there is in this country... Racism has permeated relations for too long and this apology was necessary to secure the footing of the developments to follow. It can be done and if anyone can do it, Kevin can do it with the help of all of us.

It does matter who did what anymore except for the history books. What matters is that everyone does something to help solve the situation without the destruction of the Aboriginal culture, preferably. This is the greater challenge for all.

I have a few ideas of my own but I will keep my counsel unless asked for it.

Apparently a poll has placed Brendan on 9 per cent as preferred PM, while Kevin stands at 70 per cent...

Some leaders were sacked for much better performance in the past, but the orders in the Liberal bunker to Nelson seem to be "take the flak while we find a new general — and this is going to take some time since we're not in a hurry..."

Shame, humilation, anger the legacy of intervention: doctors

The Australian Indigenous Doctors Association (AIDA) says the federal intervention has had a negative effect on the health and emotional wellbeing of people in the targeted communities.

The assessment came in a submission to the Northern Territory emergency response review board.

The association's 18-page submission found that many people living in remote communities had feelings of shame, humiliation and a loss of dignity when the laws came in.

It also found Indigenous people have been left with a feeling of mistrust and anger towards Western culture, and the introduction of dry areas within regional centres has had no effect on stopping problem drinkers.

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Gus: this report slowly but surely vindicates Greer's thematic analysis of the situation despite what everyone (most people) says. Greer has no choice but to generalise a trend that is relative, yet major. Hopefully once the mechanics of rage and despair are understood — not just patched up the whitey way, (we console ourselves, don't we?), — the situation might improve by itelf, with a small nudge rather than boots and all... Gees, even the public servant who leaked the report of abuses that led to the (over-) "intervention", has been sentenced to jail for doing so...