Paul (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} fremantlebiz) wrote,@ 2008-02-13 09:39:00 |
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Apology Day
Gee whizz, its Apology Day already. There's light in the eastern sky. Soon the Prime Minister will read his formal apology to Aboriginal peoples whose lives were disrupted by twentieth century governments' child welfare policies.
I gather there'll be a live broadcast on TV so I had better get a blank DVD ready to record the historic occasion. I've already read the apology. I typed "apology text" into Google and voila, there it was on a New Zealand news site. So already it's old news. It will be even older news by the time I finish this entry after the telecast.
My number four plumber son had an apology yesterday. He was mauled by a dog. He'd been doing a job at a small county town near Wagin and was on foot when the attack occurred. He was bitten on the arm and leg and after running to his vehicle, drove himself to a hospital for treatment. Apparently the injuries are not too serious, the wounds were cleaned up and he was given antibiotics.
He says he'll be back at work today, but when I spoke to him on the phone late yesterday he'd sounded a bit subdued. The dog owner who had seen the spontaneous attack was very shocked. There's a potential fine of $10,000 for owners of dogs involved in an unprovoked attack.
My son said the man had been very apologetic. He believed he'd called the shire ranger soon after and asked to have the animal euthanized. I think they do it with a bullet in the country.
Anyway it's now 6.46am - must now away to the TV to watch the other apology from the PM:
8:36am - Well I guess that's that. Mr Rudd didn't waste any time in reading his apology. Nobody can demand the word sorry from the government any more. He said it lots of times. There was a standing ovation in the parliament, but the Liberal opposition didn't seem to be applauding. Then with that out of the way he began a thought provoking statement to the house in which the Leader for the Opposition Brendan Nelson seemed to get gazonked into a bi-partisan effort to work with Mr Rudd on future Aboriginal social problems.
Dr Nelson followed this effort with his own prepared speech. I thought he looked a bit uncomfortable and sounded as if he was mumbling. He started to come unstuck when he wandered off the main topic of the apology and began to rub Aboriginal noses in all the sort of problems that cause children to be taken into care and which, by accounts, are still at epidemic levels in many Aboriginal communities.
People who'd gathered outside on the grassed area didn't want to hear such bad news and began a slow handclap, and apparently turned their backs on the TV screens. I suspect in any case, many of them had come for some sort of protest, no matter what was said.
A former white political figure named Fred Chaney has been getting a lot of air time in the last few days with his thesis that all the official reports on child neglect relating to 'stolen children' contain nothing but concocted fiction. He was reiterating this again a little while ago on ABC TV after the apology. I know it's always been very difficult for any historical researchers in this state to gain access to such material so there is no way of easily testing his heart-on-sleeve assertion.
Anyway that's it for today. We can all go off somewhere cool and reflect of this morning's events. I'm also going to listen to my new 3 CD set of Blade Runner music which just arrived in the mail from Amazon - about two weeks later than it was supposed to.
Below is the text of Mr Rudd's Apology:
© MMVIII Paul R. Weaver.
Click here to visit 'dogandcatwatcher', my YouTube website.
My original still photographs are stored in a cache at my Panoramio website. Most of them have a brief description and a link back to the relevant essay. All the images there can be enlarged several times by clicking them.
About the writer
Click here to see our backyard.
Check out each month's subject index on the Calendar Page for my "common-man" monologues about survival in 21st century Australia – plus a little history occasionally. An original essay is added most days as part of an undertaking to write at least couple of million words. Zzzzzzzz!
Gee whizz, its Apology Day already. There's light in the eastern sky. Soon the Prime Minister will read his formal apology to Aboriginal peoples whose lives were disrupted by twentieth century governments' child welfare policies.
I gather there'll be a live broadcast on TV so I had better get a blank DVD ready to record the historic occasion. I've already read the apology. I typed "apology text" into Google and voila, there it was on a New Zealand news site. So already it's old news. It will be even older news by the time I finish this entry after the telecast.
My number four plumber son had an apology yesterday. He was mauled by a dog. He'd been doing a job at a small county town near Wagin and was on foot when the attack occurred. He was bitten on the arm and leg and after running to his vehicle, drove himself to a hospital for treatment. Apparently the injuries are not too serious, the wounds were cleaned up and he was given antibiotics.
He says he'll be back at work today, but when I spoke to him on the phone late yesterday he'd sounded a bit subdued. The dog owner who had seen the spontaneous attack was very shocked. There's a potential fine of $10,000 for owners of dogs involved in an unprovoked attack.
My son said the man had been very apologetic. He believed he'd called the shire ranger soon after and asked to have the animal euthanized. I think they do it with a bullet in the country.
Anyway it's now 6.46am - must now away to the TV to watch the other apology from the PM:
8:36am - Well I guess that's that. Mr Rudd didn't waste any time in reading his apology. Nobody can demand the word sorry from the government any more. He said it lots of times. There was a standing ovation in the parliament, but the Liberal opposition didn't seem to be applauding. Then with that out of the way he began a thought provoking statement to the house in which the Leader for the Opposition Brendan Nelson seemed to get gazonked into a bi-partisan effort to work with Mr Rudd on future Aboriginal social problems.
Dr Nelson followed this effort with his own prepared speech. I thought he looked a bit uncomfortable and sounded as if he was mumbling. He started to come unstuck when he wandered off the main topic of the apology and began to rub Aboriginal noses in all the sort of problems that cause children to be taken into care and which, by accounts, are still at epidemic levels in many Aboriginal communities.
People who'd gathered outside on the grassed area didn't want to hear such bad news and began a slow handclap, and apparently turned their backs on the TV screens. I suspect in any case, many of them had come for some sort of protest, no matter what was said.
A former white political figure named Fred Chaney has been getting a lot of air time in the last few days with his thesis that all the official reports on child neglect relating to 'stolen children' contain nothing but concocted fiction. He was reiterating this again a little while ago on ABC TV after the apology. I know it's always been very difficult for any historical researchers in this state to gain access to such material so there is no way of easily testing his heart-on-sleeve assertion.
Anyway that's it for today. We can all go off somewhere cool and reflect of this morning's events. I'm also going to listen to my new 3 CD set of Blade Runner music which just arrived in the mail from Amazon - about two weeks later than it was supposed to.
Below is the text of Mr Rudd's Apology:
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.
© MMVIII Paul R. Weaver.
Click here to visit 'dogandcatwatcher', my YouTube website.
My original still photographs are stored in a cache at my Panoramio website. Most of them have a brief description and a link back to the relevant essay. All the images there can be enlarged several times by clicking them.
About the writer
Click here to see our backyard.
Check out each month's subject index on the Calendar Page for my "common-man" monologues about survival in 21st century Australia – plus a little history occasionally. An original essay is added most days as part of an undertaking to write at least couple of million words. Zzzzzzzz!
