Schmaltz is is Pig fat & actually very tasty on sweet & sour Rye bread with Carraway seed & paprika & Salt sprinkled over it.
Schmaltz is widely used in many german dialects to describe something really corny or overly patronising or just plain ignorant. Some of Kevin Rudd's comments re the appology weren't schmaltz. They were over & understated & purely academic paternalistic. He obviously meant well, but we all know that just meaning well is simply not good enough & in this case doing well is not appreciated either. Rudd would be well advised to invite Nelson for a beer & discuss reality.

I am going to be completely naive here - so hope those OLO accept my comments in the manner in which I give them.

We constantly hear the deplorable situation of child sexual abuse and petrol-sniffing. This is the tragic loss of yet ANOTHER generation. No sugar coating and poli-speak from governments is going to change this.

Why can't the perpetrators of child abuse be removed from the communities? The women, and the men not involved with child abuse, would feel safer and empowered to bring up these children.

Indigenous leaders are outspoken about such abuse. Undoubtedly, there are many, many indigenous people who support them. Could not these people establish groups within the communities to monitor this? Whatever the motives of whites in the past, the results must be a reserve at best, a suspicion at worst, of white involvement.

Reports implicate whites also involved in this child-abuse coming in from mining regions. Arresting them would be a good start.

Some years ago, I spoke with a group of indigenous women. I am not a social worker or such. It was just one women (me) informally chatting with other women - just as women do. No specifics were mentioned, such as petrol sniffing. They openly discussed the problems as they saw it. They stated that their menfolk had been emasculated by white paternalism ... and, thus, the men felt impotent in every part of their lives. Their important roles in their communities had been removed.

I would tender my own view that this would be a root-cause of many of the problems seen now.

I agree education is of vital importance. Education could also include what is significant to indigenous people. Teaching both local languages and English in schools is hardly unique. This occurs overseas, where both lingua franca and English are taught together. Indigenous culture could so easily be included in the curriculum without any detriment to these children progressing onto tertiary study.

Individual,

I dislike German food - also English ...

Sauerkraut is all right in small does - especially if taken to ward off scurvy.

When I last had a meat pie in England, the top crust, so full of lard, stuck to the roof of my mouth and I had to lever it off with a fork ... Try doing this in public with any dignity ...

When French and Italian chefs were being acclaimed, it is highly significant that the only English cook to gain recognition and renown for his cooking, was Sweeney Todd ...

Of course, we are not going as far back as the food of 17th century elite classes; and
relatively modern English cooks of note, are influenced by European food styles.

I think that Rudd must found Bob-no child in poverty-Hawke’s old hookrah.
He obviously lit it up, and had a puff or two before making his speeches
the other day.

It's positive to have dreams and Rudd must get marks for trying to nurture
a bipartisan approach to the problem but I, like Steve, remain dubious.

Some of the biggest long-term obstacles may come from his own ranks.
A mighty lot people on the left side of the politics enjoy playing the blame
game (note the reaction to Nelsons speech the other day)
-tell us all current woes result from the ‘stolen gen’ –we’ll listen.
-tell us more money is needed-we’re all ears .
But, tell us anything about mutual responsibility or squandered resources-we don’t want to hear– “its offensive”

Agree with Steve that remoteness of settlements is responsible for a lot of the underdevelopment .

But even moving to the city will not solve the problem , witness Redfern, Sydney &
the woes of some of its residents. And you don't need great gaps to have a vicious us v them mentality. Especially when you have the left telling everyone that – unless things
come out equal –-there has just got to have been discrimination & injustice – And its all whites fault!

A little amused by Foxy’s 'academic' authority
and his talk of "EVER WHITE " having access to pools etc.
This may be true of the cities. But many remote white settlements are equally denude
of facilities & opportunities.

And, as for talk of " kicking a leather ball stuffed with paper" as a peculiar
Aboriginal habit (LOL) …well, it is something I can relate to also - and not too long ago!
Foxy's ‘academic’ clearly has the right mindset to head a 'genocide study"

Danielle

You make some good points. The effects of disempowerment are not unique to Aborigines and you only have to refer to examples such as the Irish situation or the native American indian for similar comparisons.

It would have been less devastating if we had involved Indigenous people in the establishment and development of Australia which may have aided in providing a sense of self worth and ownership. But we can all be wise in hindsight.

Hopefully the Apology will go some way in building a bridge for Reconciliation and while a 'sorry' does not solve the immediate problems it is a positive and symbolic gesture that might open the way for some new beginnings. Improvements will only be gained with the full cooperation of Indigenous people and uniquely tailored programs for each situation. The one-fits-all approach won't work as Aboriginal people are as diverse in culture as the European.

I agree that it would be better to remove the perpetrators rather than the victims to allow communities to operate and prosper without the hindrance of destructive behaviours. If only it were that easy.

Dear Horus,

Please get it right... I'm female - not male - so do me the courtesy to stop referring to me as "he" all the time.

It's also inappropriate to suggest that I'm qualified to head some sort of study on "genocide..." when there have obviously already been studies done on that subject by qualified people.
Studies to which I have referred in my previous posts.

And by the way as Malcolm Fraser pointed out - "There is a great push to have more and more Aboriginal athletes, because it will be wonderful to say in the Olympics year, 'Look, we have half-a-dozen Aborigines in our briefcases' which shows that Australia makes no racial distinctions and everybody lives happily in a land of equal opportunity.' But the Aborigines who represent Australia in the Olympics had to show three times as much talent in order to rate an equal place with whites. Cathy Freeman is the greatest thing that ever happened to white Australia because this happy, delightful, fun-loving young lady looks as though she is the representative of all black womanhood, and she is not; she is an aberration."

Education is the key to changing life-styles. It should start with
the children - as I've also said in previous posts - it may be too late for some of the adults - but it isn't for their children and grandchildren. And - the provision of sporting facilities was only one suggestion.

If you can offer better solutions Horus - by all means let's hear them.