At 12:24 AM 27/8/99, tim dunlop wrote:
(extract from PM's motion)
>(d) recognises the importance of understanding the shared history of
>indigenous and non-indigenous Australians .....;
"Shared history" is an interesting phrase. Presumably it is meant to convey
some sort of commonality. Some others , of course, who come to mind as
having had a "shared history" similar to that of black and white
Australians in the last couple of centuries include - Slaves and slave
owners, the Jewish people and Adolf Hitler, Tutsis and Hutus, Black and
White South Africans, Hisoshima residents and the pilot of the plane that
dropped the bomb, Siberian gulag inamtes and guards, AIDs victims and the
relevant retrovirus etc etc.
My gut feeling about the Howard statement is that the response should be to
say "OK, that's a start. But if you are genuine about the matter there are
various consequences. If you want to fulfil clause (g) concerning moving
forward together, what will you do to address the substantive issues? How
will you place pressure on the state governments (particularly those of
NSW and Victoria), or use Commonwealth powers, to bring about land justice
for Indigenous people ? When will you call off the Commonwealth's legal
hounds in the stolen generation cases, or better still, have them support ,
rather than oppose, the claims of the individuals concerned? When will you
take action to rectify the immense problems which are now flowing through
to Indigenous groups as a result of the 1998 amendments to the Native Title
Act? etc etc etc. If you do not take action on these matters , then we
will remind you again and again and again of your words and point out that
they are not being matched by your deeds."
Cheers
Rod
Rod Hagen
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Hurstbridge, Victoria, Australia
WWW http://www.netspace.net.au/~rodhagen
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