This woman typifies the general attitude of Educated Indiginous people who but for us would still be living in humpys in the dirt



She is on the wrong tram for sure and has no business to dable in politics ..........For us to say sorry is rediculous ...........The Australian people in charge at the time made a valued judgement to give many of her people a decent chance at life and now they want more ...........Many of them were educated and given a chance also at civilisation but they are not at all happy about it



Why.......... they can not even care for their own kind and many settlements are still impoverished whilst she and her peers do very well economically and socialy thank you very much.............

Clay, I think you have a poor grasp of Aboriginal customs and values. In a typical aboriginal tribal environment, there was virtually no crime, adultery was very rare as were rape and other "social" crimes. The tribal elders administered tribal law and infractions were quickly and harshly dealt with. Remember the old expression "pointing the bone"?.....if someone comitted a capital offence, the elders would "point the bone" at him/her and THEY WOULD DIE - such was the power of their cultural beliefs.

What we have given Aboriginies is disease, greed, crime and the total breakdown of their tribal society. They have no written language and integration with whites has given their younger generations a new (not better) set of values resulting in many of the old tales of the "Dreamtime" being forgotten and lost forever.

Certainly there are some well educated aboriginies who try to rort the system for personal gain, but show me a culture that does not have such individuals. Likewise, there are those that are trying to better themselves and their peers by trying to integrate the less fortunate into "modern" society.

I agree with Clay. The so called "stolen" children were removed from neglect and in some cases starvation.

I have read a number of articles written by aboriginal people who refute the accusations of being stolen, and are so grateful to have been placed with families who gave them an education and a wonderful start in life.

Unfortunately I have not kept the articles.

"The Little Children are Sacred" report

brought to public notice some of the most horrendous crimes against children in some Aboriginal communities.

The perpetrators must take responsibility. The white man is not responsible for those crimes.

Koko, with the greatest respect to yourself and clay, you are looking at the situation without considering the Aboriginal culture. Look at the rest of the world today.....many Asian, African and other third world countries have cultures, customs and standards of both living and hygiene that we could not tolerate. Would you advocate removing their children to give them a better life?.

I have no doubt that the Australian government of the day believed that they were doing the right thing by the children, but in giving them a supposedly better life, they stole the childrens birthright and cultural heritage and denied them any future contact with their families. Many of the problems involving aborigines today stem from a sense of isolation and loss of identity.

I dont pretend to have the solution, but I know enough to appreciate that serious errors were made by both sides and it is just not reasonable to blame either the Aboriginies or the Government. I believe that the thrust of Kevin Rudd's apology was intended to acknowledge errors of judgement and to move forward to find solutions to the myriad problems facing aboriginies in todays world. Recrimination and apportioning of blame would seem to be counter productive if we are serious about fixing things.

I have always viewed "The Stolen Generation" with a lot of doubt. As kfchugo stated they have no written language and oral history passed through generations is bound to get distorted and it's possible to make any outlandish statement without being proved right or wrong. Andrew Bolt of the Melbourne Herald/Sun has challenged "Stolen Generation" advocates to name a dozen verified cases of aboriginal children being stolen and is still waitng for names.

Recrimination and apportioning of blame would seem to be counter productive if we are serious about fixing things.



I am no too sure what you mean here...........The Aboriginal Eders want to blame the Australian public for trying to give many of their kind a decent Education and a fresh way of life and the majority of them it seems want SORRY to be on an everlasting agenda ...........Its ALL nonsense in my view and many others think the same way



Now lets get back to the subject in hand



According to a report in Tuesday’s Melbourne Herald/Sun leading Aboriginal Lowitja O’Donoghue wants the date of Australia Day changed from the traditional date of January 26 to February 13, the date of K Rudd’ s apology. Has anyone got an opinion on this. My opinion is that, although everybody has a right to be proud of their heritage, we should all be Australian first and foremost. Any suggestion that a minority group should try and force their prejudices on the majority is utterly repugnant to me. The irony is that O’Donoghue basked in the glory of being named “Australian of the Year” some years ago and used this years launch of “Australian of the Year” to agitate for the change.





I say NO absolutely No and if these people want to act in an anti Australian way then let them go somewhere else and complain ...............Thanks for the original post keith ..............clay

What we have given Aborigines is disease, greed, crime and the total breakdown of their tribal society.





Yes and we have been paying for it since. What of those 'removed' children who instead of dying in the dirt, have gone on to make a successful life for themselves?



With all the problems facing the aboriginals, IS this all that woman can come up with to better her lot? She is not only on the wrong tram but I think she has completely missed it.

kfchugo, you don't seem to have too many supporters on this subject.



I just want you to know that I agree with [b]everything[/b] that you said.



In my opinion, "A Secret Country" by John Pilger should be mandatory reading for every high school student.

It would give a much greater understanding of the actual happenings to both black and white people in earlier Australia.



I am aware that many posters will probably disagree but I don't mind.

Just working on the basis that I'm entitled to air my opinion too.

Every one has the right to air their opinion Goldie, (although to be honest sometimes even the most innocent remarks in posts are liable to bring down the wrath of some people). My original post re Professer O'Donoghue's push to change the date of Australia Day was to point out that it does nothing to bring aboriginal people closer to the rest of us and seems to a deliberate attempt to be even more divisive. Have you an opinion on this?

Must admit that I haven't read John Pilger's book but I have heard that he is a man of strong personal opinions and "anti" lots of government actions.

We celebrate Australia day on Jan 26 commemorating the landing of Capt. Arthur Phillip at Botany Bay. Some might also say that in doing so, we are celebrating the day that europeans invaded Australia and stole the country from its traditional owners. The common argument to justify this is that the indigenous population were primitives and not making use of the land. I wonder how we would feel if say, Indonesia chose to occupy the Great Sandy desert as we are not making proper use of it?

Anyway, january 26th has no deep or religeous meaning to us......why not celebrate Australia day on the day that Capt Cook discovered our country......or the date of Federation? I see no dramatic or compelling reason to stick with Jan 26th and if changing the date to correspond with Kevin Rudds apology will help to heal the rift between white and aboriginal Australians, why not make the change? Lets have some SERIOUS debate on this and not just whining that "It has always been Jan 26th, so why should we change"?

Who is doing the whining kfchugo. Explain how changing Australia Day to the date of KRudds apology will heal any rifts. Some people think the apology was a sell out, and this change would widen the rift.

I think Australia Day should stay as it is.

It marks the beginning of life in Australia as we know it.

In The past there were terrible things done to both Aboriginals and whites.

It is time to put all that behind us and move forward.

An Australian is an Australian!

All Australians should be treated the same, with the same right and resposibilities.

I say we should keep Aussie day the way it is--



By the way I thought Rudd's apology--was wonderful AND well over due--