THE GEELONG ADVERTISER
January 29, 2008
PETER MOORE: Sorry, but just get on with it
On New Year's Day I wrote that for 2008 there would be two main issues, one local and one national. The local issue of fluoride has already received a thorough going over by both sides of the discussion, although I'm pretty sure we've not heard the last of it yet. The main national issue I thought, and still do, would be the long-awaited apology to the indigenous population.
Australia Day, which we celebrated at the weekend, quite naturally focused this issue in many people's minds. To be honest, I'm not sure the issue deserves to be at the top of the list of things to be solved this year. Housing prices, stamp duty, the cost of living as it soars unchecked by any government authority and national personal debt all have a far greater claim to priority treatment.
In fact, the ability of the Cats to use last year as a platform for even greater success concerns me more as does the continuing availability of alfresco dining areas so I can smoke when I eat. In the New Year's Day article, I said saying sorry was ``a waste of everyone's time but we might as well get it over and done with''. Continuing with ``It will have the advantage of removing one more excuse from their litany of reasons as to why they can't assimilate, integrate or basically just get on with life. It might even make Aborigines consider that the solution for their problems actually lies with them and not in an apology that 80 per cent of the population has no interest in''.
Harsh but true. We don't need any in-depth discussions about whether to say those apparently dreaded words to some. As my dear old mum used to say ``an apology costs nothing'' but to those who think it should be given, it will have the weight as if writ in stone. To everyone else it will be irrelevant, unfelt, meaningless and of no interest.
With regards to compensation this is where the argument may get serious as many, including myself, will think compensation for what? Will it be for being invaded a couple of hundred years ago or for the highly-debated alleged stolen generation? As my colleague Daryl McLure pointed out in his excellent article a couple of weeks ago, Aboriginal children were not singled out for orphanages, adoption or fostering and many, many more white kids suffered this onerous fate with hardly a mention in latter years.
However, this is hardly a case for compensation unless we also do so to the many more thousands who were not indigenous but similarly treated. With regards to compensation because we invaded and took over the country, this is surely too silly for almost anyone to take seriously. If this were to be the case, not only England but the USA, Russia, France, Spain and Portugal would have to compensate the world for their colonial acquisitions. Too silly for words and completely impractical.
We don't need a referendum or plebiscite or protracted debate as it was part of the Labor election platform and the sooner it is done the better off we'll all be. The best thing to happen would be for Kevin to say `sorry' and get on with the really important issues facing the country over the next few years. If an apology is the only thing stopping Australia's indigenous people from joining the 21st century and the rest of us, it's the least we can do.
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