The Sydney Morning Herald
Letters: Playing semantics with organised brutality
Date: 22/05/2000
Former Aboriginal affairs minister Mr Peter Howson's persistent and
vitriolic attacks on the Bringing them Home report and one of its
authors, Sir Ronald Wilson, is unacceptable.
Mr Howson has mounted a campaign against the report into the forced
removal of indigenous children from their families - denigrating
Sir Ronald, questioning the validity of the report and falsely claiming
former administrators were blocked from giving evidence. He
should be aware that the inquiry was advertised widely and that no-one
was prevented from giving evidence.
In fact, one former senior public servant from Queensland, believed to
have crucial evidence about the policies of removing children, had
to be requested formally to attend because he was reluctant to front the
inquiry.
On another occasion, Sir Ronald drove to the house of a former
administrator from Carnarvon, now living outside Melbourne, to take
evidence on a small tape recorder in the man's lounge room. The witness
was too frail to come to a hearing.
Furthermore, it is ludicrous for Mr Howson to claim welfare officers
were convicted without trial. The inquiry was not, and never
purported to be, a "trial".
No individual welfare officer was singled out but, more importantly, the
governments which were in fact the employers of these welfare
and other officers, all gave evidence to the inquiry of their policies
and practices of the time.
The report acknowledges that some children were voluntarily surrendered
to the welfare system by their parents, but the overwhelming
amount of evidence suggests the removals in many circumstances were
forced.
The inquiry was conducted on behalf of the Human Rights and Equal
Opportunity Commission and the commission stands by the report
and its findings.
The relationship between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians has
moved on considerably since the years when Mr Howson was
Aboriginal affairs minister. Both sides of politics accept that the
forced removal of indigenous Australians is a dark stain on our history.
It is regrettable that Mr Howson cannot accept this also, and move on in
a spirit of acknowledgment and reconciliation.
Professor Alice Tay, President, HREOC, Chris Sidoti, Human Rights
Commissioner, Dr Bill Jonas, Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Susan Halliday, Sex
Discrimination Commissioner, Sydney.
Allan Passmore (Letters, May 17) falsely accused Robert Manne (Herald,
May 15) of equating the Holocaust with Australia's treatment
of Aborigines.
Even so, to deprive Aborigines of land and livelihood was an
anti-decimate act (where not 10 per cent died, but only 10 per cent
survived), and is surely genocide.
If white Zimbabwean farmers were forced from their homes and
livelihoods, denied refuge, employment, or safe haven, and only 10 per
cent survived, would Mr Passmore blame "misguided state policies which
were intended to be benevolent"?
Like Sir Ronald Wilson, Robert Manne is not one of Paddy McGuiness's
left-wing do-gooding elitists.
They prove that reconciliation need not be politicised, and offend some
by injecting facts into the sloganeering that currently passes for
debate.
Dr L.R.Devine, Mallabula.
Mr Passmore is fed up. So am I. However, I'm fed up with opinionated
correspondents such as Mr Passmore who refuse to
acknowledge (or read) documented fact.
Genocide is genocide just as a spade is a spade.
The actions of Lieutenant Governor Arthur in Tasmania with his 2,000
troops in the early 1830s. The history of punitive expeditions
from Governor Phillip in 1790 to the last official expedition lead by
Constable Murray in 1928, known as the Coniston Massacre. The
process of forced assimilation with the intent of extinguishing the
various indigenous cultures (the recent history of the stolen
generations).
These and many other official acts were not misguided state policies
intended to be benevolent. These official acts were acts of genocide,
as defined by the UN and any dictionary you care to consult.
A sincere apology to the indigenous people of Australia (including the
"s" word) is not a large price to pay for this great land of ours.
Jason Leske, Marrickville.
Rob Jackson is wrong to claim an apology to indigenous Australians is an
apology for being white (Letters, May 17).
It is true that neither he nor his direct ancestors committed the
atrocities. But he misses the crucial distinction between guilt and
shame.
Likewise I feel no personal guilt for what was done to indigenous
Australians. But I do belong to the white tribe and this greatly affects
my personal identity and self-esteem.
I feel entitled to take pride in the achievement of past generations of
my tribe. But I also have to acknowledge that some members of my
tribe behaved destructively toward indigenous Australians. Basic
standards of decency were violated, and I belong to the tribe that did
that. I feel no guilt but I do feel shame.
An apology recognises the dignity of those who were injured. It also
heals the shame of those who belong to the tribe of the perpetrators.
An inability to apologise only deepens our shame. Then to deal with this
we must become arrogant and go on the attack.
Just look around.
Dr Craig Powell, Boronia Park.
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