cont'd ...

I forgot to add that we should learn from the
mistakes that we've made - and try to do better
in the present and the future. The expansion of this
country was accomplished at thecost of decimation to
our Indigenous population. Listening to Elders like
Arrente-Alyawarra Elder Rosalie Kunoth-Monks, we
just may learn how to proceed with doing the right
thing by her people because obviously what's been done
thus far hasn't worked too well.

It was a step in the right direction.
Foxy,
Those of us who know better say that Brendan Nelson's reply to that was much better in every way. It was more down to earth, more realistic & above all more, in fact way more sincere.
The hangers-on leftie brigade however did not allow this to be seen in that light because integrity goes against the grain of the left & its syphoning the guilt industry mentality.

Foxy, well put.
Colonisation is a traumatic process, the colonisation of this continent was particularly nasty in certain areas, we can be saddened and ashamed by things which happened in the past but we're not guilty of those crimes and we don't need to atone for them.
That's my beef with "reconciliation", there's nothing to reconcile between two parties who bear no collective responsibilities, the very idea of collective responsibility should be erased from the dialogue between White and Indigenous, it's just as poisonous to race relations coming from a do-gooder as it is from the pen of a bigot.

Making a formal apology to our Indigenous people was
what we needed to do in order to morally resurrect
as a nation. In our hearts, White Australia needed
to make an amend to the First Nation people at least
as much as they needed to hear it. Admitting when
we have been wrong is not a sign of weakness, but one of
strength. In situations where the people responsible for
the perpetration of violence or violation are not
alive anymore, it should be that much easier for us to
sincerely express regret, ask for forgiveness, and allow
us to reconcile with the people of this land.

I realise that many people think that we have done
enough to repay Indigenous people for the ravages of
racism. The truth is that we have done far too little,
for we had never apologised until recently. We had in
the past never fully publicly acknowledged the evil that was
done to our First Nation people as evil.

A sincere apology went toward restoring a genuine moral order,
for it realigned basic energies with truth. Many people
registered the need for forgiveness while underestimating the
importance of an apology. To ask someone to forgive you
without actually apologising is bogus and callous and
patronizing. But we finally managed to do the right thing.

The 'formal apology' was little more than the latest play in an ongoing game of ideological one-upmanship between political elites. It bleeds Judeo-Christian notions of ethics. If Kev really had their best interests at heart, he'd have shouted those folks a slab each. Because my advice to everyone being stifled in this hopelessly stacked system -- a system that, as has been pointed out, stifles White Australians as much as it does the indigenous folk -- is to drink heavily.

the abused kids and especially young girls promised to uncles will be glad that some parts of the culture is outlawed. Marvelous how the indigeneous still want all the benefits of civilised culture but are taught to hate and despise the people who built houses, hospitals etc. Their life expectancy is now much higher due to those 'horrid' whities. Imagine the Chinese, Japanese or even Dutch had beaten Britian to the colonisation process. An inconvenient truth.