SORRY!

[moreorless]

Despite what the die-hard Howard apologists that frequent this site might think, Howard never said sorry in his capacity as PM, let alone for the government or parliament.

He said sorry as an individual.

Howard never understood the symbolism of a formal apology. He never had the heart for it. His character was too stunted. He was too driven by politics.

[bood]

It is not just the fact that child were taken form their parents as an act of social engineering. Land was taken, people were confined to missions and reserves and not allowed off without exemption certificates, people were forced to work for slave wages and people were punished for speaking their traditional language or practising their culture. This was done because the Govenrment knew it would have problems dealing with the illegality with which the lands and resources were taken.
People say it wasn't me, But those same people almost certainly supported Hardies industries being hung out to dry over actions that took place 30 or 40 years ago. the current generaiton of Australians may not have been around to vote for the Goverments that did those actions but they have inherited the shares in the Govenrment/company and are still reaping the benefits.

[Beanpole]

A mate of mine comes from Taree originally and whenever Ive dropped in there all his male relatives just launch into the full on racist rants. The women usually tell them to can it Now places like Purfleet and a lot of Kempsey have real problems that a lot of city people don't bump into but there is so much anti aboriginal sentiment in the country that some very afirmative action is needed.

Whats always bugged me is the whole bit about us taking over in 1770 and 1788. That was just a couple of little bits. Where I grew up was first settled in the 1860s and that was by a bunch of timber getters. Real roughnuts. The place is completely dominated by aboriginal placenames but hardly any aborigines at all. Other parts of the country were opened up last century.
If you go out the back of Taree as you go up to Wauchope you find a big waterfall. In the 1800s they herded a whole tribe off the top to their death on the jagged rocks below.

[yanks r us]

Id like to see christians apologize for their disgracefull wrong doings. Weren't they the ones who forced them to seperate, chucked into missionaries, and forced to convert to their religion?

[2nd Reef]

If you go out the back of Taree as you go up to Wauchope you find a big waterfall. In the 1800s they herded a whole tribe off the top to their death on the jagged rocks below.

Plenty of those events occurred in Australia but you won't read about them in the history books.

Elliston in South Oz is home to Blackfellows, so named because the early settlers rounded up the local mob and drove them off the cliffs adjacent to the wave.

Elliston is also set on Waterloo Bay which was named by some macabre wit who said the blackfellas 'met their Waterloo' there.

Besides Blacks and Waterloo Bay, Elliston is also home to the largest mural in the southern hemisphere. Painting murals on public buildings seems to be a popular thing to do on that coast - every town does it. The murals in Elliston depict the history of the town. There are actual people chopping the wood, sowing the fields etc. And there are visual depictions of actual events.

I've walked around every mural in Elliston and nowhere is the black massacre depicted.

So the two geographical features that Elliston owe it's existence - Waterloo Bay and Blackfellows Reef - refer to an event that is erased from the town's history. If it wasn't for their names there would be no public knowledge of it.

[Shaunm]

Id like to see christians apologize for their disgracefull wrong doings. Weren't they the ones who forced them to seperate, chucked into missionaries, and forced to convert to their religion?

Cdl Pell of Catholic Church did, last Pope did to all indigenous world wide, Puritants are yet to do so, them pilgrims .

[mustkillmulloway]

THEY DIDN'T SAY SORRY FOR GETTING RID THE BEARS DID THEY

f.ucking news ltd daily bullshit i only read cause i'm cakey handy can't deal with the snh two pages for one format

DON'T WORRY....after ya missus thats on top my next do list

[Shaunm]

Well put but how come those cafes still get customers, I'd buy elsewhere and sit outside drinking/eating

[Boozer]

A mate of mine comes from Taree originally and whenever Ive dropped in there all his male relatives just launch into the full on racist rants. The women usually tell them to can it Now places like Purfleet and a lot of Kempsey have real problems that a lot of city people don't bump into but there is so much anti aboriginal sentiment in the country that some very afirmative action is needed.

Whats always bugged me is the whole bit about us taking over in 1770 and 1788. That was just a couple of little bits. Where I grew up was first settled in the 1860s and that was by a bunch of timber getters. Real roughnuts. The place is completely dominated by aboriginal placenames but hardly any aborigines at all. Other parts of the country were opened up last century.
If you go out the back of Taree as you go up to Wauchope you find a big waterfall. In the 1800s they herded a whole tribe off the top to their death on the jagged rocks below.

I went out with a lass from Taree some years ago and I too was astounded by the deep seated racism from within some people who in all other aspects of their nature are top folk.

I suppose it's a problem which has compounded from unjust acts, resentment and eventual retribution. Then the cycle continues.

Hopefully yesterday's events will be the catalyst that leads to a break in the cycle. But it will take alot more positive and deep felt actions to demonstrate that the apology is genuine.

It's no good for the government and opposition to get together to determine what happens next. More mission management eh puurri?

I would suggest that any body set up to determine the next steps should be joint chaired with indigenous representation.

BTW beanpole, I watched the movie Beneath Clouds again last night and was wondering whether the cliff you refer to near Wauchope is the same that features in the movie?

[Larry]

thanks Fong - been waiting to hear from you here - now for some catching up eh?

[TMC]

sorry fellas
now how do we fix this?

This is perfect

The focus needs to be on adressing the issue and not just saying a word, im not talking about compensation, im talking about addressing real aboriginal social welfare issues.

[HB]

In 2000 the Croatian president apologised for crimes committed by Croatians against Jews during WWII.

In 2002 the Japanese Prime Minister apologised for his country's actions during WWII.

In 2002 Australia's Roman Catholic Church apologised for sexual abuse.

In 2007 the Israeli president apologised to residents of a village called Kafr Qasem for a massacre that took place in 1956.

In 2008 the South Korean president apologised for the massacre of hundreds of people at the start of the 1950-53 Korean War.

Apologies are a way of recognising that a wrong was done. And with that, hoping to bring a bit of closure to an old wound.

There's no shame in it. It's not saying you personally were in the wrong.

The same way when other countries thank us for our bravery during both World Wars we feel proud even though we had nothing to do with it.

You still choose to feel somehow a part of it. And if we can feel proud about things our country is famous for even though we mightn't have anything to do with them (i.e. Aussies being great athletes, having an amazing coastline etc) why can't we feel other emotions, too.

[Hairy_Joseph]

i agree with yanks r us. i didnt do anything. should i apologise just because i'm a non-indigenous australian? talk about racist. i think apologizing will go down as one of the most blatant examples of kevin rudd's pathetic quest to become the ultimate australian national hero..he apologised because johnny wouldnt do it n he thinks thats what everyone wants. i expect him to say sorry for everything bad that happened to me and my family in the past while he's at it. for he is no more responsible or qualified to apologise for that than he is to apologise for the mistreatment of indigenous australians. thats why jonny never said sorry. cuz he had a brain and some balls. n he knew how to use both. kevin rudd is just a beady eyed little shit pussy whipped by the socialist he-bitch julia gillard. back to the topic, no offence to the aborigines, but they do get a lot of benefits these days. and i agree with brendan nelson...a lot of the time the children were taken from squalor and given be†ter lives than they would have had otherwise. just because we sayin sorry doesnt mean we cant sprinkle a little truth in there with it. thats my opinion on the topic. i mean yeah i feel bad for the aborigines for the hand that was dealt them...but me sayin sorry for that just because im a white australian? you're dreamin. who here has apologised to the jews or rwandans? you are no less responsible for their fate than you are that of the aborigines.unless you actually stole one from their family. then you should say sorry.

[creased]

Never let literacy get in the way of making a sorry point, no offence

[munch]

I think this should of been the full stop for the thread, but num nuts keep on bringing up shit that was covered pages ago, so here it is again (and it keeps it for prosperity as fong may delete his brilliance with a stroke of wong ):

sorry fellas
now how do we fix this?

it's like a stone drop in a pond

the ripples are riding into a lot out back homes

stop round some the mob today....very subdued....this the only conversation

the only thing i can say....... there is no easy answer.....there is no way the land will be "given" back ( there are other options )

but with regret (real regret).....should come forgiveness :?

isn't that how it works

or u just stay mad 4va and let hate eat u up till u do the very things u despise others for having done to you :?

theres still cafes that say "sorry, don't serve your colour"....but that mentalitys now offically the minority


don't under estimate the significance this

it's reached the ones it was meant for

[Nick Carroll]

i didnt do anything.

i didnt do anything.

Really?

(sigh) once again, it's NOT ABOUT you.

[Buff_Brad]

i agree with yanks r us. i didnt do anything. should i apologise just because i'm a non-indigenous australian? talk about racist. i think apologizing will go down as one of the most blatant examples of kevin rudd's pathetic quest to become the ultimate australian national hero..he apologised because johnny wouldnt do it n he thinks thats what everyone wants. i expect him to say sorry for everything bad that happened to me and my family in the past while he's at it. for he is no more responsible or qualified to apologise for that than he is to apologise for the mistreatment of indigenous australians. thats why jonny never said sorry. cuz he had a brain and some balls. n he knew how to use both. kevin rudd is just a beady eyed little shit pussy whipped by the socialist he-bitch julia gillard. back to the topic, no offence to the aborigines, but they do get a lot of benefits these days. and i agree with brendan nelson...a lot of the time the children were taken from squalor and given be†ter lives than they would have had otherwise. just because we sayin sorry doesnt mean we cant sprinkle a little truth in there with it. thats my opinion on the topic. i mean yeah i feel bad for the aborigines for the hand that was dealt them...but me sayin sorry for that just because im a white australian? you're dreamin. who here has apologised to the jews or rwandans? you are no less responsible for their fate than you are that of the aborigines.unless you actually stole one from their family. then you should say sorry.

Ugly Hairy Joseph , Wanks r us and Teeny Meeny Cock - This is the fcuking last time I spell it out for you, you pathetic racist losers. EVERYONE WITH A MODICUM OF INTELLIGENCE KNOWS WE ARENT DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACTIONS OF THOSE INVOLVED IN THE STOLEN GENERATION OR THE GENOCIDE IN NAZI GERMANY OR THE ATROCITIES THAT HAPPENED IN RWANDA. SAYING SORRY DOESNT MEAN THAT WE AS WHITE AUSTRALIANS ARE TAKING THE BLAME DIRECTLY NOR DOES IT MEAN THERE WILL BE LEGAL CONSEQUENCES - THAT'S ALL SCARE TACTIC NONSENSE. IT IS A GESTURE OF RESPECT AND REGRET THAT IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED. THE SORT OF THING THAT MAY AND ONLY MAY BRING FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS OF DIFFERENT RACES TOGETHER BY ACKNOWLEDGING THAT IMMENSE PAIN IN MANY CASES WAS CAUSED AND CLOSURE COULD BE PROVIDED BY SUCH AN APOLOGY. DONT WORRY LITTLE BIRD BRAINS ITS NOT GONG TO HURT YOU IN ANY WAY ALTHOUGH IF I HAD A RELATIVE INVOLVED IN THE STOLEN GENERATION THAT WAS SUFFERING I'D PROBABLY WANT TO BEAT THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF YOU HAIRY JOSEPH. ACTUALLY ID LIKE TO DO IT JUST BECAUSE YOU SEEM LIKE A COMPLETE AND UTTER WASTE OF SPACE.

[ric_vidal]

Is your keyboard broken BB?

Assuming you want us to read it... too hard to read all caps.

Rogue Traders, honestly.