For a statement from Peter Jensen, click here. Pretty short, concise and difficult to disagree with.
It’s been quite a strange day in Canberra, with Kevin Rudd’s speech receving standing ovations and Brendan Nelson’s response receiving turned backs and jeers. I personally think that today should have seen the formality of this apology occur, and tomorrow (and the following days/months/years) deal with the present occurrences that Dr Nelson (perhaps inappropriately, given the intetion of the day) raised.
In whatever happens from here though, great care must be taken to ensure that the issues at hand are properly investigated and proven, be they claims from members of this generation, incidents that may have occurred very recently, or the like.
Also, such claims of people being forcibly removed from their families are not just isolated to indigenous communities, and I heard several non-indigenous Australians on talkback radio today who emotionally recanted their own experiences. It’s my hope that their plights won’t be lost in the midst of the stories that will undoubtedly be told following this historic day.
It’s a situation where the circumstances of each case can probably be never fully known, but one that should motivate a move towards a unified Australia. Of course, a unified Australia has at heart a lot more than these actions to try and right the wrongs committed to a few.
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One eye on Sydney, the other on the world 