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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 3 of 3. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Sigismund on February 12, 2008, at 15:54:13
In the middle of the night I was reflecting on the style of the previous government. The language was always full of
'we have always made it perfectly clear'
'we do not resile from that'
'if you cast your mind back you will remember'
'we make no apology'
The following is the text of the Apology to the Stolen Generation and the Aboriginal people which is being given today.
It's not much and it is very late, but it is a real improvement.The Federal Government's formal apology to the stolen generations:
Today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.
We reflect on their past mistreatment.We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were stolen generations this blemished chapter in our nation's history.
The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia's history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.
We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.
We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.
For the pain, suffering and hurt of these stolen generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.
To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.
And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.
We the Parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation.
For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written.
We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.
A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.
A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity.
A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed.
A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.
A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia.
Posted by ClearSkies on February 13, 2008, at 12:03:54
In reply to A more decent and generous Australia, posted by Sigismund on February 12, 2008, at 15:54:13
A most conciliatory address - it even made the news over here (and you know that our news coverage usually only goes as far as our country's own borders).
CS
Posted by Sigismund on February 13, 2008, at 17:28:05
In reply to Re: A more decent and generous Australia » Sigismund, posted by ClearSkies on February 13, 2008, at 12:03:54
I shouldn't have said it was 'not much'.
As far as words alone can ever be it was a great deal.It was an apology to the Stolen Generation and to the Aboriginal people more generally, and an example of the type of politics we wish to practise in the future.
At least that's what I felt it was.From the papers......
In his accompanying speech Mr Rudd said
"There is something terribly primal about these first-hand accounts. The pain is searing, it screams from the pages - the hurt, the humiliation, the degradation and the sheer brutality of the act of physically separating a mother from her children is a deep assault on our senses and on our most elemental sense of humanity."These stories cry out to be heard, they cry out for an apology.
"Instead from the nation's Parliament there has been a stony and stubborn and deafening silence for more than a decade.
"A view that somehow we the Parliament should suspend our most basic instincts of what is right and what is wrong.
"A view that instead we should look for any pretext to push this great wrong to one side.
"To leave it languishing with the historians, the academics and the cultural warriors as if the stolen generations are little more than an interesting sociological phenomenon.
"But the stolen generations are not intellectual curiosities, they are human beings, human beings who have been damaged deeply by the decisions of parliaments and governments.
Time for denial is at an end
"But as of today the time for denial, the time for delay, has at last come to an end."
At 9.28pm Mr Rudd finished his address, and was greeted by loud and lasting applause by both sides of the house.
He reached across the house's table and shook the hand of Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson before returning to the front bench, where he himself applauded.
This is the end of the thread.
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