Official Apology Thread (3 Viewers)

[wuddie]

and wuddie, a retired ex-PM speaking on behalf of the government he led which actually committed the 'crimes' in question would mean so much more than a current PM speaking on behalf of governments he had nothing to do with. If they're all dead or whatever, well maybe that's our problem. Maybe we arrived at this point too late. But the idea of an apology being delivered on behalf of people and governments that the current population largely had nothing to do with is utterly stupid.

when the policy was in full swing during 1940-1960, the two standout pm's at the time were john curtin and sir bob menzies, both of whom are deceased. if we look at the bigger picture, the policy had been in existence since the 1860s, and there had been a dozen or so pm's in power during that time, all of whom, now dead. so ma'm, which one of them would you like to dig from the grave to give an apology speech in place of our current, newly appointed big kev?

But empty gestures and fake sincerity (no matter how much Rudd would like to think he felt sincere) are not the way to do it.

rudd made it clear, even before his appointment as the pm (pb. pm stands for prime minister, mp is member of the parliment, sort it out, cosmic), that an overdue apology to the stolen generations was a priority. be it he bowed from the pressure of the people of the australia, who voted for him, or a sincere apology from himself, he spoke on behalf of all of us. how can this apology, not the speaker, be insincere in any way? the fact that the intended audience strongly supported this move is a show of recognition of the sincerity of this apology. they accepted it with both hands afterward, that's that done and dusted.

 

[^CoSMic DoRiS^^]

when the policy was in full swing during 1940-1960, the two standout pm's at the time were john curtin and sir bob menzies, both of whom are deceased. if we look at the bigger picture, the policy had been in existence since the 1860s, and there had been a dozen or so pm's in power during that time, all of whom, now dead. so ma'm, which one of them would you like to dig from the grave to give an apology speech in place of our current, newly appointed big kev?



rudd made it clear, even before his appointment as the pm (pb. pm stands for prime minister, mp is member of the parliment, sort it out, cosmic), that an overdue apology to the stolen generations was a priority. be it he bowed from the pressure of the people of the australia, who voted for him, or a sincere apology from himself, he spoke on behalf of all of us. how can this apology, not the speaker, be insincere in any way? the fact that the intended audience strongly supported this move is a show of recognition of the sincerity of this apology. they accepted it with both hands afterward, that's that done and dusted.

Can you not read? didn't I just say that maybe we arrived at this point too late for the people who should be apologising to do so?

What can we do about it now, though? It makes no sense to me for our current PM to deliver an apology. It makes far more sense for him to say that we regret the past and acknowledge that it was wrong...but the word 'sorry' from someone with no real right to say it, comes off as too flippant. The right words need to be found, and 'sorry' is not one of them.

As for the sincerity of the apology, I cannot accept "sorry" from someone who could not have had any real idea of the reality of a situation he had nothing to do with. It feels forced. It feels like he's saying what people want to hear, not the right, logical thing, which is - We ACKNOWLEDGE the past wrongdoings of the Australian government. We REGRET that such things happened, and we DO NOT ACCEPT attitudes like that in today's Australia.

We do not say 'sorry'. How can you accept an apology, no matter how sincere it seems, from someone completely unconnected to the events in question?

P.S Don't call me ma'am, buddy. Secondly, I thought you got it wrong with the MP/PM thing. I'm not an idiot who doesn't know the difference, I simply misread.

 

[Dumsum]

yeah i think some people on this forum would do well to look up a definition of racism.

Some people would do well to look up the definition of apology as well!

Rudd couldn't and hence didn't apologise. All he could have done was express the acknowledgement that bad things happened and that they shouldn't have, which is something John Howard and I'm sure many other pollies before him already did.

 

[^CoSMic DoRiS^^]

Some people would do well to look up the definition of apology as well!

Rudd couldn't and hence didn't apologise. All he could have done was express the acknowledgement that bad things happened and that they shouldn't have, which is something John Howard and I'm sure many other pollies before him already did.

he said "we are sorry" several times. what does that tell you?

an apology implies responsibility for the thing being apologised for. that's my main reason for being against it.

 

[Dumsum]

he said "we are sorry" several times. what does that tell you?

an apology implies responsibility for the thing being apologised for. that's my main reason for being against it.

"apology implies responsibility"

Yep, and since there was no responsibility, it wasn't an apology. This is why I was against it. It seems the majority of the Australian public can't understand basic logic.

 

[^CoSMic DoRiS^^]

"apology implies responsibility"

Yep, and since there was no responsibility, it wasn't an apology. This is why I was against it. It seems the majority of the Australian public can't understand basic logic.

good point there.

the fact he said the words at all makes me mad, though. anyone with two brain cells to rub together knows you don't say 'sorry' if you don't have the right to say it. It takes all meaning away from the word.

 

[chicky_pie]

Two-thirds of Aussies back stolen generations apology

MORE than two-thirds of Australians now support the Federal Government's decision to apologise to indigenous people for past wrongs, a new poll shows.

The Galaxy survey, conducted for online activist group GetUp!, found the proportion of people in favour of saying sorry had jumped 13 points to 68 per cent, up from 55 per cent over the weekend of February 1-3.

The poll of 1100 respondents aged over 16 was taken at the weekend, after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered the formal apology to the stolen generations in parliament last Wednesday.

It found the number of people who disagreed with the apology had fallen to just 22 per cent, down from 36 per cent earlier in the month.

"This is an unprecedented turnaround of opinion in such a short time," GetUp! executive director Brett Solomon said.

"It shows that bold leadership on indigenous affairs will be rewarded, and that 'sorry' was indeed a healing moment for all Australians - the process of reconciliation has been breathed new life with this important first step".

The poll proved that saying "sorry" was a concrete step towards reconciliation, Mr Solomon said.

Among those who supported the apology, the percentage who strongly agreed had increased from 31 to 41 per cent in the latest poll, the survey found.
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http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23231416-421,00.html

Makes you go hmmmmmmmm.

 

[Enteebee]

ITT: Uninformed biggotry reveals how stupid bosers really are.

 

[chicky_pie]

Have you guys seen that indigenous treaty Rudd's threatening to ratify? It basically calls for the establishment of an Aboriginal nation within Australia.

Links to Andrew Bolt (conservative I know) Article 1 and Article 2.

[/I]
[/INDENT]

NOooooooooooOOOOooo

 

[chicky_pie]

That's all that really needs to be said about the credibility of this, chicky_pie...

oh yeah i remembered them, they suck

 

[*Minka*]

Re: Rudd to say Sorry on February 12

I am glad the apology was made.

 

[Enteebee]

Re: Rudd to say Sorry on February 12

I am glad the apology was made.

I'm glad you were made.

 

[guruj790]

"apology implies responsibility"

Yep, and since there was no responsibility, it wasn't an apology. This is why I was against it. It seems the majority of the Australian public can't understand basic logic.

mate you can't understand basic logic... wtf u must be some dumb asian from chingsford.... although i am against the apology, an apology does not mean you are taking a responsibilty for something... if your best friend's mum dies what do you say? 'oh i'm sorry' so are you saying you killed her? idiot
lick balls

 

[^CoSMic DoRiS^^]

mate you can't understand basic logic... wtf u must be some dumb asian from chingsford.... although i am against the apology, an apology does not mean you are taking a responsibilty for something... if your best friend's mum dies what do you say? 'oh i'm sorry' so are you saying you killed her? idiot
lick balls

...the word "sorry" has more than one connotation.

1. Sympathy

"I'm sorry your cat died."

2. Responsibility

"I'm sorry for what I did."

you're the idiot.

 

[arae]

In favour of - "We recognise that previous governments of Australia tacitably supervised wrong doings, we are sorry that this occured and this would be in no way the policy of the government or the Opposition. No we won't pay compo"

Not in favour of - "We the Australian people take responsibility for something which the vast majority of us weren't alive to see. If the Opposition don't say sorry then they're evil child killers. We'll say we won't pay compo but we will in the future."

(yes of course that is creating a straw-man argument. But I don't approve of the Rudd apology. We can't change what happened and it would be inappropriate and not prudent to take responsibility)

 

[dieburndie]

I don't think anyone cares about this anymore.

 

[Slidey]

I don't think anyone cares about this anymore.

.

 

[Dumsum]

mate you can't understand basic logic... wtf u must be some dumb asian from chingsford.... although i am against the apology, an apology does not mean you are taking a responsibilty for something... if your best friend's mum dies what do you say? 'oh i'm sorry' so are you saying you killed her? idiot
lick balls

That's not an apology.

 

[davidbarnes]

Why don't we give them a 100k each, send them on a plane to some remote destiantion and be done with it?

 

[michikochan]

I think for many Australians its really hard to understand just how much the Aboriginal people went through...the apology, I mean sure you can look at it really cynically and be all like "yeh all they want is money for their booze" but seriously people, get out of your little suburban bubbles. We're all a part of this thread because we are receiving the privelidge (not right) of education. How many Aborigines get that?? And its NOT because theyre Abos. White kids in remote Australia have it just as hard. The apology is about more than money. Its about pride. Im sure heaps of people on this forum are from different ethnic backgrounds. We are proud of where we come from. I mean hell, Im 8th generation Australian on my mums side but im still proud as hell to say Im japanese. Its human nature.

I saw this play called Seven Stages of Greiving today (contemporary Australia drama students...???) It was excellent. I reccommend anyone with an interest in Aboriginal rights to go see it. It places into perspective so much of what the bloody stage 5 syllabus failed to teach us about our own history.

Annaxx