It seems to me that reconciliation, whilst maintaining indigenous culture are mutually exclusive. Traditional culture just simply cannot co-exist with Western culture.

Alex provides no real solution. Perhaps there isn't one.

Harmony Day to day , sorry no one told me, the media know more about the many gold medals Australians have won, I agree Indigenous Australians need more than money and words
The sad part is many Australians are too selfsh and greedy to even offer a hand of friendship, they want everything handed to them on a plate, maybe we should have a Disharmony Day because then we would have one day a year for all the racist bigots do what they do best , having said that, To celebrate Harmony Day you have to make friends with another Australian who is different than you. imagine if you went up to someone on the street who may be a different colour /religion and asked them, "Can I give you a big hug"?, what better way to show we are all one, maybe next year I might promote that idea "every one asking to be hugged", what do you think.

What do we need?

We need to find a way to help indigenous people to stand firmly on their own feet - to achieve self-reliance and economic independence.

Virtually all 'bad stuff' in disadvantaged communities (like crime, violence and health problems) can be clearly linked to unemployment and sense of helplessness.

What might come to a surprise to some, there is a significant know-how in this area.

In fact, paradisaically perhaps, we can learn a lot from the US experiences. With a concentrated effort of entrepreneurship encouragement programs Americans have achieved noteworthy results.

In fact, due to those programs the business take-up rate among 'indigenous Americans' is *twice* of that of the general population.

Yes, I know we have *some* programs in this area. But we need to do much more.

And no (referring to the previous comment), they do not have to abandon their identity. Just like any other group they can (and do) contribute to the creation of a new Australian society in their own unique ways...

Paul
www.creativewinwin.com

I wonder what harmony would be, in real terms - beyond a symbol that means different things to different people. If we all have different ideas about what it means, how can we make it happen? Pluralsm is obviously part of the answer - each to their own, however what happens when the different elements crunch into each other. I think this is the current state of indigenous/non-indigenous relationship. For each element to be free and prosperous they must operate within a common framework that prevents collisions. This cannot be an attempt to separate warring parties, as that will surely lead to war. The framework must be based on co-operation - win/win instead of the colonial adversarial model of law.

Keep the Australian parliament and legal system intact, exactly as it is and replace the Queen with the proper sovereign for this land. My guess is that would be a federation of traditional owners which would look something like ATSIC except based on traditional owner, Aboriginal style representation rather than the highly corruptible colonial system that constituted ATSIC and it's elections.

The governor-general would be nobody's puppet as they are now. They would indeed "govern" the relationship between the sovereign and the parliament - as is the role now in a titular role mainly, except when Gough got sacked. Not even the sovereign could sack a prime minister in this model.

All the details, within a "win/win"and "we are all Australian" kind of way can be thrashed out and put into a treaty.

I know this sounds like an idea from the moon, and perhaps it is, However I am absolutely sure that the way things are now is not working. I am also absolutely sure that the grass-roots problems of Aboriginal Australia such as grog and family violence cannot be solved until Aboriginality is restored to a position of pride and glory rather than the pathetic scum of Australian society that all too many people, including unfortunately many Aboriginal people, seem to believe.

just a thought