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G4EBT > STOLEN 22.02.08 19:29l 155 Lines 5744 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 598034G4EBT
Read: GUEST
Subj: Re: Stolen kids; Bob to apologise?
Path: DB0FHN<DB0MRW<OK0PKL<OK0PPL<DB0RES<ON0BEL<GB7FCR
Sent: 080222/1725Z @:GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU #:62601 [Blackpool] FBB-7.03a $:598034G4
From: G4EBT@GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU
To : STOLEN@WW
Beligerant Bob, VK6BE, bumptiously blurted:-
> Don't you dare tell us about the sins of the white population David.
Children - temper, temper...
Yet again:
I don't tell you anything - everything I've quoted has been from eminent
Australians.
I don't care if you want to disagree with every eminent body of opinion in
Australia including the Anglican Church. You are entitled to your opinion
as I am to mine.
I'm happy to be identified with mainstream thinking on this.
>In some places the Government has had to interfere because of the
>drunkenness and child abuse, abuse not by the white population...
I think "intervene" to uphold the law might be a better word than
"interfere". You are right of course, but it's too little, too late.
Things should not have got into such a state by neglecting these
issues in the first place.
I've you bothered to read my bulls properly you'd see that I've mentioned
several times the issue of substance abuse, alcoholism, domestic violence
and child abuse.
> We had nothing to do with the stolen generation,
Wrong.
The policy didn't stop until 1970 - you were middle-aged by then.
But if by "we" you mean individual Australian citizens, then I'm sure you
are right. I doubt many citizens knew or particularly cared about this,
and most - as you still do, will have thought it was all done for their
own good.
That's why the BTH Report of 1997 came as a shock to many people.
It was a Labor government who brought the policy about and it's fitting
that a Labor government should apologise for it. The apology is on behalf
of the government - NOT the Australian people.
>and we are pouring huge resources into the indigenous
>population to make up for the wrongs of the distant past.
38 years ago isn't the distant past. The youngest of those
separated from their parents and siblings are not yet 40.
As to "huge resources", there's considerable under funding for housing,
health and education. much of the money is misdirected into passive
welfare benefits to keep people in idleness, as happens in the UK.
Immigrants flood in from Eastern Europe to the UK to work for a pittance
doing unpleasant work that millions of Brits sat on their backsides could,
and should, be doing.
Instead of the benefit system being a safety net to catch people when
they fall, it becomes a spiders' web in which they become entangled
for a lifetime of dependency of the fruits of the labours of others.
The work ethic is then lost.
I recently mentioned Noel Pearson, (born 1965 in Cooktown) - an
influential Indigenous Oz lawyer, land rights activist and Director of the
Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership - an organisation promoting
the economic and social development of Cape York.
He first came to my attention in excellent article in Time Magazine.
Pearson grew up at Hope Vale, a Lutheran Mission in the Cape York
Peninsula, which was clearly the making of him.
After attending primary school in Hope Vale, Pearson became a boarder at
St Peters Lutheran College in Brisbane, and completed a history and a law
degree at the University of Sydney.
His history thesis focused on the Hope Vale Lutheran Mission, and
was published by the History Department in "Maps Dreams History."
A better start in life than many of us, I dare say, thanks to the Mission.
Here's what he has to say about the apology. I think it's frank
and honest. If Bob reads it, I hope he'll agree for a change.
Quote:
The truth is the removal of Aboriginal children and the breaking up of
Aboriginal families is a history of complexity and great variety. People
were stolen, people were rescued; people were brought in chains, people
were brought by their parents.
Mixed-blood children were in danger from their tribal stepfathers, while
others were loved and treated as their own; people were in danger from
whites, and people were protected by whites.
The motivations and actions of those whites involved in this history --
governments and missions -- ranged from cruel to caring, malign to loving,
well-intentioned to evil.
One of my misgivings about the apology has been my belief that nothing
good will come from viewing ourselves, and making our case on the basis of
our status, as victims.
We have been - and the people who lost their families certainly were -
victimised in history, but we must stop the politics of victimhood. We
lose power when we adopt this psychology. Whatever moral power we might
gain over white Australia from presenting ourselves as victims, we lose
in ourselves.
My worry is this apology will sanction a view of history that cements a
detrimental psychology of victimhood, rather than a stronger one of
defiance, survival and agency.
End quote.
He's strongly argued that Indigenous policy needs to change direction,
notably in relation to welfare, substance abuse, child protection, and
economic development.
Pearson criticises approaches which - while claiming to be "progressive,"
in fact keep Indigenous people dependent on welfare and out of the "real
economy."
He outlined this position in 2000 in his speech, "The light on the Hill".
You should read the full text - far too long to print here, even by my
standards, but you may be agreeably surprised at what he has to say.
Rudd and Co would do well to listen to his advice.
I'll put out a clip in another bull.
You decide whether it's worth downloading the full text.
I did - it makes interesting reading.
Probably the most insightful chap I've read in a very long time.
Best wishes
David, G4EBT @ GB7FCR
Cottingham, East Yorkshire.
Message timed: 16:37 on 2008-Feb-22
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