The apology as a wedge issue

Feb 1, 2008 at 7:40 AM
3 comments

Interesting. Just a couple of months after being elected the ALP is using the planned apology to the Stolen Generations as a bit of a wedge issue against the Liberal/National coalition opposition. See this statement by Minister Jenny Macklin at the very end of her press release and an article over at the ABC -

Ms Macklin says the apology deserves the support of every member of Parliament.

"This really is a matter of principle, it's a matter that all parliamentarians should now be able to make a decision about," she said.

The opposition leadership of Nelson and Bishop effectively tried to fudge the issue by saying that they'd like to see the wording first, while others such as Sharman Stone have said they back the idea. Then this morning I hear about this on the radio -

The divisions in the federal Opposition over the planned formal apology to the Stolen Generations are intensifying.

When treasury spokesman Malcolm Turnbull was vying for the Liberal leadership last November, he was asked on ABC's Radio National his thoughts on apologising.

Mr Turnbull confirmed that he would support Labor in saying sorry and made his views clear about former prime minister John Howard's refusal to apologise.

...

But Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson disagrees with him and is still refusing to support an apology, at least until he sees it in writing.

So the ALP pushes ahead with the apology knowing it has majority public support - and note that they continually emphasise that the apology is from the government, not on behalf of the Australian people per se - and then calls on cross-parliamentary support knowing that it'll cause divisions within an already fractured coalition partyroom. Straight out of the Howard playbook, really.

3 comments

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australian politics

Comments

[this is good]

I honestly don't know what is up with these Liberal/National members who have got a problem with this apology.

I live in the electorate where Sharman Stone is the Liberal MP and she is also the opposition's representative for indigenous affairs I am so pleased that she totally supports this apology and that she has even said that the former Liberal party did not go far enough with its statement of regret when it was in power. I wish her fellow party members would listen to her given she has the experience in this issue, due to the fact that she represents the largest constituency of indigenous Australians in the state of Victoria outside of Melbourne.

It would just be such a fantastic gesture if there was total consensus from all political parties on this issue.

[this is good]

I refer back to my comments on Chezz's blog. This is an issue which is being manipulated for political benefit by politicians who see an opportunity to further divide and conquer. Initially it was a tool for getting elected, now it's a tool to further eviscerate a vanquished foe. The actions of the Rudd government in this regard are therefore blatantly disingenuous. Saying 'Sorry' can only ever mean anything if it's done from the heart, and on behalf of all of Australia to the "Stolen Generations" alone. It never will be so. All of Australia doesn't agree with the ethos, as I do not, and because indigenous Australia believes as a collective it deserves an apology for being invaded, massacred, maltreated, etc. The issue of the "Stolen Generations" is little more than an excuse, a springboard to bigger & supposedly better recompense for ills of the past, created in the past, by a society and culture now thankfully dead or very nearly so.

I can only ever see reconciliation, per se, coming over generations of change to the lives and living conditions, health and well-being of indigenous Australia. It'll take money and lots of it. Also a willingness to spend it while allowing indigenous Australia a say in how, where and how much.