Why is sorry still the hardest word to say for the Federal Opposition?

In response to expectations Kevin Rudd will make a formal Australian Government apology to the Stolen Generations a key order of business during the first sitting week of the new parliament, Brendan Nelson is blowing the dog whistle he inherited from John Howard.

The Opposition leader has condemned the Prime Minister’s plans to prioritise a national apology, saying the issues of petrol prices and interest rates should take precedence over finally implementing the key recommendation of the ten-year-old Bringing Them Home report on the Stolen Generations. But the election of the Rudd Government signalled a shift in the priorities of Australians – they voted not only for change but for more heart in government. And try as Brendan Nelson might to subdue the national conscience by dragging the focus back to a narrow, soulless fixation on hip-pocket economics, the country has moved on.

The Opposition leader is also arguing that white Australians should be formally consulted prior to an apology being issued. Newsflash Dr Nelson: Australians voted for a Rudd Government knowing Labor had promised to prioritise an apology to the generations of Indigenous Australians forcibly removed from their families in an act the Stolen Generations Inquiry found was genocidal.

While John Howard swore blind he’d never utter a personal or collective apology to the Stolen Generations, Brendan Nelson has a chance to avoid Howard’s legacy of poisoning black-white relations. In the 12 years of the Howard Government, so many bridges to Aboriginal Australia were burned and so many long-suffering people further alienated, that history will inevitably record those years as divisive and counter-productive to the essential task of reconciliation. But instead of being bold and injecting some social values into Australian Conservative politics, the good doctor is determined to follow in the destructive footsteps of yesterday’s man.

He’s towing Howard’s line – that the current generation of Australians has no responsibility for the “largely well intentioned” policies of past governments. But he claims he’s shed tears about the violent history of white-black relations in Australia and has spoken of his deep respect for and empathy with Aboriginal Australians. Incongruous.

In an attempt to justify his stance, Nelson argues that the Rudd government should focus on the very high mortality and sexual abuse rates among Aboriginal Australians – those he calls the "real issues" - rather than an apology to the Indigenous community. But he fails to acknowledge that these problems are the product of the generational effects of the racist policies of past governments and they can’t ever be adequately addressed without healing the deeper wounds that sustain them. An apology to the Stolen Generations is both a moral necessity and a fundamental stepping stone to reconciliation which is, in turn, essential to the transformation of the lives of Indigenous Australians.

The reconciliation process - which looked so inspired and promising under Paul Keating’s leadership in the early 90’s - stagnated so badly in the Howard Years that Howard’s own hand-picked National Indigenous Council considered resigning in the lead up to the Federal Election in protest at the hopelessness of the situation. Therefore it is imperative Kevin Rudd act decisively and forcefully to salvage the process and an official apology to Indigenous Australians is the place he knows he must start.

In any relationship breakdown there is one word that’s crucial to mending wounds and rebuilding bridges – the very essence of reconciliation. That word is sorry and as the song says it is often the hardest word to say, but it is also the straightest path to genuine forgiveness - the healing power of relationship reconstruction. It's a word Aboriginal Australians and supporters of the reconciliation movement want to hear - in recognition of over two centuries of massacre, abuse, disenfranchisement, discrimination and ongoing disadvantage. It's a word that's already been uttered by many in public life and it is one which will soon finally be cemented by the Australian Parliament.

Despite the claims of Howardesque conservatives and revisionist historians, an official apology to the Stolen generations is not about misplaced guilt. Aboriginal Australia doesn’t want white guilt (although as a friend suggested to me recently, guilt may be the basis of social caring). But Indigenous Australians do want the past acknowledged and they need the healing that could flow from the utterance of that small word we all insist our children learn in their first grasp of language.

Let’s hope Brendan Nelson finds it in his heart to resist the cheap political points that may flow from moving against an apology in the parliament. Having the courage to do what’s right instead of just what is easy or popular is a true measure of leadership. And in Nelson's case there's an Opposition leader-in-waiting (Malcom Turnbull) who has endorsed an official apology to the Stolen Generations.

Let’s hope Kevin Rudd is prepared to drive the reconciliation process forward, beyond the powerful symbolism of an apology.

Update: Kevin Rudd has confirmed the Australian Government will apologise to the Stolen Generations on February 13th. The Ngunnawal people of Canberra will hold a special ceremony marking the opening of the first parliament of the Rudd Government the previous day.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin is pleading for bi-partisan backing of the apology but the Federal Opposition leadership is digging in its divisive heels, resisting calls for a conscience vote on the apology and opposing the Government's strategy at every turn. Shadow Indigenous Affairs spokesman Tony Abbott claims an apology is unnecessary because some things were 'done right'. I presume he also thinks Priests who sexually abuse their young parishioners shouldn't have to apologise either because they still presided over Holy Communion with dilligence.

Opposition leader-in-waiting, Malcolm Turnbull is the lone voice of reason among senior Liberals, calling for the Coalition to back the apology or risk being relegated to irrelevancy. Turnbull's stance has the strong backing of former Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser who campaigned strongly against Howard government racism.

On a more uplifting note, members of the Stolen Generations around the country have poured out their hearts in response to news of the apology many thought they'd never live to hear. The moving stories have made tears of grief and relief well up in my eyes. And in an act of generosity that gives me hope for the reconciliation process, ABC listeners have come to the aid of a woman who told her story of forced removal to AM and expressed a desire to hear the apology for herself. Sixty eight year old Zita Wallace told AM she couldn't afford the cost of the trip from Alice Springs to Canberra. But within minutes of her story being aired, five listeners had rung the ABC switch offering to fund Ms Wallace's journey. "I think they're just being true-spirited Aussies, and coming out in them their generosity to help another human being, and I feel very honoured that they've selected me and my group to assist."She told PM She is now looking forward to hearing those letters S-O-R-R-Y in person.

Meanwhile, you can read the Stolen Generations' Alliance recommendations on the national apology in this report presented to the government last week..    [read more]

The good news is: Australia Day festivities in Camden – recent hotspot of Islamophobia – transpired without need for the police riot squad on standby to intervene.

The bad news is: the day has clearly been hijacked by yobbos and boofheads.

It’s long been known as Invasion Day by Aboriginal Australians while for others it was traditionally little more than a day for reflection on the elusive definition of Australian identity while searing snags on a barbie. If there was one unifying theme, it was multiculturalism - a celebration of our diversity. But Australia Day is now wrapped in patriotism of a brand as kitsch and aggressive as the idiots, dressed in clothing fashioned from the flag, roaming the streets yelling ‘Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi!”. What the Hell does that stupid catchcry mean anyway? It makes me cringe with embarrassment to be Australian.

I’ve long despaired about the impact of Howard’s decade of glorification and sanitisation of ugly chapters of Australian history – Gallipoli and the genocide of Aborigines to name a couple. As a University lecturer, I’ve witnessed the rise of a new brand of US-style patriotism among young people – one which defines itself in isolation from the Other; one which celebrates homogeneity above diversity. But I wasn’t prepared for the scenes I witnessed on the streets of Wollongong, my home town, on Saturday night.

Australia Day is my father’s birthday – ironic considering he was labelled a wog by his schoolmates because of his Italian heritage. So, I headed to The ‘Gong to help him celebrate. I knew it was going to be an interesting night towards the end of the journey from Canberra. The utes adorned with Australian flags began to appear on the outskirts of Camden. By the time we reached the bottom of the Illawarra escarpment, we’d lost count of the number of vehicles we’d seen with enormous flags stuck to car bonnets, roofs and boots; smaller ones flying from makeshift flagpoles attached to aerials and those being waved out windows by ‘flag enthusiasts’.

When we arrived at the car-park of the upmarket beachside restaurant, the hordes were thronging their way to the beachfront. Some were wearing flags as skirts and capes; others added hats made from bits of flag, nationalistic singlets carrying that bloody catchcry and flag tattoos. This is Wollongong – birthplace of Australian multiculturalism where nearly 20% of the population speaks a language other than English at home and many post WW11 immigrants spent their first months in the country. I baulked at the size and youthfulness of the crowds expressing a sort of nationalistic fervour that wouldn’t have been out of place at a Nuremburg rally.

But my disquiet gave way to stunned silence when I entered the restaurant. The waitresses were dressed in nationalistic costume. One wore a flag like a towel; another had fashioned one into a mini-skirt. Most sported t-shirts bearing their allegiance to Aussie crassness. As the Greek-accented head waiter took our order, I noticed his bald head was tattooed with mini-flags and the Southern Cross. Habibi, the African wine-waiter, wore a flag as a cape. Mini Australian flags were strung from the ceiling around the periphery of the room like bunting. It was like walking onto the set of Kath and Kim – I expected Kel to pop out any moment to spruik his roo and tomato sauce snags. In fact, we did eat kangaroo sausages and emu prosciutto ('Straya Day' specials) but thankfully the cuisine was far superior to the décor and atmosphere.

When we left the restaurant to view the beach fireworks the crowds had swollen and beer-swilling yobs were yelling “Aussie, Aussie…etc” at the tops of their hoarse voices. It was a very unappealing scene. From the balconies of million-dollar beachfront apartments more flags flew and the air was thick with testosterone. This was Aussie ‘blokiness’ at its most vile – in bed with nationalism.

I felt unexpectedly threatened amongst the mob being sans-flag and deflecting demands to respond to “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie” with “oi, oi, oi” like Pavlov’s dog. I can only begin to imagine how the woman in the hijab sitting on the park bench nearby felt.

The mob, allegedly so proud of their country, trashed the Wollongong beachfront during their patriotic rampage. It took 15 council workers on an 'emu-parade' and a street-sweeper truck to clean up their mess on Sunday morning.

I certainly wasn’t a proud Aussie on Saturday night. Some will say that makes me ‘un-Australian’, to coin one of Howard’s favourite put downs applied to dissenting voices. There was a time when being anti-establishment was considered a trait of the typical Australian character. These days it seems you’re not authentic unless you’re running with the mob. If that’s the case, I’m proud to be un-Australian.

Aside: Moderately successful country crooner Lee Kernaghan is Australian of the Year. Need I say more?    [read more]