Opinion

Opinion: Apology not enough for Aboriginals

Monday, February 18, 2008

"I'm glad that seven years after I witnessed the march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge demanding an apology for the treatment of Aboriginals someone has finally got around to it.

But making it all about the lost generation is very convenient. It points the finger at a bunch of British-influenced Government officials who took Aboriginal children from their families. Definitely needs an apology, but what about the rest of the past 200 years of deep racism, certain apartheid and wilful neglect shown by Australians towards these people?

Who will apologise for that situation and who will take responsibility and remedy the fact that every day, white Australians, as they have done for the past two centuries, prefer their Aboriginals to be neither seen nor heard?

I lived in Australia for 18 months which was all I could stand. There were several reasons I came running home, but one of the main concerns was their treatment of Aboriginals. In the white middle-class circles I mixed in you didn't talk about it."

Get the Story:
Wendyl Nissen: Sorry, but Aussies have a very long way to go (The New Zealand Herald 2/17)

Relevant Documents:
Text of Apology