My perception is all that has been done is pull Keith out of the woodwork to explain historically why it isn’t the government’s job to do anything because they aren’t responsible for the mess in the first place.

Wow! A public display that does not ignore 1480 years – or thereabouts – of rich cultural heritage ….. that must have upset Hollywood. (b.t.w. the Holocaust display at the Imperial War Museum in London was an excellent, very informative and dignified display of what happened in the other 20 years).

Liam, I’m exactly the same! It’s my default – I’m trying to connect more to my emotions in museums (eg breaking away from boring exhibits), but it’s hard to break a habit.

Mr T is exactly the opposite. He’s motivated by what he thinks looks good – if it looks beautiful he might read the little label. If it doesn’t look beautiful he may consider asking the curator that it be removed.

Mr T is usually in the museum shop/cafe before I am. (Some of these words are verbatim from Mr T himself).

Frankly, the improvements in the US, Canada and NZ over the last 30 years are a grave indictment on Australian (bi-partisan) inaction.

See here, relevant tract below:
http://www.hreoc.gov.au/social_justice/statistics/

(e) Life expectancy – Comparison with other indigenous peoples
Approximately thirty years ago, life expectancy rates for indigenous peoples in Canada, New Zealand and the United States of America were similar to the rates for Indigenous peoples in Australia. However, significant gains in life expectancy have been made in the past two decades in the indigenous populations in Canada, New Zealand and the United States of America. Comparable mortality rates for Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders in 1990-1994 were at or above the rates observed 20 years ago in Maori and Native Americans, being 1.9 times the rate in Maori, 2.4 times the rate in Native Americans, and 3.2 times the rate for all Australians.

Australia has fallen significantly behind in improving the life expectancy of its Indigenous peoples. Although comparisons should be made with caution (because of the way different countries calculate life expectation) data suggests Indigenous males in Australia live between 8.8 and 13.5 years less than indigenous males in Canada, New Zealand and the USA. Indigenous females in Australia live between 10.9 and 12.6 years less than indigenous females in these countries[57].

Have you read Rosemary Neil’s ‘Whiteout’? Lousy title, but a very interesting book.

I think Lefty E’s right – it’s got much more to do with intra-White Australian Left/Right stoushes.

Apologies for the heat. But I live in Alice Springs, and I see the results of the past generation’s failed policies every time I step outside.

So, is this just an intra-Anglo left/right culture war issue for you? Pretty irrelevant aspect, Rob. How about the bigger picture – recognition of the systematic mistreatment of our indigenous fellow Australians?

Jeez, maybe then we could all move on. This is just pissing about with distractions.

If that’s so, and if Casey didn’t know about it (and I’ve never heard of Liebeskind – admittedly she might be more expected to – but there’s no reason to presume she did against her word), why would it be something that reflected on those who designed the exhibits?

“When the new National Museum of Australia (NMA) debuted in March in Canberra following 20 years of planning, it opened to mixed reviews. Though some praised architect Howard Raggatt’s design as a “masterpiece,â€? others deemed the design plagiarized from the Jewish Museum Berlin, which, though it opened in September, had been completed two years earlier. Aerial photographs comparing the two museums had disclosed a disturbingly similar zigzag shape. The director of the NMA, Dawn Casey, maintained that the design was “brilliant,â€? and she downplayed the similarity of the roof designs.”