Do you support the reconciliation process in Australia?

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molly

My mother-in-law was part of the stolen generation and she doesn't want an apology (I think we should give one) she said its to late for that but she would like people to acknowledge what it is like to be raised by strangers to learn how to become a servant and stop saying "they were so much better off"
She said anyone who had a mother,father,grandmother,grandfather or siblings when they grew up and learned one thing of them then they had so much more than her when children.
What annoys her is that people think they were taught to read and write they weren't and to make things worse after they turned 15 they were sent back to the country they came from to work on the farm as servants.
We need to learn our history even though it might not be pretty and stop whitewashing it and remember who didn't get paid when they were working out on the farms that built Australia.

Dick E knee

Hi Mate. Yes I support it FOR the Aboriginal people. If that is as far as it went. Trouble is, with this outcome would be wealthy white lawyers rushing to sue our Govt. and lining their pockets for the sake of our Aboriginal people who will end up with nothing. (Again). It is a hard one that must be approached from both sides. Govt. and the Aboriginal people. Shoot any Lawyer that comes within 50 metres.

I agree with you completely. As you say what is needed is acknowledgement of the events of the British invasion of a peaceful land and the resultant genocide of the indigenous peoples in what was obviously NOT Terra Nulius. As well as the destruction of the environment by the introduction of European animals, plants and farming techniques that impacted adversely on the natural Australian environment.

I wasn't born then and are only half white/British but I feel very strongly that there is a national responsibility to acknowledge , accept responsibility of and say sorry for these events.

DavidC

The continuing problem with "Sorry", is that those who may say it were not born when the problems occurred.
A government can do this, but without personal involvement, what does it mean.
We acknowledge your existence, your culture, your history, your humanity, and your loss, and we share your grief", is as far We, of these times, can do.

laura k71

well, i am in american, but i agree with "FORKY"'s answer. AND i think the same things should be done for the native american indians of our country.it is not enought to give then some money ever month, with out guidance on what to do.

i had one young native american man stay with my family last year and he told me of alot of the problems on the reservations here ( alot of drugs,especially methamphatimines, coming from mexico), plus even with the school he had, he was not quite up to speed for his age. (20) I told hiim you can get a grant for college, but he was relucant to do so.
i dont knowhow these problems are able to be fixed, all i know is they do exist and they need to be adknowledged by our countries leaders. both yours and mine.

Ted T

It is a matter of simple humanity to acknowledge the terrible things done to the indigenous population when the first Europeans came here and to accept that we now have a responsibility to ensure they have the same opportunities as the rest of us to live much healthier lives, and to achieve their potential by providing the same health and educational facilities enjoyed by everybody else.
To refuse to say sorry on the basis that we personally didn't actually commit the atrocities is petty to say the least. A bit like your son committing a murder and you not able to apologise to the victim's relatives for the same reasons.
I have already signed the getup petition.

thing55000

I agree in most part with what you say. Even if the aboriginal peopls of Australia don't feel 'Sorry' is a priority for them, most of us know that apologising benefits the one doing it more than the one hearing it.

As for compo claims ~ how much of the $12 billion surplus we have comes from the deeds done against aboriginal people in the past ~ unpaid wages, free domestic work, even the use of aboriginal lands to fnd our minerals driven prosperity.

My own feeling is that the mistreatment of aboriginal peoples is a dark stain on our national history, and will taint our future unless we address it, and I wonder how dire the response of aboriginal people would actually be?

A good example is that in some cases, where apologies have been made, the 'victims' have said 'thanks' and moved on, with very few and mostly small claims, made. In other instances, where apologies have not been made, vast fortunes are being demanded in compensation for various wrongs. The cases in point are apologies by the Anglican church in Canada re sexual abuse by priests, and similar cases in the US.

HOWEVER, having said all that, saying 'sorry' is not enough if all it means is 'ok, we have apologised now stand aside so we can rob you some more'. There are some serious issues happening for aboriginal australians, who receive very unequal treatment in a great many ways, and sending troops in to small communities where essentials most of us take for granted (such a kerbing and guttering, town water and street lighting) are not provided, is a very weird take on making things right, imo.

Cheers :-)

miss schlonky

Stolen generation is the most pertinent issue of reconciliation that we have to address. More people need to understand stories like that of Molly's mother in law (above). We're talking about modern, relatively quite recent, history, and the people affected are still amongst us today. They are the ones in our society who need to hear the genuine words of reconciliation. It doesn't help these people or their children one iota if we just keep saying "well, we're just the ancestors, we didn't invade your country" because we're dealing with trauma from a few decades ago, not just 200 years ago.

There are economic questions of reparations because the current government and taxpayers were not responsible for the policies that caused the past injustice and it would seem unjust for us now to pay compensation, should such a legal due be created out of an apology.

It's so sad that because of our system we cannot apologise to the stolen generation basically for economic reasons. Can't our government bother to think of better ways to make this work?

God I get so bored of the economy arguments. We're a society, not just cogs in an economy.

Blow Howard, he's just trying to distract us before the election, anyway.

FORKY

No thanks not interested,how about this for an idea-we treat the aboriginals as equals and that means they get no preferential treatment and treating them like victims,instead lest help them with education,housing,employment and better medical support where needed and help the aboriginals assimilate better into main stream society rather than feeding the victim mentality and i don't mean they need to forget their heritage and culture,this say sorry idea is rubbish and has no meaning,why should i say sorry? because im white? all saying sorry does is confirm division in our society and lead to more compo claims and land claims etc and will do nothing to improve relations between white and black AUSTRALIA! its just some do gooders idea to make them feel better about themselves,lets get fair dinkum its the year 2007 and the world is a crowded place many natives around the world no longer have their country all to themselves that's just life-move on.

Ken E

Saying "sorry". No way. The moment this is said the demand for money as compensation will follow as night follows day.

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