I suppose it'd be "PC" of me to point out to Henry that the Vietnam War is completely unrelated to the Stolen Generations, and further that the rest of his anti-Aboriginal tirade exemplifies why it is we needed the initial Apology - and why it was only the beginning.

I can only hope my youngest child, when he's my age, won't have to read [or meet people] like those expressing horrible views here.

And I can only hope that the children of these same people grow up and forgive them for being what they are.

Rainier
Dave here I tried to forgive in 1984 & straighten my life up but people still hounded me. I tried to forgive in 1995 but in 1997 they remove my son & put him through hell all because people & in-laws hate my guts & the authorities have continued to allow this to go on I can forgive for what they did to me not knowing what it was like to grow without my mother there when I needed her but they have now denied me the right to be a father & rare my own son who is rared by people who hate my guts I thank you all for you time
May your lord shine on you all well
Dave

Funny how one-eyed folk can be isn't it? Both the Vietnamese and the Australian Aborigines are human beings with very similar aspirations. We whities invaded Australia and are told by some that we have to say sorry and pay compensation, but no person who demands that we say sorry to the Aborigines has EVER considered saying sorry or paying compensation to the Vietnamese for smashing their country, killing 3 million, and dumping thousands of gallons of Agent Orange on the country leading to god-knows how many children being born with horrible deformities,even now. And on top of that, Vietnam had a world trade embargo imposed between 1975 and 1991, which deprived the place of food, medical supplies and investment. Compare that treatment with the GOOD that has been done for the Aborigines in the interval from the end of the Vietnam war, from 1975 till now.

I think those who dislike my view are, quite simply, hypocrites. We are ALL human beings and I happen to think globally, and not locally for just one group, when it comes the the basic principles of trying to do the right thing and rectify past wrongs.

HenryVII

Have you been to Vietnam? No Vietnamese I met in Vietnam were bothered about an apology or compensation. All they wanted was a chance to improve their lives through fair and free trade, something they are doing extremely well at the moment.

I think it is unfair and implausible to link a apology and compensation to the Stolen Generation to historical wars. Just how far back do you want to go? Should Australia compensate Turkey for invading at Gallipoli? Germany for the Somme? North Korea for the Korean War?

Who makes the call on what was a right or wrong war? If Southern Vietnam had won the war would you still demand compensation?

CountryBoy-Yes, how far do we go back? 1788?-if so, the Irishman in me wants compensation for the trauma and dispossesion suffered by my ancestors at the hands of the English, in particular the potato famines of the 1840s. And the Scotsman in me wants compensation for lands stolen during the clearances of 1822 and the dispossession of my people, among other injustices. Then again I want compensation from Germany for causing my father's problems during and after WW2. This affected me, as did the German bombing of my mother during the blitz. My wife could do with a bit of compensation for someone dropping a bomb on her family home in Vietnam and for imposing deliberately an international trade embargo that kept her and her family on rations less than any welfare supplied to the aboriginal community (e.g. 4 metres of cloth for clothes, per person, per year for goverment employees and 3 metres if you were not a government employee). And yes, I know Vietnam very well.

VN indeed asked for and was promised reparations by the USA druing the Paris peace talks, and never got them. Instead they got invaded by China and then had to fight a war with the US-China-Thai-UK supported criminals run by Pol Pot between 1978 and 1987 or so. This also was a major drain on the Vietnamese economy and causaed social trauma.

It would appear that since 1967 a great deal of money has been spent by the taxpayer on trying to do the right thing by the aboriginal community in Australia, that benefits are available to the aboriginal community (and I gather that goes down to 1/64th aboriginal) that are not available to we whities, quite a few of whom are on or below the poverty line and even homeless, and that all that comes back from the aboriginal community is, "Gimme gimme gimme". This is not anti-aboriginal, but it is a hard question that encompasses many issues that need the clear light of day for rational discussion rather than knee-jerk politically corect emotion.