11 Years of Shame.

The 11 years of John Howard will be a time that I personally want to forget.

The fact that every living former Prime Minister plus the Governor General were present in parliament today to hear the sorry declarations except for one John Howard speaks volumes about the mean spirit and nastiness of the man that ran this country for too long.

I don’t really care though. I don’t want to ever see his face or hear his voice again.

Even watching old clips of him makes me shudder.

I enjoyed hearing him the K Rudd speak. His re-counting of his meeting with a member of the Stolen Generation was well told and I liked his honesty about what really happened.

He did well and this day will go down in history.

Photos courtesy of Daniel Boud at Boudist

Sorry…

I’ve been thinking about what to write today.

Thinking a lot.

There will be so many responses to what Kevin Rudd will historically do today.

You’ll have your right-wingers saying that they didn’t do anything wrong so why should I apologise and that there go our tax cuts in compensation claims. Then you’ll have your left wing bleeding hearts who say this is the start of a new era in Australia’s history, and that finally, reconciliation can really happen.

What do I think?

It doesn’t really matter.

All I can say is that it’s way way overdue, and as I heard today; after the theatrics of the apology, life will not change for anyone. The Stolen Generation, the People up north affected by the NT Intervention, the average blue collar worker, or me.

Nothing will change, because the apology is just a single positive act. One positive act is not enough to reverse the multitude and continuous negative acts that have affected the indigenous people of Australia.

As much as us bleeding hearts wish it would be the start of something special that could help unite this nation, I just can’t see it happening.

But…

It is something, and something is better than nothing.

At least we know that Kevin Rudd is a man of his word…..so far.

Kyoto Protocol & A ‘Sorry’.

..

I tried to explain to my 9 year old daughter today what it was about.

She asked, ‘Why did they take the babies away?”

I didn’t quite know what to say, but I explained that sometimes, if parents are not looking after their children properly, their children are taken away, until the parents are good enough to look after them.

What I couldn’t explain was why, history shows, that so many were taken away from loving families and never returned. How do you explain that to a 9 year old?

She said, “Oh yeah….that happens in ‘The Sims‘. When you don’t look after your baby, these people come and take it away.”

…

At least she can relate it to something, and at least she can relate it to something that is not real-life.

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The full apology:“I give notice that, at the next sitting, I will move:

That

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.”

The First Day..and the Last Day

Ok, enough of the politics.

Just this last thing.

It’s a funny I stole from Crikey.

Hehehe.

There’s the smell of optimism in the air.

There’s the sound of removalists.

Anyone know if the Ruddster is becoming a Canberra citizen?