Mr Rudd said indigenous people had occupied the land for thousands of generations but Europeans only for five, six or seven.
''Despite this antiquity among us, despite the fact that parliaments have been meeting here for the better part of a century, today is the first time in our history that as we open the Parliament of the nation, that we are officially welcomed to country by the first Australians of this nation,'' he said to applause.
Bring on tomorrow, and saying sorry. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go have a little quiet, happy cry.Mr Rudd said he celebrated that indigenous Australia was alive, well and with us for the future.
''Today we begin with one small step, to set right the wrongs of the past, and in this ceremonial way it is a significant and symbolic step.''
Mr Rudd said the ceremony should become a permanent practice for future governments.
''Let this become a permanent part of our ceremonial celebration of the Australian democracy.''
Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson said the opening of Parliament would never be the same again.
''On behalf of the alternative government and supporting the Prime Miister, whatever happens in future parliaments so long as I have anything to do with it we will have a welcome from Ngunnawal and their descendants,'' he said.
Dr Nelson said the coalition, whether in government or opposition, was committed to improving the situation for indigenous Australians.
''We go forward determined, no withstanding our inadequacies as human beings and at times as representatives, to ensure that the mistakes that we have made in the past that we will not ever make again,'' he said.
''And we respect the dignity of humankind, of racial background and of difference but determined to be a better people and a better nation.''
5 comments:
The quiet end of the "Pacific Solution" had a similar effect on me.
Loved the symbolism of the opening of parliament and really pleased that this will occur from now on.
On the other hand i just don't see why the government should apologise for past matters that i or most Australians today are just not responsible for.
Will the current intervention in the NT - will we be asked in years to come for an apology, i sure hope not.. The dispaire that many aboriginal kids face in those communities has got to stop.
I am sorry but i can't feel a sence of guilt for something i was not responsible for.
Ant
Ant - it's not about 'a sense of guilt for something I was not responsible for' to me. It's about recognising the pain that others have suffered - in the same way we say 'sorry' to a friend who has lost a loved one. In this case however, it's the pain of several generations of people who were wrenched away, without consent in the majority of cases, from their families - invariably not because of the conditions in which they lived, but because of their race.
I also think that it's appropriate that the Government apologise for its past actions, because those actions were deliberate: the stealing away of half-caste children while the 'darker' children were left with their parents.
It was a deliberate attempt to 'breed aboriginality' out of existence.
To quote A.O. Neville, WA's 'Chief Protector of Aborigines' from a 1937 conference of Aboriginal Administators:
"Are we going to have a population of one million blacks in the Commonwealth or are we going to merge them into our white community and eventually forget that there were any Aborigines in Australia?"
Saying sorry for the forcible removal of Indigenous children from their parents, for the specified purpose of ensuring the eventual destruction of the very concept of Aboriginality, seems only fair and just to me - not to mention long overdue, given that the 'Bringing Them Home' report into the stolen generations was released in April 1997.
Well said Richard. I got teary reading Rudd's words and I am excited about tomorrow's 'apology'. Acknowledging these people's pain is a mature thing to do. Maybe we are growing up as a nation.
Sorry, to read about the death of your friend. Take care, Denys.
tricks, you absolutely nailed it.
the other thing to remember, ant, is that if you "can't feel a sense of guilt for something i was not responsible for", then you've no right to feel proud of anything you weren't directly responsible for. don't you ever feel a sense of belonging to this nation that has done so much good? then it's only fair that you should acknowledge the past wrongs.
this apology is long overdue and if you can't see that then it doesn't really matter. it's been done for you by the new prime minister. just like i had to stand by and see the last prime minister disrespect my wishes, and diminish us all.
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