Australia to Apologize to Aborigines

[bemildred]

Source: NYT

SYDNEY, Australia — The new Australian government of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will apologize for past mistreatment of the country’s Aboriginal minority when Parliament convenes next month, addressing an issue that has blighted race relations in Australia for years.

In a measure of the importance Mr. Rudd attaches to the issue, the apology will be the first item of business for the new government when Parliament first convenes on Feb. 13, Jenny Macklin, the federal minister for indigenous affairs, said Wednesday.

Ms. Macklin said she had consulted widely with Aboriginal leaders, but it was still not clear what form the apology would take. However, she said the government would not bow to longstanding demands for a fund to compensate those damaged by the policies of past governments.

The history of relations between Australia’s Aboriginal population and the broader population is one of brutality and neglect. Tens of thousands of Aboriginals died from disease, warfare and dispossession in the years after European settlement, and it was not until 1962 that they were able to vote in national elections.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/world/asia/31australia.html?hp

[Solly Mack]

1. always easier to apologize long after the fact

[Bear down under]

11. It's not that long.

Many of the stolen generation are still around and still hurting.

[annabanana]

2. Have we officially apologized to the Native Americans yet?

It seems an empty enough gesture for Congress to handle by now...

[meow2u3]

3. I don't think so

But the last time I checked, the Big Dog made an unofficial apology to Native Americans, only for Bush to renege on it, as usual.

[dipsydoodle]

4. They don't just need an apology

They need the equivalent of the Australian Commonwealth Native Title Act 1993 under which the Aboriginies royalty rights on all minerals mined on their land.

[no_hypocrisy]

5. Movie recommendation: Rabbit-Proof Fence

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0252444/

[dipsydoodle]

6. Ta for the nod

Just ordered it on Amazon.co.uk. I must confess I've never been disappointed with DVDs recommended here on DU.:toast:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

8. Another good film available from amazon.co.uk is

The Fringe Dwellers, about the effects of internalized racism on an Aboriginal family in a small outback town and the way different family members respond to it. Some are depressed, some follow the stereotype, some get chips on their shoulders, some channel their feelings into activism.

If you're familiar with the ways that African-Americans and Native Americans have been affected by racism in this country, the situations will look strikingly familiar.

[dipsydoodle]

9. Thanks

I'll check that too.

edit - now ordered.

[Toots]

12. Would that counter act the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924?

:shrug:

[AspenRose]

10. If our government is not going to apologize for slavery....

....they sure as hell aren't going to apologize for the horror imposed on the American Indians. :nuke:

[DeepModem Mom]

7. K&R