Sol did have a point, all Australians are, to varying degrees, racist and intolerant like any society anywhere.

There is nothing new or unusual there.

Unfortunately some Australians like to point out that everyone but themselves are racist .. don't they?

The fact that Sol didn't appreciate the Australian sense of humour, and did not take enough interest in the country and its people to know that we treat everybody the same here - we are not Americans or Mexicans - was the problem.

Sol came here to make big bucks. He was like many of the Hollywood faded stars who come to Australia when they are on their last legs. They are not interested in Australia; they are interested only in themselves,and they don't know that the rest of the world is not a copy of the good old US of A.

Whatever rascist attitudes exist in Australia Sol Trujillo is not a good example. Adios and many over foriegn words have become part of the Australian language. They are used with without judgement of their origins. If someone used the french or Itailian expression for goodbye anyone thing it was rascist.
Sol Trujillo is a horrible little man who destroyed customer service at Telstra and drove the share price down. For this he recevied indecent amounts odf money. I would like to add 'please don't come back' to Mr Rudds farewell.
Rascism is some thing we need to look at, but using Sol Trujillo as an example is going to help the cause.

No, Sol Trujillo doesn't have a point in my opinion.
The cry of 'racism' or that other term 'fascism'is just very poor anti-intellectual sloganeering.

People in every antion desire that their countries reamin sovereign nation states. It is the aim of international capital for reasons of power and profit to utilise their willing accomplices who are liberals, libertines and socialists ( these three latter groups operating out of ideological reaons)to destroy national and ethnic identities of the majority within nation states.

Yes most people have a desire to ensure th survival of their culture and national group and most Anglo and Celtic descended Aussies, of whic I am one, feel comfortable with that and will not entertain or be ashamed by either big corporations nor their ideological enemies who make strange bedfellows with their cries of 'racism'.

Corporates are allegedly anti-'racist' so as to fllod all nations with immigrants so as to drive down wages and organised labour through 'diversity'( another nonsense term). Liberals and socialsits are strange bedfellows also as they wish to see the death of our Christian heritage and what better way than to get the majority to feel ashamed and to get out the secualr sackcloth and ashes.

the argument that "all countries are racist and australia is nothing special" is just plain wrong. when one arrives here from another country one is instantly confronted with the obvious racism and blatant exclusion of whole sections of australia's population from mainstream culture. no australian black people anywhere, not on buses or in taxis, not in school yards or in supermarkets, and never on tv unless standing on one leg looking at the sunset. and the unconscious racism is so deep most aussies actually believe they live in an “egalitarian” country. and the "well we aussies just treat everyone the same" and the “they should pull themselves together and stop asking for special treatment” argument is also complete rubbish as well..people are not "all the same". peoples’ experiences, histories and heritage are different. committing near complete genocide on an entire race of people and then expecting the survivors to just "behave like us aussies" is simply insane and shows the deep structural hatred inherent in the colonial australian education and cultural system. people who say this kinda denial stuff, at best i think, need psychological treatment of some kind. at worst they need locking up before they harm themselves and others.........and yes, you might not like it, but it’s really obvious, have a real good hard look at yourselves, for the sake of your children.

The majority of Italian, Greek, Maltese and other immigrants from the assimilationist periods post World War II to the 1970s era accepted tehn and demand now via theri views to me that assimialtion is the best way forward and that it is not an insult to them at all.
They saw they continue with their customs which are Catholic or Orthodox and this chimes in well with the majority of Anglo and Celtic Catholic Aussies here.
It is only some recent arrivals who have hostile attitudes to our majority way of life and values.
Not all values are the same and many are not morally equivalent either. Some customs and beliefs that are not consistent with Christian charity, Catholic trade union heritage which built this antion up with good wages and standards and knock off time after 5pm shouild be preserved. The low standards of soem more recent arrivals need to be met with the full force of our laws and in fact many of our laws ditched under political correctness need to be restored. The ungratefulness of a small minority will be thus hit head on as such attitudes deserve! Most old style patriotic Labor working class people who are sick of the elites that run the ALP today will be cheering heartily. Bring it all on I say.

Sol's performance at Telstra was an F- to me, but his comment on racism may have had a point, although I haven't seen it in the full context. But the example quoted of the Aboriginal elder dying of dehydration in that metal cage is just totally abhorrent to any civilised notion of 'fair go'. Saying 'sorry' just doesn't cut it if this kind of behaviour can continue with no end in sight.

So amigo is racist ?.

We could have called him bluey.

Because he has red hair.

I know he does not have red hair ,that makes it even funnier and more confusing for an American.

Who let him in?.
A hundred Australians on 100,000 dollars would have done a better job for the same money.

Interesting point Stephen, however, I fail to see the connection between the 'apology', Sol and the appalling incident in the West. All countries have an element of racism within. In Malaysia, all businesses must be majority owned by a native malay (this may have changed in recent years but I doubt it).

Whilst no doubt there are racists within our mids, I believe there is a general perception within the community that our aboriginal brothers and sisters need to help themselves (as much as we non-aboriginals need to help them). Throwing money at the problem does not appear to have worked. Aboriginal Australians, like other Australians, need a reason to get up each day and need to undertake self-satisfying tasks throughout the day. This does not occur in many aboriginal communities. I would say the communities that work and live within Kakadu are an example of what can be done and are a role model to other communities.

One way is to mandate the teaching of aboriginal studies in all schools preferably by aboriginals. The culture is rich, complex and I believe, incredibly interesting. Educating all will go along way in breaking down the barriers that do exist.

There aren't too many Australian of aboriginal decent availing themselves of the large number of programs where they get preferential treament (positive discrimination I believe it is referred as). This includes access to schools, TAFEs, Unis and other programs offered by all levels of Government. There aren't too many in the Armed Services either.

Sol was appointed the CEO of one of Australia's most iconic companies and one held dear by many Australians. He laid of staff, did nothing to improve performance, services or the share price and walked away with millions. The timing of his departure couldn't have been worst with the remuneration of CEOs in the spot light. And he has the audacity to complain. I still don't get the connection.

While I agree the manner in which Mr Ward died was utterly disgraceful, I don't think the example of Sol is a good one, or a valid one.
Sol cannot be, in all honesty, described as possessing "esteemed business acumen", as I know many Telstra stock holders, and owners of companies he has previously headed would agree.
The reality is he is, and always has been an incompetent leader, and his comments were a departing shot to deflect criticism from his repeated ridiculously poor performance (of which he has a rich history).

To call us racist when you come from a country (let alone Wyoming) which still has incidents of young black men being tethered to the back of cars, and dragged to their death, is a real stretch.

I'm not saying there aren't racists in this country. There undoubtedly are, but all too often it's a very convenient defence used by some minority groups, when they are called on their own poor behaviour.

Rechts "I'm not saying there aren't racists in this country. There undoubtedly are, but all too often it's a very convenient defence used by some minority groups, when they are called on their own poor behaviour.'

Well said, completely agree with that, and would add that it is also used as an attack mode to shut down discussion and debate.

There seems to be a lot of Politicizing going on over a man's death. NO doubt had it been Mr Howard as Prime Minister the ABC and Greens would love to have blamed him. He would of been the target for months. Well that's the price we pay for our unbias ABC. Instead the attention is on the company and incompetent staff who are partly responsible for this tragic death.

The comments by Sol Trujillo were nothing more than sour grapes for the negative response to his poor performance at the helm of Telstra and then pocketing millions of dollars in bonuses over the term of his contract.

As much as some would disingenuously make this a political issue, Trujillo raised the rankles even of former Treasurer Costello when he pocketed a $1.5 million dollar bonus due to the implementation of recommendations from a US owned consultancy who were paid more than ~ $52million in consultant fees.

An Aussie PM saying adios does not a racist make and is way off the mark when using this as some sort of evidence of rampant Australia-wide racism in the case of Mr Ward's death in custody.

I am really concerned when the term racist or racism gets bandied about without duty of care to the truth, which only goes to diminish the real and blatanty cruel acts of racism.

It is laughable that a man of Trujillo's background and experience in the US could make such a claim about Australia. Ask anyone who has spent time in the US and seen the blatant way that African Americans, Muslims and other minorities including Mexicans are treated will know just how way off the mark this statement was and the malicious intent in which it was delivered.

It is too easy for someone of Mr Trujillo's reputation to throw out an accusation of racism in response to something quite different altogether. It is the act of a coward.

I should add that in relation to Mr Ward there are many questions that need to be asked and for a human being to be treated in that way is deplorable. But this is quite a separate issue from the Trujillo comments.

An issue deserving of much more attention than the throw-away comments of Mr Trujillo.

With regard to Mr Ward I am amazed at the lack of response from White and Aboriginal Community's for not demanding a Royal Commission or Bonding together and taking the Law into their own hands . I would imagine there would be some way via the United Nations this could be done especially where Duty of Care Laws don't work as we know they don't in the Northern Territory . What does the Geneva Convention say about incarceration of Indigenous People in Captured Territory ?
Where is Noel Pearson on this issue .

As for our Ubiquitous Quark Sol , I insist 'HE' is a raciest done and dusted !

What happened to Mr Ward was abysmal, deplorable, horrifying - and cannot be justified. However, the words of the JP are also disturbing... this respected Elder appeared in court. The court was not informed of the esteem in which he is held in his community. He appeared in Court in a drunken or groggy state. Where was the ALS or Legal Aid? Why was Mr Ward appearing in court in such a state?
No government is ever keen to spend additional money on prisoners. Race hardly comes into it.
The actions of the guards are also incomprehensible - why wouldn't they check on their prisoner, offer drink/food/toilet breaks? I don't know the answer to that but it seems you are suggesting it is because of racism... Do you think that there's a chance that the reason the guards didn't want to go back into the van was because of the way they thought the prisoner might behave based on past experience?
Stephen your last post was something I could support and agree with but unfortunately this one goes back to a familiar theme... when one is looking for offence (in this case racism) one will always see it everywhere you look.

"I am really concerned when the term racist or racism gets bandied about without duty of care to the truth, which only goes to diminish the real and blatantly cruel acts of racism."

After about 30 years of gagging social discourse by firing RACIST from the hip at every critic perhaps society has gone back to the future and will once again revive the words bigot and biased.

If it is justifiable for a man of colour earning a couple of million a year in the corporate world; to label the society that championed him as racist, we must then conclude that there is no hope.

no Australian black people anywhere, not on buses or in taxis, not in school yards

What an obtuse comment.

There are in fact, school yards in Sydney where white faces comprise less than 5% of the population. Most Sydney schools reflect the cosmopolitan nature of the cities population.

Where does this OLO writer live? Certainly not in Blacktown.

G'Day All; The racist issues in Australia are growing as the population continues to grow from more & more immigrants of different nations & cultures & this will continue while ever we continue the same path. A quote "If you continue to do the same things you will always get what you always got". Stephen Hagan writes on racism & other articles placing himself as a person who is interested in the well being of the Indigenous & all Australians but Stephen has even displayed prejudice & racism himself. I have contacted & spoken to Stephen on certain issues but he does nothing to raise the issues I have spoken to him about.Australians of all walks of life used to once make humour of themselves but since the introduction of the discrimination laws we are to darn scared to speak for fear of being a "racist" & now our society is becoming a nation of depression. Thanks for your time Dave