Like what you've read?

On Line Opinion is the only Australian site where you get all sides of the story. We don't
charge, but we need your support. Here�s how you can help.

  • Advertise

    We have a monthly audience of 70,000 and advertising packages from $200 a month.

  • Volunteer

    We always need commissioning editors and sub-editors.

  • Contribute

    Got something to say? Submit an essay.


 The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
On Line Opinion logo ON LINE OPINION - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate

Subscribe!
Subscribe





On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit publication and relies on the generosity of its sponsors, editors and contributors. If you would like to help, contact us.
___________

Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Bigotry still shades hope

By Stephen Hagan - posted Wednesday, 5 March 2008


Kevin Michael Rudd, MP, 26th Prime Minister of Australia, said on February 13, 2008:

Until we fully confront that truth, there will always be a shadow hanging over us and our future as a fully united and fully reconciled people.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt that he has what it takes to lead this country well into the second decade of the new millennium after his memorable performance on the floor of the House of Representatives on February 13.

Advertisement

Don’t just take my words for it - it would appear our new Prime Minister has created a tsunami style wave of unparallel support that literally swept the nation up in its path for audaciously saying “sorry” to the stolen generation in federal parliament.

Shamefully, his predecessor, John Howard just couldn’t bring himself to say that five-letter word during his eleven-year reign in the top job.

Sorry, a word finite in dimension but colossus in newfound popular appeal will remain in the conscience of Australians as the single phrase that exposed Howard for the bigoted person he was and the dogmatic, insignificant person he has become. He will not be recorded favourably in the cultural pages of Australian history.

The fact that Howard was the only living Prime Minister who didn’t accept an official invitation to attend the historic occasion in the nation’s capital speaks volumes on how out of touch he really is, on this issue in particular, and Indigenous issues broadly.

Voter satisfaction rating published in The Australian just six days after the address gave the visionary Member for Griffith a new high of 68 per cent, allowing him to open the biggest lead over an Opposition leader (Nelson at 9 per cent) in the history of Newspoll.

Another poll conducted by Galaxy and published in the Sydney Morning Herald on February 18 asked 1,100 people aged 16 and over whether they agreed or disagreed with the Government's decision “to say sorry” also confirmed the growing trend of support in favour of the Prime Minister.

Advertisement

The poll illustrated the shift in views was stronger among men than women. In early February, only 51 per cent of men agreed with the apology but that rose to 66 per cent at the weekend. The change among women was 59 per cent to 70 per cent.

The increased support was across all states and the numbers of those who "strongly agreed" with the apology rose from 31 per cent to 41 per cent.

I believe the Sorry address will go down in history as one of the most influential and authoritative parliamentary orations of all times.

In constructing an analogy to Kevin Rudd’s Sorry address I am inexplicably drawn to Martin Luther King's I have a dream speech delivered at Washington’s Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963 that continues to send shivers up my spine whenever I hear it played on archival news footage.

Other devotees of celebrated speeches might credit Paul Keating’s unforgettable Redfern Address delivered at Sydney’s Redfern Park on December 10, 1992 as deserving of the premier spot on Australia’s famous speech list for his articulation of the enormity of colonisation and its contemporary consequences on Indigenous Australians:

It was we who did the dispossessing. We took the traditional lands and smashed the traditional way of life. We brought the diseases. The alcohol. We committed the murders. We took the children from their mothers. We practised discrimination and exclusion. It was our ignorance and our prejudice. And our failure to imagine these things being done to us. With some noble exceptions, we failed to make the most basic human response and enter into their hearts and minds. We failed to ask - how would I feel if this were done to me?

Today however Rudd’s Sorry address gets my tick narrowly ahead of Keating’s choice words as the most noteworthy speech I’ve heard to date.

Rudd not only raised awareness of the plight of victims of the stolen generation era but in doing so set a sublime yet unambiguous precedence on how he - as Prime Minsiter - believes his parliamentary colleagues and in fact all Australians ought to engage with Indigenous Australians.

Sitting with other academics in a staff lounge at the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba, thousands of kilometres from where the real action was taking place, I felt decidedly relaxed as I patiently waited for formal proceedings to unfold on our television set.

On commencement of the historic speech I felt an indescribable array of emotions consume me. I knew I was in a joyous mood as I relaxed in comfortable seating among familiar faces and felt relieved that such a public announcement was taking place in my lifetime but, try as I may, I just couldn’t control the tears that welled up in my eyes.

In hindsight I guess the moment that precipitated the tears for me was when the television lens spanned the public gallery and captured the myriad of emotions etched graphically on the faces of row upon row of elderly victims.

The elderly invited guests, some wearing cowboy hats complementing their rural attire, sat in dignified silence staring intently in the direction of the holder of the highest public office in the land.

Kevin Rudd’s eloquent and culturally sensitive words undoubtedly facilitated the lifting of the heavy emotional load from the frail shoulders of those beautiful, resilient, stolen generation victims.

I’m of the opinion, despite the conspicuous absence of a compensation package in the well scripted speech, that saying sorry by the nation’s leader will commence the healing journey for the victims.

In the Sorry address Rudd affirmed he wanted to ensure every Indigenous four-year-old was attending early childhood education and that he would halve the deficits in literacy and numeracy, employment outcomes and infant mortality rates between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations over the next decade.

And the big call - which reminded me of the tarnished claim by Bob Hawke that "by 1990 no Australian child will be living in poverty" - Rudd declared that over the next generation the 17-year gap in life expectancy between black and white Australia would be closed.

Only time will tell of the latter statement - and sadly that is not a luxury many of our mob have.

Despite the overwhelming success of this momentous day it was sadly rained upon by intransigent politicians who were obviously hell bent on creating mischief.

The leader of this renegade pack who chose to strategically boycott official proceedings was predictably Wilson Tuckey, Member for O’Connor (WA), whose infamous remarks on the day received as much coverage in some sections of the media as the fêted speech of the Prime Minister.

"I'm there to say hallelujah. Tomorrow there will be no petrol sniffing. Tomorrow little girls can sleep in their beds without any concern. It's all fixed," Tuckey indignantly announced to the gathered throng of media at the doorstep of Parliament House prior to the national address.

To understand the state of mind of this individual one would need to go back in time to the year 1967 when he bashed an Aboriginal man in a pub he once owned, reportedly with an iron bar, although he claimed - presumably in mitigation - that it was only “a piece of 100-amp cable”. Irrespective of his pronouncement in court he was convicted and fined $50.

It appears that these self-centred politicians who continue to live in denial of past injustices would only be content when the status quo of the preferred halcyon days of their forebears was back in vogue when Indigenous people had no rights and were generally viewed with contempt.

Regrettably also, the Sorry address was the limp reason for unsavoury conduct to emerge from disgruntled - ignorant, redneck - elements of mainstream society to further sully this nationally significant occasion.

Reports I’ve heard, from family and friends, on some hostility in the streets after the Sorry address was that it was reminiscent of the angst displayed by some non-Indigenous Australians to them post Anthony Mundine’s victory over Danny Green on the night of April 19 2006 at Sydney’s Aussie Stadium.

Two of my family members were directly involved in an altercation at a local nightclub a couple of days after the Canberra announcement when they took exception to some loud mouth cowboys who said they would never say sorry to boongs for actions of the past.

Instantaneously, on engaging with the principal stirrer, the younger of my relatives was king hit from the side by another cowardly hoon. Unfortunately for the offender the blow was negligible and as a recipient of several faster and harder blows to the head he was unflatteringly rendered horizontal on the bar room floor.

By now the mob, numbering ten or more, baying for blood moved menacingly - but cautiously - towards my relatives confident that strength in numbers would win the day.

On being informed of the commotion in the adjacent bar two other larger and more menacingly looking relatives hastily departed the dance floor in eagerness to come to the aid of family in a grossly outnumbered fight.

The bravado displayed by the inebriated thugs earlier soon crumbled into a farcical standoff typically seen when cowards are confronted with increased numbers on the opposing side.

I was informed by my mob that they noticed relief etched on the faces of the hoons as bouncers came to their rescue and ushered them away from what could have been an embarrassing defeat from a much smaller number of men.

So the next time you raise your glass in celebration of Rudd’s historic Sorry address in the comfort and safety of your office or home spare a thought for those on the street who continue to bear the brunt of those ignorant Australians who refuse to let go of a “White Australia” era where bigotry was condoned with fervour.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. All


Discuss in our Forums

See what other readers are saying about this article!

Click here to read & post comments.

19 posts so far.

Share this:
reddit this reddit thisbookmark with del.icio.us Del.icio.usdigg thisseed newsvineSeed NewsvineStumbleUpon StumbleUponsubmit to propellerkwoff it

About the Author

Stephen Hagan is Editor of the National Indigenous Times, award winning author, film maker and 2006 NAIDOC Person of the Year.

Other articles by this Author

All articles by Stephen Hagan

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Photo of Stephen Hagan
Article Tools
Comment 19 comments
Print Printable version
Subscribe Subscribe
Email Email a friend
Advertisement

About Us Search Discuss Feedback Legals Privacy