To a standing ovation Kevin Rudd has said “sorry” to the stolen generations and for the treatment of Aboriginal people since white settlement. He did this as a person, as Prime Minister on behalf of the Government and on behalf of the Parliament.
His speech was sensitive to the past and present, but looking forward with hope.
Brendan Nelson started well, but as one Aboriginal representative said, fell in a hole when he said he felt no guilt for the past. On the radio I heard hand clapping and apparently many turned their backs, saying “Get him off”.
That is a matter for later analysis. I think it better at this time that ignore the critics and gainsayers while we listen to the Aboriginal people. This is a time for healing and for hope.
Update: [by MB] If you missed the PM’s speech, or would like to see it again, it can be found in full on this YouTube channel. Many news outlets only carry portions of the speech.
Further update: [by MB] The transcript of Kevin Rudd’s speech has been posted by Peter Martin at his blog.
“This is a time for healing and for hope.”
Well said.
Hmmm…
I presume this is the passage in Nelson’s speech which is being referred to:
Kevin Rudd’s speech brought me to tears. It was meaningful, empathetic, statesmanlike and heartfelt. The spontaneous standing ovation he received said it all. What a shame Nelson elected to inject a divisive political element into his response. It demeaned himself, his party and the tennor of the occasion. John Howard would have been proud.
It was a magnificent moment in our history. Parliament has never looked so good. Rudd’s speech was simply superb. I don’t know if we have seen a better one from a Prime Minister.
There is a very large opportunity here to be grasped now.
Ditto, Donna. I was very moved by the occasion. It was an unqualified apology, refusing to accept the ‘best intentions’ argument.
Nelson did indeed start very well, and he has at least joined Rudd in a bipartison approach. It is a pity he felt it necessary to add the qualifiers like the diggers sacrifices, ‘good intentions/outcomes’ and the no need to feel guilt. It detracted from an otherwise fine effort.
But it was good to see the happiness of so many indigenous Australians over this historic moment.
I think that this stunning piece of statesmanship from our new PM should be embraced by all Australians. This man is no “Howard Lite”, he has opened the way for our nation to move forward, I hope that we do so in the spirit of today’s event.
If anyone had any doubts about Rudd’s ability as an orator, a leader and a man with a big heart it would have been dispelled today. It was a moving speech that also brought me to tears, especially when he offered the personal apology.
On the other hand, as someone else I was with said “Nelson’s speech felt more like a lecture. Even before I heard that there had been a negative reaction to it my skin was crawling as he spoke. What on earth was he thinking?
A good and powerful note for parliament to start on. I felt that Rudd did a very good thing in a thoughtful and meaningful manner and I feel very positive about the bipartisan approach.
Wilson Tuckey was his usual charming, graceful self this morning on RN.
I was very moved too.
Although I had to smile at Kev mentioning “post-Reformation theological debate” — the wonk will out!
And what rubbish was Old Iron Bar spouting? Will the newly minted Bipartisan Brendan grow some balls and get rid of him?
Nelsons words are more indicative of his ignorance than anything else – the policies were not always of the ‘best of intentions’ as it was made quite clear in the 1930s that the most desireable outcome was the ‘breeding out’ of Aboriginal people.
Hardly a ‘best intention’ I would think.
Yes, that cracked me up too.
I liked Kevin’s speech, but it was the sight of both sides of Parliament on its feet clapping and the two leaders in at least one unrehearsed handshake that actually made me cry. I’ve never seen it before and I don’t expect ever to see it again.
Spare a thought for poor old Nelson though, stuck between the rock of Aboriginal presence and the hard place of his own party. He would have been better off getting up and saying ‘Onya, Kevin, me too’ and sitting down again.
Would Rudd have given Nelson a heads-up about the proposed bipartisan commission before he actually got up to speak? You’d think he must have, but Nelson’s body language suggested it had come as a total surprise.
copied across from the mealy-mouthed thread:
An excellent speech by the PM. Much better than speeches he made during the election campaign. He rose to the occasion, as did the distinguished visitors, Minister Macklin, and the visitors in the public gallery.
By contrast, the Opposition Leader appears to be “sorryish�, sort of, kind of. He gave an apology, BUT………
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Jeez, a bloke comments ‘n then youse open a new thread on him! I’m sure this isn’t what the Diggers, both indigenous and non-indigenous gave their lives for, on foreign soil far away, in a spirit of kindness and determination, gosh it was tough being a settler in this harsh land and what with the blackfellas, but we should all be thankful for the gift of a whole continent and our economic prosperity from the comfort of 21st century Australia, was that a dog whistle? why are you looking restless and embarrassed up in the very furthest reaches of the back benches Peter Co$tello? so as I was saying, a bit of a dog’s breakfast, but really if someone was just doing some well-intentioned removing, it’s all very well for morally superior.
[sits down. Thinks, "That went quite well, I reckon."]
I watched the apology at Federation Square in Melbourne, where there were apparently around 2,000 people gathered to watch the apology. Rudd’s speech was received with many tears and a long ovation.
I thought that he spoke very well. I’d been apprehensive, after his election victory speech, that he wouldn’t rise to the occasion. But his words were, largely, very well-chosen, and he spoke precisely if not always eloquently – it was the content I thought, rather than the delivery that was moving. It was a fitting, powerful address.
Nelson on the other hand, was abysmal, mealy-mouthed and mean-spirited (you could hear the formula trying to stitch together the two sides of the party). By about half-way through, the great majority of the Fed Square crowd had turned their backs, and there were slow claps, booing and cries of ’shame’. I think he missed the spirit of the occasion, when he could have simply offered his support for the apology. It certainly didn’t sound ‘unconditional’.
On the whole a very moving morning, and such an important day. But the work, most of it, is ahead.
“Spare a thought for poor old Nelson though, stuck between the rock of Aboriginal presence and the hard place of his own party. He would have been better off getting up and saying ‘Onya, Kevin, me too’ and sitting down again.”
My sentiments exactly, Dr Cat. I feel a bit bad for the guy – he seemed almost reluctant to deliver what was in front of him after Rudd’s speech, and in the context of its reception. The speech itself was ambivalent, it wavered between a number of different positions, which I think reflects some of the political division that Nelson was trying to represent. It was a bit of a mess really.
YYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!
Look! We’s all growed up now, mummy!
What a great day. Thanks Rudd, for making me proud to be Australian again.
You know, what Rudd lacks in flair and poetry he makes up for in genuine warmth and compassion; particularly this morning. We’re a big nation again.
I for one believe those who thought he would be Goss-style ‘take a cold-shower’ small c conservative are being proved wrong. Australia’s getting a rapid progressive overhaul, and Rudds particular genius is that he looks so safe and steady, no one really notices it happening.
He’s the anti-Keating in that sense. Keating had all the poetry and flair, and way better speeches, but raised conservative hackles merely by standing up a delivering a preparatory cough.
Happy day for indigenous people. A great day.
You can be sure a large contingent of the Old Regime were leaning over Brendan’s shoulder and whispering in his ear while he and his staffers penned that speech. Too many dissonances between what we know of Brendan’s personal views and the poisonous Howard legacy. All that equivocation and kulcha-bearing white nation-building stuff to keep the bogans happy.
No wonder Brendan was looking quite pained, with the whole nine yards of Abbott rammed up his fundament.
Not that I feel sorry for him, though obviously Rudd and Macklin did.
Yep i got tingles and a big lump in my throat, it was fine to see the chamber looking human for a change. I think you have something DFA, its a bit like opening a can of lite and finding coopers inside.
We popped on the box and watched Rudd’s speech while my partner was breast feeding.
Haveing our little one suckling contentedly at his mum’s breast, safe and secure, made the stories of children being taken from their grief stricken tore at our hearts in a way I cannot describe.
Thankyou ALP.
st kev
“Parliament has never looked so good.”
“…the sight of both sides of Parliament on its feet clapping…”
Yes, for me the real power of Rudd’s speech – it made me cry, too – came from its context, its forum, the gently insistent presence of the Stolen Gen reps, even to some extent the unspectacular, near-bureacratic manner of the PM’s delivery. After decades in which our Parliament has been swamped and sidelined – by the mass media, by the relentless anti-institutional narcissism of neo-liberal economics, by the cult of celebrity (especially populist celebrity intellectuals), by privately funded ‘Culture War’ think tanks deploying methodologies transplanted from O/S…it was as if the grown-ups of democracy were asserting their rightful place again. In the end, our Parliament is everyone’s best and last hope and chance, and everyone has a vested interest in bulwarking its national civic hegemony. Another reason why the formal apology there was so important to us all, not just Indigenous Australia. We’ve got to take democracy seriously if we want it to take us seriously.
And that synthensis of democratic weight and representative substance, the way Rudd half-turned and asked all his fellow Reps to ponder how they’d feel if what was done to all those lining the galleries were done to them, how hard it would be to forgive, the unforced human compassion that Rudd weaved in and out of his narrative…that will remain in my memory for a long time. The moment when he challenged Nelson, as if rolling up his sleeves, on the bipartisan policy tank, was a beauty, too. And FWIW, I for one don’t think Nelson did as badly as many seem to to think, given that rock hard/place he was in.
Anyway, I couldn’t help thinking, overwhelmingly…how right it all felt. The right thing for ‘us’ to do, before ‘we’ all do everything else we need to do.
As an outsider this is all very much beyond my grasp, but judging from the reactions here it sounds like it was a truly grand moment. As a good poet once said, “it is just the thing”. Here’s hoping the new government’s gesture, and the detailed thoughtful effort that went into its preparation, bring good karma and good energy to Rudd and his government’s efforts, and to all the people.
The Rudder’s speech by and large avoided the cliches which he commonly uses, and was certainly a generous bipartisan speech with which to open parliament – though not entirely lacking in sly backhanders: ie, ‘This is not, as some would argue, a black armband view of history’ – and his reference to parliament avoiding an apology ‘for over a decade’. Clever statements, in that the Labor cultural warriors will know that these are meant to refer to the Howard Government (and will probably be used repeatedly in that manner over the next few years).
Agree with #23 – I thought Rudd’s address was just astonishing. Was also struck that he managed to acknowlege the inaction of the last ten years without making it overtly partisan – very difficult tightrope to walk, that one – and also that he specifically addressed the good intentions/culture wars arguments directly. (Though I did have a wry smile at the line that said, more or less, “It’s not a black armand view; it’s just the truth.” Cop that Johnny.)
Wouldn’t have been Brendan Nelson today for love or money. I know that being oppo leader is shit sandwich territory but this must have been a hell of a hard speech to give given the Lib/Nat history and current makeup. Not that he couldn’t have done better – wtf have the sacrifices of our fallen soldiers got to do with the topic of the day?
Bloody good day though. About time.
I got a bit teary too. It wasn’t the text of the motion so much as Kev’s argument after it that has moved me from “Kev’s both a diplomat and a practical man — an excellent man to lead us after You-Know-Who,” to “My gosh, we’ve got ourselves a statesman!”
Nelson did quite well for a man who is waiting for a rat-trap to go off in his underpants. I wonder if Kev offered himself as a model: look like a less scary copy of the Vaucluse Vulture and maybe you’ll beat him? Or did he just say, “Do the noble thing; you know you want to”?
Brendan did look weepy when they came back from greeting the Distinguished Guests, and he used to know something about Aboriginal health; let us hope this bodes well for the joint committee.
Wonderful, wonderful day!
Is there any occasion for thoughtful contemplation in this country, any matter at all, which will not be a suitable occasion for conjuring up the ‘Diggers’?
Is it remotely possible that the Liberal/National parties can ever grow up?
It’s not often that I’d be on the wrong side of opinion at LP, but I have reservations about the language used in the speech. I felt it lacked nuance. But I overanalyse language.
“and loss on these our fellow Australians” is probably supposed to read “and loss on our fellow Australians”, right?
and,
““A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions…â€? Possibility?? Leading from the front with that one…
I’ve got others, but those ones bite.
However, it’s about bloody time! Congratulations Parliament…
Jack Robertson @ 23, I think your eloquence has been eclipsed only by the PM’s but I imagine you don’t mind.
Not much to add to what others have said. Rudd was excellent and the entire scene was memorable. Hopefully the cameras captured some images as evocative as Gough pouring the sand through Vince Lingiari’s fingers all those years ago, and hopefully the songwriters will be up for something at least as good as Paul Kelly’s & Kev Carmody’s tribute to those events.
One cheer to Brendon Nelson for trying his best from an impossible position.
That nice Mr Rudd… nerd…diplomat…tv star…leader…dragon slayer…Legend
Andrew @ 26: I found Mr Nelson’s speech very confusing, poorly written, unclear. You may be right: “being Opposition Leader is shit sandwich territory”….
but really, did he have to bring his sandwich into the parliament, and gnaw his way through it in front of MP’s, Aboriginal guests, and the public watching in Canberra and in homes and workplaces around the nation?
awful.
Can a pm be australian of the year?
I was (again) choked up by the genuine warmth and emotion with which Jenny Macklin introduced the Elders to the two leaders. It iced the cake. The hugs all round said: See! This is not just fancy words here.
Tears and cheers all round!!! I had my doubts about Kev, today they were well and truly dispelled.
Nelson had an opportunity to rise to the occasion and he blew it.
sublime, a pm can be australian of the year by acclamation, and doesn’t need to receive the award formally; but lowitja must needs be appointed Governor-General by HM the Queen of Australia, on the recommendation of the pm
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From “The LP Manual of Etiquette and Polite Behaviour in Former Colonies”, Feb 13th 2008
Grand day. Only a little bit wistful for PJK at one or two moments. Weeping buckets all morning. Doubts about Kevin receding fast. Very grateful to him and them all for doing the right thing, at long last. It feels like the end of a very long winter.
Pavlov’s @ 13
“Would Rudd have given Nelson a heads-up about the proposed bipartisan commission before he actually got up to speak? You’d think he must have, but Nelson’s body language suggested it had come as a total surprise.”
AT LAST I think I understand what a “wedge” looks like, ‘cos I think I saw the PM do it to Mr Nelson, on live national TV.
Hmmm.
What’s kind of sad is that in parts, Nelson’s effort was really quite good. But in others you could just feel the weight of Nick Minchin pressing into his back, and the ghost of Howard.
On the broader context, I had a slightly different emotional response to the apology. It’s more relief that the national embarrassment, of not acknowledging the blatantly obvious wrongs of the past, is over.
That, and tinged with a bit of fear that while we might be able to do the symbolism, that actually fixing the mess in Aboriginal communities might prove, despite what Rudd said, beyond our collective will to achieve.
Saying sorry was comparatively easy. Making amends will be hard.
I would’t object to seeing the ‘Diggers’ and Gallipoli being conjured up in conjunction with this:
Now back on topic.
Bravo to Kev, great stuff.
Boos to Brendan are well deserved.
This is most certainly a moment to rejoice in, and I do so with my own story.
But I cannot agree with FDB that we as a nation are “all grown up now”.
We are still happily turning our backs on our government’s disgraceful role in the wholesale slaughter of people who look and talk different.
When do we say “sorry” to the people of Iraq, and how much compensation will we offer them???
Lowitja would never be made G-G – a G-G has to be broadly acceptable to both sides – and the Lib Nats and conservatives in the community would never accept her.
And what a surprise. Wilson Tuckey is still a knob head.
Today is one of those days that I really wish I was back home. I think this will be remembered as a very special event for years to come.
Amused: one might consider the howls of outrage if somebody used Anzac Day to make a point about the Stolen Generations…
I can’t add much to what’s been said. I think the idea of a bi-partisan “war cabinet” is an excellent one. Rudd has set the bar very high now and people will be eager to see real change happen. I just hope that that can be acheived and that Macklin is up to it. For that reason, it was good to see the genuine warmth with which she greeted the elders.
Today’s apology is an important step in the de-Howardification of the country.
The next step should be to abolish ANZAC day as a public holiday, and replace with a public holiday on February 13.
Rudd’s speech was surprisingly good given his past performances. I agree with those who opine that Rudd’s speech lacked some polish and nuance, but then again so did the Gettysburg Address. Sometimes history gives a moment weight beyond the words.
Nelson also made a respectable effort in all the circumstances. I’d give him a qualified pass and we shouldn’t underestimate the establishment of the bipartisan commission. The opposition has grasped the life-line that Rudd thew them, and it is a good thing for the future health of government and Indigenous Australians.
That pained expression you saw on Nelson’s face as he gave the speech was the dawning realisation that he’d joined the wrong party after all.
And history will damn Howard, Tuckey, Mirabella and the other boycotters for their disgraceful conduct today.
Monsieur Paul, mon francais est tres mal: en anglais, s’il vous plait?
Rudd was magnificent.Brendan just didn’t get it. I watched it at Armidale Town Hall, and we all gave Rudd a standing ovation. I was behind a row of NEGS girls and they got up and walked out on Nelson. The eloquence of the young. Everyone, we have our country back. Today I am proud to be an Australian. j-p-z, you can download a video of the speech from the Sydney Morning Herald website. I’ve sent it around the world, I feel so proud.And to see the smiles and tears of joy on the faces of my Aboriginal friends. Now that was the great reward.
Beautiful day!
Rudd was great. In the true sense of that word.
Lowitja O’Donoghue
first Aboriginal nurse in South Australia
1976 first Aboriginal woman to be inducted into the Order of Australia
Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1983
named Australian of the Year in 1984
made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 1999
Course she’d be acceptable to both sides. She’s a monty to be GG.
Ghandi – fair enough, but if not “all growed up”, at least we can play in the Big Countries’ sandpit at recess now.
The next step should be to abolish ANZAC day as a public holiday, and replace with a public holiday on February 13.
I don’t think that ANZAC day should be abolished, but it should become more like it used to be when I was a kid: that is, a day to remember that war is always a waste of life.
I completely agree though that Feb 13 should become a public holiday– we definitely need a public holiday that honours the indigenous people of our country.
Nelson’s speech was shameful, a total disgrace, to call it anything else is to whitewash, literally, it.
Read this from his speech http://www.liberal.org.au/info/news/detail/20080213_WearesorryAddresstoParliament.php
“Sexual abuse of Aboriginal children was found in every one of the 45 Northern Territory communities surveyed for the Little Children are Sacred report. It was the straw breaking the camel’s back, driving the Howard Government’s decision to intervene with a suite of dramatically radical welfare, health and policing initiatives.
The Alice Springs Crown Prosecutor, Nanette Rogers with great courage revealed to the nation in 2006 the case of a four year old girl drowned while being raped by a teenager who had been sniffing petrol. She told us of the two children – one a baby – sexually assaulted by two men while their mothers were off drinking alcohol. Another baby was stabbed by a man trying to kill her mother.
So too, a ten year old girl is gang raped in Aurukun; the offenders going free, barely punished. A boy is raped in another community by other children.
Is this not an emergency, the most disturbing part of it being its endemic nature and Australia’s apparent desensitisation to it?
Yet state governments responsible for delivering services and security resist the extension of a Northern Territory style intervention.
I ask the Prime Minister to report to this Parliament regularly on what his government is doing to save this generation of Aboriginal Australians from these appalling conditions.”
Child sexual abuse and domestic violence are endemic features of the whole of Australian society not isolated within indigenous society alone but rife throughout all sectors of our communities.
To highlight, particularly in this speech on this occasion, and focus on such abuse as if occurring only in indigenous society is simple blatant inexcusable racism for which ignorance, if that is what it is, is absolutely no excuse..
Shameful.
“The next step should be to abolish ANZAC day as a public holiday, and replace with a public holiday on February 13.’
Now way! This is Australia, we can’t give up public holidays. Better idea is ANOTHER public holiday on 13th February. If we HAVE to give up a public holiday then surely it should be Queens Birthday or Invasion/Australia day
According to the editor of The Indigenous Times on ABC this morning, one of the opposition members was reading a magazine and laughing thoughout both the Rudd and Nelson speeches. I think his name was Chris Pearce, member for Ascot.
I don’t know which is worse, boycotting the occasion, or staying and being openly contemptuous of the proceedings.
If there’s no particular problem with sexual abuse in Indigenous communities, what are we all worried about? Come on, don’t be so naive. Pretending there is no problem is utterly disingenuous.
Nelson’s speech was a mess, but what else do you expect when, as another commenter put it, he’s between a rock and a hard place? He was to a large extent speaking to his party room, as we all expected. This should be a happy occasion; let’s put partisan quibbles to one side for now.
When the hansard of the Queensland Parliament Question Time comes out just after 2.00pm it will show both Opposition Leader Springborg and the Liberal Member for Currumbin,Jann Stuckey as having a lot of work to do to come up to speed with where the apology debate currently is.
Hannah’s Dad, you’re so right. To dwell on those details on this occasion was very inappropriate and clearly distressing to many older Aboriginal people outside (as shown in interviews on Channel 9 after the speeches). And when are the LIB/Nats ever going to drop this “best intentions” nonsense? It really amounts to saying that removal was for the best and ultimately a good thing – which is essentially no appology at all, as they’d do it again tomorrow if they could get away with it, with the best of intentions.
“This should be a happy occasion; let’s put partisan quibbles to one side for now.”
Of course, Leon, but isn’t the point that Nelson was unable to do so? Rudd scored a few points, but was generally very restrained on this front. Nelson’s speech was like an exercise in post-Howard political correctness, which I don’t blame him in particular for, but is still worth examining.
I don’t think the parliamentary floor, with the eyes of millions upon you, is the best place to speak to one’s party room.
Leon you have missed the point completely.
Nelson and the Coalition are ignoring the unpalatable fact that CSA and DV are problems within the whole of Australian society and focusing only on such in indigenous society and thus it is racist.
There is no pretense on my part that CSA/DV is not a problem in indigenous society.
There is pretense, by deliberately ignoring, on the part of Nelson et al, that such exists in the whole, not just indigenous, of Australian society.
That is not acceptable.
Exactly, Klaus K. Nelson was unable to rise to the occasion and let go of partisan point-scoring.
I felt that there were portions of Nelson’s speech which were full of compassion and understanding, and then his face and voice would change and a chunk of committee-speak apologism would be uttered. It’s a shame he didn’t feel he could just cut those chunks from the speech, it detracted from the occasion and being pushed around so obviously bodes ill for his longevity as leader, methinks.
Ambigulous wrote:
Here’s an English paraphrase by Alistair Hulett:
The Internationale doesn’t translate very well literally from French to English; the most literal translation, sung by American communists, is basically unsingable, and the somewhat less literal paraphrase sung by UK and Australian communists is full of archaisms. This is possibly one of the reasons why non-communist left and labour parties in the Anglosphere have preferred songs like The Red Flag and Solidarity Forever, whereas in continental Europe (amongst other parts of the world) the non-communist left parties still sing The Internationale, often with different lyrics to distinguish them from the communist versions.
Now back on topic…
Nelson tried to straddle the fence, and got his goolies caught on the barbed wire.
Serves him right. What a dope.
“I felt that there were portions of Nelson’s speech which were full of compassion and understanding, and then his face and voice would change and a chunk of committee-speak apologism would be uttered.”
Definitely, and I do commend him for much of what he said. I thought of this as an intellectual ambivalence in the content of the speech, and his delivery suggested to me that he knew it and felt it as well. As I was watching, the phrase ‘politically correct’ came to mind to describe the bits where he went into those chunks of ‘committee-speak apologism’ that you describe. It might be too loaded a concept, but it just felt like that.
Laughed at that line too – PC & Amanda – just a tiny touch of Ruddian conceit – but still appropriate and funny.
I’m with you Lefty E – Rudd’s warmth, his compassion, his humanity all on show – a really wonderful speech.
As for Nelson – a spoiler effort from a party with no shame. Kev brought them home, but bits of Brendan’s reply was akin to revving up the bus. The spontaneous response to his speech, right across the nation from indigenous peoples, says it all.
That said, it is still a great day for the Stolen Generations, all other indigenous Australians and…the rest of us mob too.
Leon @ 60, here’s what Hannah’s Dad wrote:
“Child sexual abuse and domestic violence are endemic features of the whole of Australian society not isolated within indigenous society alone but rife throughout all sectors of our communities.”
I think when a bloke calls something “rife” he’s not saying it should be ignored, or that it’s OK. Rather, he’s saying it’s widespread. I think he took it for granted his readers would think of child sexual abuse and domestic violence as shocking acts needing attention, to REDUCE them.
I’m staggered you thought he was condoning or lessening the importance of these crimes, WHEREVER they are committed.
************
Just because we’re celebrating a wonderful day, doesn’t mean we have to leave our critical faculties at the door as we walk in.
Update: [by MB] If you missed the PM’s speech, or would like to see it again, it can be found in full on this YouTube channel. Many news outlets only carry portions of the speech.
Thank you, Kevin Rudd.
thoroughly teary all morning, stood in front of Tas parliament house and watched his speech. It will be, I think, recognised as one of the greatest speeches in Australian history – for the strength of its empathy, its honest and almost startlingly blunt language, and the detailed attention it gave to putting Australia’s history on record, above the culture wars, the quibbling and the bullshit. He went far further than I thought he would.
I didn’t bother staying to listen to Nelson. Why let him and his ilk spoil this great moment?
Nelson was banging on about sexual abuse because Abbott was pushing for the Liberals to support the apology as a way of defending Howard’s legacy, and in particular the NT intervention. It’s pure internal Coalition politics.
But I don’t really care what he said. He had the opportunity to rise further to the occasion. I don’t know if he’s a reader of political history, but in 1907 when Winston Churchill was Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, one of his tasks was drafting a fully representative consitution for the South African colonies. Remember this is only a few years after the Boer War. The Tories weren’t prepared to go as far as granting full representative democracy. Churchill made a speech in the House and said (among other things) – “this constitution can either be a gift from the Liberal party, or, if you choose to be generous, it can be much more important as a gift from England” – that’s paraphrasing – but the Tories decided to change their position and the bill was carried without a division. Of course, that didn’t extend to one person, one vote, but we’re talking 1907, and in the circumstances of the time, it was a very meaningful gesture of reconciliation with a defeated foe.
There’s been a lot of extraneous noise today – including some vile stuff on some blogs I won’t mention. I propose to ignore it. This day belongs to the Indigenous people of this land. “Sorry” has been said, and we now have a new situation and a new basis for healing and moving forward.
I thought Rudd was superb.
Rudd and those around him looked progressive, young, strong and grounded. They made it a day of recognition (the most tragic cost of JWH’s posturing), equality, opportunity and hope; and in doing so dissolved many of my reservations about the coming term of government. Nelson’s fervent, mealy mouthed, tin-eared, moralising looked as out of place as the thinly populated, mostly overweight relics behind him.
I was in Martin Place and thought at the end “Keating’s Culture Wars are finally over.” Keating could never have made that speech. If one wanted to get all Hegelian, we could say Rudd supplied the synthesis of the Keating thesis and Howard antithesis.
Precisely.
By the way, (and sorry for taking the focus off the above point) has there been anything heard from the absent Coalition members?
At last, a Prime Minister that we can be proud of.
Some people will not be convinced. From The Age:
Some coalition MPs were obviously displeased with the apology and some were absent from the chamber as it was delivered.
One Liberal MP, Chris Pearce, read a magazine during the motion and the speeches, refusing to get to his feet for several standing ovations.
He stood begrudgingly only when MPs were asked to vote on the motion.
Outspoken West Australian Liberal MP Wilson Tuckey was present in the house for a prayer before the apology but left when Mr Rudd rose to his feet.
This was, I think, my favourite section of Rudd’s supporting address:
“Keating could never have made that speech”
What rubbish. Over his career Keating argued for and against everything at different times.
Guido that report I believe is from the Brisbane Courier-Mail which also mentions Alby Schultz, Don Randall and Sophie Mirabella, as well as Mark Vaile.
Iron Bar was present for prayers but did a walkout.
Mark Vaile’s absence is interesting.
Vaile may have been genuinely absent (e.g. illness or overseas), but in that case would have had a “pair” on the Government benches, since a vote was to be taken.
Maybe Anthony Albanese should have called a quorum.
Agreed, tigtog. That part of the speech was excellent.
I was first struck by Kevin speaking directly to the camera. That’s new isn’t it?
d
Spiros
Keating could never have made that speech. His would have been hateful, divisive, and all about him.
At least someone didn’t drink the kool-aid then.
What rot, John Greenfield.
In making these nit-picking points, you’re doing exactly what Rudd very properly cautioned against – turning the tragic story of lives destroyed into an ongoing piece of political piffle. I was so pleased that Rudd nailed the culture wars thing for what it is, and that he read quotes from the officials of the time to demonstrate that denialists and naysayers are just mean-spirited and self-serving attention seekers.
I was also very pleased to see the offer to make the necessary measures to redress these wrongs a bipartisan one.
That’s the spirit we should be discussing it in.
When I first got involved with Murri activists in the land rights movement in 1988, two decades ago, and had the privilege to work with and struggle with people like Kev Carmody, Bob Weatherill and Sam Watson, among many others, I was struck by the generous and open hearted approach and great goodness of spirit among Indigenous people fighting for their due in this country. Recognition, as dk.au says, is absolutely key. In my view, white Australians have only just caught up with their Indigenous brothers and sisters.
As to Paul Keating, part of that shift in sentiment and thought is down to the work of 4 of our 5 living former PMs. It took real political courage for Keating to handle Mabo as he did. It probably did a lot towards costing him the election in 96. It was a big heave on the road to healing.
See, courtesy of Jean at Creativy/Machine, Keating’s Redfern speech of 92, and read what she has to say about its reception for a sense of how far we’ve gone, and how much trust has been built despite the appalling record of John Winston Howard.
http://creativitymachine.net/2008/02/12/sorry/
Keating could have made that speech. He might not have meant a word of it, but he could have said the words. Keating’s successor would not have even tried.
Anyway, it was Rudd who made the speech. He now has to deliver on the expectations he has raised about improving the lot of indigenous people. It’s a big ask.
I think that’s very unfair indeed to PJK.
Keating probably would have been more successful in narrow political terms if he hadn’t been a man of deep feeling.
I’m gratified by Rudd’s clear sincerity and resolve. He’s admitted the task ahead will be hard. But I think that what he’s rightly calling is for all of us to make it a field in which we all labour.
The beautiful Clarence Slockee – a self-described ‘aboriginal man of the Bundjalung tribe in northern NSW, one of the 500 remaining aboriginal tribes in Australia’ gave a wonderful introduction to the broadcast in Martin Place that not even the rain could dampen.
Technically in the House he is supposed to direct his remarks to the Speaker, as a lawyer does in a trial with the Bench unless a witness is being questioned.
In practice leaders will often directly confront their opposite number in order to make them feel uncomfortable. Thus Kev would assume a faintly bored air and studiously pretend to write or consult his notes when Ratty was opposite in order to negate the attempted eye contact.
In this instance Kev was addressing the nation as well as the Parliament.
Because of the critical importance of Rudd’s speech he was, by looking at the camera, addressing all of us both individually and collectively.
However direct eye contact is not necessarily what he would use in addressing a purely indigenous audience.
So I would conclude that Rudd was, as well as movingly delivering the apology, engaging non-indigenous Australians.
Its political christmas.
Hats off to Shrek too – he had the tough job of getting the mob to rise to their feet at the conclusion of Nelson’s apologia. Tough gig.
Landeryou says Sophie Mirrabella is “in foal” which might explain her non attendance.
Further update: [by MB] The transcript of Kevin Rudd’s speech has been posted by Peter Martin at his blog.
Btw, just on the language of Kevin’s speech. I thought it was appropriate that he be measured but he did get in some neat rhetorical flourishes – “audacity of faith” and:
That’s a nice little nod to St Paul.
http://bible.cc/1_corinthians/13-1.htm
I also thought he weaved some of his signature phrases – eg “fresh thinking” – into it in such a way as to invest them with a lot of meaning.
I totally concede that Nelson only mentioned these things to bring up the intervention.
But CSA and DV are clearly much, much worse in remote Indigenous communities than in the rest of Australian society (including amongthe majority of Indigenous Australians who live in cities). I don’t think it’s racist to talk about these issues with reference to one ethnic group. These crimes are obviously bad where ever they happen, but it just so happens that they are especially bad in Indigenous communities.
I agree; the problem is people who are blaming him in particular. He was clearly trying to placate his party more than scoring points. He seemed sincere when he wasn’t mealymouthed, and mentioned his own father’s experience. Given this is a welcome policy turnaround from the Coalition, I think it’s quite unfair to say that
I think Nelson, in trying to straddle too many divisions in his own ranks, has done his leadership further harm. If he’d spoken from the heart, and stared down those who didn’t want the Coalition to support the apology, I think he would have increased his stature – because he would have been displaying actual leadership.
That’s a nice little nod to St Paul.
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Oh Fab! Paul of Tarsus. I just love it when this stuff makes it into the government of my country.
Mirabella made it to question time.
If she had morning sickness, she could have brought a bucket (might have been handy during Brendan’s speech).
Adrien, I’m not sure what you’re implying, but it would be hard to find a good reason to object to the fact that Rudd is borrowing a metaphor from, and at the same time alluding to, St. Paul.
Nelson has a democratic constituency too, and we’re arrogant, narcissistic fools if we can’t find it in ourselves to give some ground to that in acknowledgement of his predicament and that constituency’s reservations, doubts, uncertainties, even on-going personal journeys. Trying hard to keep the maximum number of Australians under the beautiful umbrella of this democratic apology is a very good thing for the Opposition leader to have done. He’ll have known he would get little but boos, sneers, and a place in history as the ‘man who couldn’t’. Give these Reps some breathing space. He was there. He stood up, copped it on the chin, looked Australia in the eye, said: ‘OK, you all know about the last ten years. Today? We’ll support this. And this is us, here and now: this is how our side has got to here. I’ll give you us, in good faith. Give us a hand and space to stay inside the tent. Now do what you will.’
The hardest about learning how to respect a big democratic win and the power it hands you is learning when not put it to one side. The only (metaphorical) response to Nelson worth a jot – and worthy of any Australian today – is to clap him fraternally on the back and say, ‘Good one, mate’. Less than three months ago today was barely thinkable. A bipartisan standing ovation for an act many Australians of all shades have worked for and agonised over for decades. Nelson’s Opposition is already its own beautiful worlds – emotional, spiritual, intellectual, ideological, political – moved on from the cynicism of the last decade. Look for the good bits in his speech. Seize them and applaud them warmly. There are plenty. As to the rest, like Tuckey and Co…politely let them slip through to history’s ‘keeper, unmentioned and unmourned. Let that way of looking at this whole area – as a fight, a competition, a blog-stoush – wither away and die off naturally, quickly, quietly, without fuss or lamentation. Bite your tongues. Let by-gones be. Change doesn’t always have to announce itself with a bloody great war bellow. Not unless it’s victories that you’re after.
Give Brendan Nelson a break. Give the Coalition a break. Give apology opponents a break, unless they are just grubby spoilers…in which case simply ignore them. This is a good day for Oz. A beauty. One of the best of my political lifetime. Be relentless and unstoppable in your good faith. As an act of will. Like the Stolen Gens. Even if only some of them can extend Nelson their hand unqualified, why not you? Why not you?
Nobody has yet mentioned that politicians have speechwriters; the Redfern Speech, for example, was the work of Don Watson. I know there’s a convention in political culture that says you ascribe the speech to the speaker, but some of the discussion here seems not to have factored in the function of speechwriters at all.
I’d be very interested to know (and very glad if anyone here can enlighten me) the identity of Rudd’s speechwriter, and how much input he/she (yes, today is a day for manic optimism) had into what was said this morning.
“The hardest about learning how to respect a big democratic win and the power it hands you is learning when
notTO put it to one side.”Sorry. Pavlov’s Cat, it sounded like mostly Rudd to me. I would be surprised if Don Watson hadn’t at least cast an eye, though.
My apologies to anyone of sensitive religious disposition but Paul of Tarsus was a first class arsehole and I want the Church kept at least 200 metres from the Politics at any given time.
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I don’t really object to politicians nickin’ bits of the Bible for their speeches, it’s great literature after all, if a little verbose in parts, however Kevvie’s got that thingy, y’know, that Jimmy Carter thingy. And look what happened in the US. You can’t get elected dogcatcher without avowing passionate superstition.
>
It wasn’t that hard.
“The only (metaphorical) response to Nelson worth a jot – and worthy of any Australian today – is to clap him fraternally on the back and say, ‘Good one, mate’.”
Hmmm, got to disagree I’m afraid.
“My apologies to anyone of sensitive religious disposition but Paul of Tarsus was a first class arsehole and I want the Church kept at least 200 metres from the Politics at any given time.”
No sensitive religious dispositions here, Adrien, in fact I’m an atheist. But borrowing metaphors and making allusions is hardly a collapse of the division between church and state.
Jack, Don Watson was, very specifically, Keating’s speechwriter; I don’t think (though I could easily be wrong) that he has been involved in politicans’ speeches since PJK lost the 1996 election. I saw somewhere earlier today, I think in crikey.com.au, that when asked this morning for his response to Rudd’s speech, Watson replied ‘No comment’, as any sensible person in his position would have done.
Rudd would almost certainly have one person whose fulltime job it is to write or draft or provide notes for his speeches, but the amount of that person’s input would probably vary from occasion to occasion, as was the case with Watson and Keating.
Indeed.
And it’s a particularly apt quotation to allude to.
But borrowing metaphors and making allusions is hardly a collapse of the division between church and state.
>
Yes true. But Kevvie makes a lot of his religious. He doesn’t keep it where it should: out of my face. And apparently there’s a Parliamentary Christian Caucus egad! Not demonizing ol’ Kevvie here but there’s a slow creep of politically active religion and I dinnae like it Captain.
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I gotta go to a concert now. It’s weird, over at Catallaxy the Sorry thread’s devolved into an argumetn about religion. WTF?
Earth to Adrien: it’s not all about you. It’s unlikely that Kevin individually considers your personal sensibilities every time he writes a speech.
Dr Cat, Crikey asked Watson (and a number of others) to comment on Rudd’s speech and he made no comment – which might be a sign of involvement in its composition. I suspect Rudd wrote a lot of it himself, but there probably were a few pro wordsmiths casting an eye over it.
Aarrgghhh! Memo to self: Must learn to read. Apologies – I see you also read crikey!
Dennis Glover may also have had a hand in it – he’s been the Freudenberg equivalent for a number of recent Labor luminaries.
JR – well spoken. (Written).
Y’all know i’ve been a Rudd gal from the beginning, but his performance today surprised even me.
As the day goes on, i’m feeling more and more sorry for Nelson, poor guy.
I honestly sensed genuine pride and sincerity as he embraced the guests of honour, and as he walked jointly shoulder to shoulder with Rudd. I agree some of his speech was patchy, but much of the disrespect shown to him was probably best held over for another time, or at least limited to the areas of concern alone. (The booing and noise on radio which almost drowned out Nelsons narrative about Neville Bonnor was particularly poor form).
Btw the allusion to St Paul shouldn’t confound anyone. Both Rudd and Garrett have spoken openly about their strong sense of social justice grounded in terms of their left wing christianity.
In the States he Evangelical and Liberal left have moved closer together and are experiencing a massive groundswell of support, highly influenced by people such as Jim Wallis, supported by Jimmy Carter etc etc and threatens to severely curtail the chrsitians rights strangle hold on ‘religious’ politics.
Wallis’ book about the growing influence of the christian left in AMerican debuted at number 10 on the New York Times best seller list last week. Take a look at the Soujourners site to get a sense of the emerging evangelical ‘zeitgeist’.
sc, I think Rudd showed how his own faith can add something to his leadership qualities. But for those who are worried about the church/state thing, let me just say that particular verse from St Paul considered outside its context is perfectly susceptible of a non religious interpretation. It’s just true. Like the facts about the Stolen Generation.
And a note to Graham Bell if he’s reading – re my comment on the other thread. I wasn’t attacking you, just indicating disagreement. Please read my comment again and I think that will be clear.
So the Rottweiler is having pups?
*shudder*
Sorry Jack, long memory says that no break would be so extended to Labor.
I thought Rudd was superb. The speech was memorable and addressed the core issue of just saying sorry. Direct and to the point. Congratulations Kevin. I can’t remember a day in parliament so real and relevant. I feel like we have turned a corner.
Nelson definately strayed off topic to appease “his constituency” (rednecks, racists and bigots?) and elements of his party (a minority?). “Sorry, but” really blew it for the Coalition but I was expecting this so no great surprise.
So exactly who was absent? (presumably choosing to represent their constituents in not attending). Tuckey bailed out, Pyne as “disinterested”, but I noticed several other empty seats on the Coalition benches. Presumably Hansard 13/2 will record them for posterity. Their names should be highlighted for all to see.
Australia can now move on and address the issues confronting indigenous Australia, and we can dismantle the non-consultative, paternalistic and racist “NT intervention”.
Benchmarks and targets need to be set for improving employment, education, health, infant mortality, life expectancy and decreasing substance abuse.
Good shot of Peter Garratt speaking to the crowd at Parlaiment House.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/allyeska/2262030824/
The only bit that didn’t ring true was the ‘closing the gap’ part. It’s disappointing that nakedly political phrases like that made the cut. But I’m really nitpicking what was a fine speech. At least he didn’t say we’d build a ladder of opportunity.
BBB
I’m not sure why you say that, BBB. “Closing the gap” is the phrase popularised by a particular campaign to do just that which originated with NGOs and outside the Labor Party. The reference associates the government (and hopefully the opposition) with thsoe goals.
“So the Rottweiler is having pups?”
Sophie Mirabella is not a rottweiler.
Though she is a bitch.
That was an excellent speech. To be honest, I don’t like speeches in general – but this one is the exception to that. I didn’t expect it to be that good.
Thank you, Kevin Rudd.
PeterC, I don’t think Pyne is who you have in mind.
Christian Kerr in today’s Crikey:
About a thousand people turned out for a march and speeches in the main street of Albany this morning to general acclamation and good feeling from the passer byes and shopkeepers. You couldn’t tell the Noongar from the wadjela kinda blended together mob really. Oh by the way, I should mention that Albany is the biggest city in Wilson Tuckey’s electorate.
Oh, I thought that it was an ALP thing. I stand corrected, thanks.
BBB
[ I should mention that Albany is the biggest city in Wilson Tuckey’s electorate.]
Speaking of Wilson, did you see him at the doorstop on Ten News.
Class 1 Prick is what comes to mind.
Right you are Mark, it was Chris Pearce, who “read a magazine during the motion and the speeches, refusing to get to his feet for several standing ovations”, not Chris Pyne.
Pearce is the MP for Aston, Eastern Suburbs in Melbourne. I don’t think his disinterest would be representative of a majority in his electorate.
Saw a shot somewhere of Whitlam leaning on Fraser today. Maybe it was just for the sake of convenience–but maybe not. Actions speak louder than words and as Rudd said in his speech today, history records how we acted not how we felt.
Our Queen would today be well proud of her sovereign state and we hope she noted Howard’s absence and thinks “perhaps not”, to giving him access to one of her garters. What a small man he is. However I doubt that his conspicuous absence came as a surprise to anyone.
“Although I had to smile at Kev mentioning “post-Reformation theological debate.â€?
It was the only gag in the whole speech, but that it had one, makes it qualify as a great speec, and I think the only reason Don Watson would decline to comment on it, was because he had a hand in its composition.
Like South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Council, this has been an incredibly important step towards becoming healed.
Just saw the results of the Seven Perth News poll, of 13,000 odd phone/sms messages it was 90% no, and 10% yes.
I only got to hear the speech and witness the reactions on tonight’s news. Rudd was amazing. The tears of the those watching the speech from outside were very moving indeed.
A great day for our nation.
They have been close personal friends for a long time now. Cross-party friendships are not uncommon in politics, and Gough and Mal have long moved on from 1975.
Kevin Rudd and Joe Hockey is another current “odd couple”, and the late Jim Killen had many friends in the Labor Party. Bob Brown and Peter Garrett were good friends until recently, though that friendship has cooled somewhat.
The glaring exception would have to be…wait for it…our previous PM. I doubt if he has close friends in any party.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23207713-5013871,00.html
Various explanations (none of them good) from the absent MPs.
Read it and weep.
Kim (and also Caroline at #127) — good point; that didn’t even occur to me. Der.
It would have been nice to hear that the Govt will now look after the Aboriginal Peoples, meaning, protect, stop the abuse of children, curb the drinking, violence, glue sniffing, give medical treatment treatment, house, feed, and educate. We can’t offer apologies for what another government did. We are all horrified at what happened, but there has been time (over a century) to put the wrong right. That has not been done. Lets hope Mr Rudd gets on with the job and serves the Aboriginal Peoples as he should. He should also apologise for what the Govt did in getting our boys to go to war in Vietnam.
Margo
(i) obviously didn’t listen to the speech, which outlined a series of commitments to deal with most of these issues.
(ii) er…you obvioiusly don’t understand the concept of government under the Westminster system and haven’t read previous posts on this.
(iii) there has not been over a century, children were still being removed in the early ’70s (I grew up with some). Many of the thousands who were there today have not had their wrongs righted. Why does past inaction excuse present apathy?
(iv) no doubt the government should apologise for a lot of past actions. This apology was in direct response to the ‘Bringing Them Home’ report, which made this recommendation in 1997.
The words have been spoken, now the healing can begin. What a wonderful day to be an Australian.
But deeply religious MPs — in all parties — are hardly new; or there wouldn’t have been so many little Lyonses at the Lodge back then. Nor is the Parliamentary Prayer Group new (assuming that’s the group you’re talking about). Church-state stuff in Australia is quite different from the USA, thank God. Here, conservative theology and leftish politics are not a particularly rare combination. See the Sydney Anglican forums on politics for a sample. You’d never know about it from our secular columnists, though!
Brian says:
I understand that Rudd’s apology was for the “stolen” generations. All treatment of Aboriginal people since white settlement is not the sole responsbility of Australian parliament. Aborginals bear some responsbility for themselves.
49 Spiros Feb 13th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Thats putting your finger on it, unwittingly of course. The apology had nothing to do with contrition about the poor situation of Aboriginals. If it did, then Left-liberals like Spiros would be the ones hanging their heads in the deepest of shame.
Which they will never do. Much easier to self-indulgently wag one’s finger at the WASPs.
Rudd’s apology was really all about banishing Howard’s ghost from the polity in general and indigenous affairs in particular. But if any one should have been celebrated today it was Howard. He gave the Aborginals two priceless gifts.
Politically-wise, his refusal to say “sorry” gave them an enemy to hate and an issue to rally their agitation energies.
Policy-wise, his remote intervention broke the circuit of indigenous institutional corruption and lanced the boil of indigenous child abuse. The imposition of martial law on remote settlements is the critical antidote to rampant anomie.
So “sorry day” became a way of exorcising the demon of Howard, the scapegoat for all whitey’s sins. Of course this ingratitude is typical of our species benighted psyche. No good deed goes unpunished.
Spiros says:
Yes, offending the 65% Anglo-Celtic majority of the country in favour of commemorating a well-meant but misplaced apology would really assist the reconciliation process.
Although I said it 100 comments ago, can I just say once more. Wilson Tuckey. What a f*cking knob. He has a chance not to look like a wanker for once in his life and still can’t do it. Did I say knob? Knob.
I missed the broadcast and have just had a crack at the YouTube replay, but it was so irritating getting 5 words followed by 20 seconds of pause, that I gave up. Grrrr at myself for letting the time get away from me. I’ll keep an ear out for a better replay on the ABC.
On another, very sour note, there’s a particulaly vile text message doing the rounds. It was sent to my husband yesterday, apparently in the hope that he’d find it amusing and send it on. Luckily, he has no idea how to retrieve a text message, so I had the dubious pleasure of reading it and the genuine pleasure of deleting it.
I won’t reproduce the message here, but sufffice to say that it would have got a standing ovation at a Klan meeting! My stomach literally turned; I don’t think I’ve ever read such a hateful spray before.
What made it more abhorrent, is that it was sent by a “friend” who obviously is an unrepentant and, worse still, a proud racist who is also surprise, surprise is a staunch Howard hugger!
The depressing thing is that there’s such a large number of Australians who subscribe to this viewpoint, obviously handed down from one generation to another. Let’s face it, these are the attitudes that allowed the Holocaust, Rwanda, Bosnia and Kosovar to mention just a few, to happen. Does any of them see that they’re espousing the rancid beliefs of the Nazis, the KKK and the host of other appalling genocidal conflicts over the last 70 or so years? Worse yet, I have a sneaking suspicion that they know, but couldn’t care less.
That said, once the euphoria of the apology wears off, there’s a hell of a lot of work to be done addressing the enormous problems of indigenous disadvantage and the inevitable bleating from the HH brigade when Kev08 & Co propose to start spending any coin. To that end, it was a master stroke offering Nelson the chance to co-chair the PM’s commission and inviting a bipartisan approach to the enormous task at hand.
Also encouraging to note that Rudd has done more than just cough up a pretty speech. It’s obvious that he’s been very busy behind the scenes finding out what areas should be tackled as a matter of urgency and setting realistic timelines to achieve what must be done.
BTW, McKenzie, if you’d ever had a decent dose of morning sickness, lugging a bucket to work doesn’t cut it.
The Sorry Day has provided a day-long hit of warm, fuzzy feelings and self-congratulation for the ostentatiously moralistic. Fortunately a few heartless right-wingers are prepared to rain on your parade. Steve Sailer for one,
The uncomfortable truth about the Stolen Generations is that it was mainly a form of welfare triage put in place to improve the conditions of salvageable half-caste children whose family circumstances were mostly untenable. Many “stolen” children were voluntarily given up by their (usually) single mothers. Or taken by authorities because they had been completely abandoned in circumstances too pitiful and awful to recapitulate on a family blog.
But we must avert our eyes from such shamefulness. Easier targets and fatter wallets are espied on the horizon.
I do think that an apology was in order because the family interventions were unaccountable, unreviewable and inequitable. But the moral enormity awarded to this day is way out of whack with the gravity of the offence.
The depressing thing is that there’s such a large number of Australians who subscribe to this viewpoint, obviously handed down from one generation to another.
No Jane. The encouraging thing is that there is such a small number of such people. Sure they are there. It’s not a perfect society. But most people in our society are decent, as witnessed in today’s overwhelmingly positive response across our country to Rudd’s extraordinarily well given apology.
Just accept them for what they are, sad creatures. They will always be with us but I am confident that over time their numbers will diminish and that today will have been a day on which one or two of them, in the face of disapprobation from their decent fellow citizens, will start to re-think their sick prejudices.
Today is a day to rejoice but from tomorrow on we must begin the hard work of turning the promise that underlies the apology into reality. Kevin Rudd’s proposal of a bipartisan commission with the Opposition Leader is a great first step.
I’m with PC at #102 in wondering about the speechwriters behind this…
It shouldn’t feel so strange to have a half-decent PM uttering simple words of wisdom, but it does.
Also, re the Corinthians passage, it’s curious that I posted a YouTube video of this (from the Three Colours movie) on my blog Feb 1st… Now I’m wondering if Kev’s speechwriters read my miserable rants? And if so, when do I get a job?
As Brian said at the outset:
“This is a time for healing and for hope.â€?
Tis been a great day. And for a whole range of reasons.
Just sayin …
Whose shout?
Jack, if you think today was a victory for Howard then you don’t merely live in a parallel universe. You live in a orthogonal hyperplaned universe.
Bar a few revanchists like Sophie Mirabella, the nation supports the apology wholeheartedly, which is as un-Howard as it gets. His own party, who until a few months ago was licking his derriere to a shiny finish on an continual basis, has repudiated him. His supine successor as Liberal Party leader has been effortlessly co-opted by Rudd into followung Labor’s agenda, to be implemented by Jenny Macklin, who is from the Labor Left.
Do you think Mirabella, Tuckey and the other holdouts from the Lineral Right were so supremely pissed off because their hero Howard had won? Or was it because he had lost?
Do you think Howard absented himself from today’s events because he was celebrating the occasion? Or because his lifetime’s work in this area has been flushed away and he couldn’t bear to see it?
Jack, you are fast becoming a parody of yourself.
I’m having none of this sorry business. I had nothing to do with taking anyone’s kids away from them, so what’s it got to do with me? But, then again, no-one’s going to accuse me of hypocrisy. From now on, what’s sauce for the goose and all that. I wasn’t at Gallipoli, so that’s the last dawn service I’ll ever attend. Similarly, I wasn’t wedged between the ox and the ass on the first Christmas, so from now on, I’ll be going into an empty office on Christmas Day to spend time with all my mates. Neither was I on or below deck when the First Fleet arrived in 1788. No more fireworks displays for me. Bah! Humbug!
127 Caroline Feb 13th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Yes, and now race relations in South Africa are as harmonious as they could possibly be. Just like in the US after LBJ passed the Civil Rights Act in 1965.
Young black men all took their cues from these maganamous political gestures and no one ever had any more trouble ever again from that quarter.
You really don’t get it do you Strokey.
Bullshit.
Kidnapping has been an offence in this country for a long time. And that is not even taking into account the often ensuing physical and sexual abuse.
In fact I hope that any ensuing Truth and Justice-style commission will name names, as was done at Nuremberg. Talk to the old people, they don’t forget their abusers.
I am Anglo-Celtic with a nephew who served in the Navy. I have no problems with ANZAC Day being displaced by Sorry Day. It won’t offend me. You on the other hand already offend me.
You and your kind will never speak for me.
The only ones cranky that a formal apology will not be a magic wand for generations of oppression are the ones who didn’t want an apology in the first place. If it doesn’t magically make everything better it’s not worth doing at all, is that it? What a paltry worldview that is.
Advocates for an apology have always said that it would only be the first step. But the subsequent steps can’t be taken unless that first step happens.
74 Mark Feb 13th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
I think that you could have chosen your “banging on” figure of speech more carefully, Mark.
And mentioning the chronic problems associated with indigenous families is only “internal politics” to those who have an interest in seeing inconvenient truths flushed down a memory hole.
The “stolen” generation, whatever the merits of their claim, are mostly retired or dead. This is mostly a by-gone issue.
By contrast the remote indigenous crisis is here and now. It is the responsibility of both personal, professional and political authorities. All of whom have failed. Particularly the personal ones (since the personal is the political in cases of child abuse).
Nelson was tactless enough to mention this uncomfortable truth in order to put those responsible – Aborginal parents and white policy makers/administrators – under the pump.
But these authorities dont want to face up to the responsibility of their own failures. That would call into question their investment in the “mau-mauing” of whitey.
If people think that saying sorry, or even shovelling billions of dollars into remote indigenous housing is going to solve the problem then they are deluding themselves. Only building accountable institutional authorities to regulate Aboriginal life – at personal, professional and political scales – will combat rampant anomie.
ALso early and continual educational intervention to ratchet up Aboriginal IQ is fundamental to improving indvidual Aboriginal competence. That will require strongly paternalistic education. Prussian missionary style.
But acknowledging intellectual and institutional authorities are the last thing that Left-liberals want to do.
On who wrote Rudd’s speech – Paul Kelly reckons it’s nearly all Rudd. I’m not fond of Kelly but he’s usually accurate on reports like this.
Gerard Henderson was a panelist along with Henry Reynolds on Lateline not long ago. Hendo had vicious feedback in his ear.
The slow creep of conservatism seemed to be suffering from a feedback loop.
Reynolds was smiling.
If we’re going to sacrifice a public holiday, how about starting with the ones that celebrate the horse races? Or in the ACT we could probably lose union picnic day.
But please, put it in the second half of the year. W e already have too many public holidays in the first half
Paul Kelly today in the Australian:
“The historic and national apology personally penned by Rudd will partly define his prime ministership. Rudd seems to realise this and to accept the risk involved. The apology was overdue, a point conceded by many former Howard Government ministers.”
I wonder if ABC news will come into criticism for showing footage of welfare officers who did the actual removal of children saying they thought they did the right thing (and still do).
145 Spiros Feb 13th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Spiros, please read for comprehension and dont write for obfuscation. Perhaps your grasp of the English language disappeared in the “orthogonal hyperplaned universe” that you seem to be suspiciously familiar with.
I did not say today was a “victory for Howard”. QUite the opposite.
I suggested that that if there was any justice Howard should have been celebrated for making the issue of Aboriginal child care a hot button issue, mobilising political activists and public interest. And for leading the way to the correct solution, which is restoring law and order, not shovelling money into corrupt and unaccountable authorities.
Spiros, here is what I said verbatim, to prevent disingenuous or fantastic interpretation:
How you constructed a “victory for Howard” out of my “exorcising the demon of Howard” will be one for the logicians to puzzle over down through the ages.
I know, I know, theres a fine line between the hypothetical and the categorical. Try to stumble accross it one day.
Spiros says:
Howard absented himself from today’s events because he discounts symbolic, sentimental, warm-and-fuzzy, feel-good, politics. Especially when it comes from the worlds acknowledged experts in the field: the Wets.
His “lifetimes work” is to restore proper accountability to key cultural institutional authorities. Obviously the bi-partisan support for his martial law intervention means that his life’s work is an enduring legacy. (Same deal for border protection and multiculturalism.)
The only thing being “flushed away” is the liberal-Left’s ideological garbage and institutional wreckage, the utopian fantasy of a state-subsidised Noble Savage which unleashed an orgy of child rape.
What a shamelful legacy for the professional Howard-haters.
Hard to believe that a humanitarian like Fred Chaney, interviewed today by Tony Jones, belongs to the same political party as the execrable Mirabella and the other lineup of aspiring Klansmen who did not attend today or who, like the eminently forgettable Member for Aston, displayed their poor manners and lousy social sensibilities.
About time for a Liberal Party split, methinks.
Thanks, Ag. That’s very good to know. Not that I think he necessarily should have written it himself, more that I’m glad it was him what wrote it.
Damn straight. Howard favours literal-minded, unfeeling, cold-and-hard, feel-bad politics.
We knew that.
tigtog
The only ones cranky that a formal apology will not be a magic wand for generations of oppression are the ones who didn’t want an apology in the first place.
Presumably you have sent Marcia Langton an email pointing out the error of her ways?
Kevin wrote it. Kevin spoke it. It’s done and dusted. Australians – black and white – wept for each other.
Strocchi, Windschuttle, Howard & Henderson. Let ‘em weep for’emselves.
Brian
Kevin Rudd has said “sorry� to the stolen generations and for the treatment of Aboriginal people since white settlement.
I listened to the speech very closely and thought it was an efficient, measured, sober speech that hit a lot of high notes. Something as boneheaded as saying sorry “for the treatment of Aboriginal people since white settlement” would have ruined the whole thing and been the only thing remembered. Had you had a few at the early opener first?
Sounds like a failed 60s folk group…or should we say Volk group.
They re-formed as Circle Jerk.
Hendo looked like he was about to shrivel away into nothingness on Lateline tonight.
One thing this mob won’t be claiming any more – “nothing changed because Kevin Rudd is basically the same as John Howard”.
The Strocchiverse is a universe far far away.
Reading various comments on other sites from the anti-apology/curmudgeon crowd, I’m surprised at the prominence of the “Bet you can’t name 10 kids who you can prove were officially stolen for racist reasons, ner ner” meme. Surprisingly, it turns out that not many beaurocrats actually wrote “Little Sophie was taken from her mum because I AM A HEARTLESS RACIST BASTARD AND SO IS MY BOSS, HAR HAR HAR!!!!” on the paperwork.
(Reminds me of a skit I once saw on some 70s Brit comedy in which Tim Brooke Taylor, as host of a rigged game show, asks a hapless contestant “How many Britons voted for (some politician) in the (some year) elections AND NAME THEM.” Hapless contestant dunked in the drink.)
Don’t these people have any empathy at all?
No.
Sadly.
John Greenfield:
Text of the motion moved by Kevin Rudd (excerpt):
The apology went beyond the Stolen Generations. It particularly highlighted their mistreatment. But as is VERY CLEAR it was for everything within the scope of the Parliament’s responsibility which had led to wrongs being committed, and in the context of a reflection on that as well as the specifics of the Stolen Generations.
JG at #159, have a look at what Marcia Langton said on the 7.30 Report last night
She has the grace to recognise that it isn’t about her, that what is being done means a lot to the people involved and doesn’t want to be negative and carp about minutiae.
You and Jack Strocchi had a go at me about this:
Last night Mark was ill and sent an email around asking whether one of us wouldn’t mind doing a post on the sorry event this morning. I listened to the event on the radio while I was having a late breakfast, having already completed two errands around the suburb, while reading the Fin Review. I thought I’d hear about it umpteen times on radio during the day and could always check out the text tonight.
Then I loggged on to see what was happening on the blog on my way out to a doctor’s appointment. Horror of horrors, no-one had put anything up and no-one seemed to be about. So I tried to whack up a brief post. It got done without the niceties of reading the text, after the site crashed twice and in between times behaved like treacle. Not the way I usually prepare posts.
Yes, Rudd focussed on the stolen generations in apologising, but as Kim points out he clearly has a broader context in mind. When he talked about the present and the future this broadening of the focus is very clear.
Just on NT intervention, I listened to Parliament this afternoon for a while. After Question Time Nelson put forward a motion that the NT-style intervention be broadened. Clearly, I think, he was prefiguring his political strategy for the day in his speech. I imagine it was about internal politics, Howard’s legacy and going on the front foot politically against the Government. He was doubtless also trying to do some good for Aborigines. But he was blind-sided by Rudd’s offer to co-chair a commission.
Most of the day the ABC had programs devoted to the sorry statement. Mostly, apart from news programs, Nelson’s negativity and that of a few other people who will never change their minds was ignored. It has been a very moving day and more than once I found myself tearing up. By and large this has been a beautiful thread, but in the latter parts and definitively with the entry of Strocchi it has been tending in a direction I hoped it wouldn’t. Not here, not now, some other time perhaps.
I’m proposing to end it here. Mark can open it again in the morning, start another thread or just let it be, depending on what he thinks/feels.