The Forgotten Australians ask us: what sort of country are we really?

But it is the cost to our national psyche and well-being that really ought to concern us. Governments and churches can and do throw suitcases full of money at lawyers from the top end of town who take every single technical point to deny justice to traumatized individuals. This type of behaviour from religious institutions who preach compassion constitutes enormous hypocrisy.

Governments are also guilty of hypocrisy.  For example, in August 2006, the Victorian Government apologized to Victorian children who were abused in state care.  The apology however only came after the Victorian Parliament had passed legislation stating that an apology could not be held to be an admission of legal liability.

What these Institutions are really doing is confirming that we as a people really don’t care about our ‘mates’ in need, that we are willing to walk by on the other side of the street and turn our heads as they cry out in pain. If so, then we have learnt little or nothing from the shameful history that these reports document. If so, then we have to face the possibility that callousness and cruelty are our true values, and that ‘mateship’ is nothing more than a politically-useful myth. Do we really want to be like this?

Please note: this article has been co-authored by:
Angela Sdrinis, Professor Paul Wilson, Dr Richard Hil, and Nick Rose.