Post by ppyenews on May 30, 2007 1:50:17 GMT -5
Welcome to Talkback Topic – I’m Phillip Pye.
If you didn’t already know, it was ‘Sorry Day’ last week. Sorry about what? Some may ask, and that is a question that is still being asked by a handful of Anglo Saxon Australians. Just to fill you in on a few facts about what ‘Sorry Day’ is all about, the first National Sorry Day which was held on 26 May 1998 - one year after the tabling of the ‘Bringing them Home’ report which resulted from an inquiry into the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families. One of the recommendations of the report was that a National ‘Sorry Day’ should be declared to offer the community the opportunity to be involved in activities to acknowledge the impact of the policies of forcible removal on Australia's indigenous populations.
In 1998, a huge range of community activities took place across Australia on Sorry Day. Books, in which people could record their personal feelings, were presented to representatives of the indigenous communities. Hundreds of thousands of signatures were received. People could also register an apology electronically, and 24,763 did just that. On Sunday 28th May 2000 more than 250,000 people participated in the ‘Corroboree 2000 Bridge Walk’ across Sydney Harbour Bridge. This walk was in support of Indigenous Australians and was organised by the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, now known as Reconciliation Australia, a Federal Government initiative to promote greater understanding between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. The event highlighted the issue of a lack of an apology by the Commonwealth Government to the Stolen Generations.
Back in 2005, the National Sorry Day Committee renamed Sorry Day as a National Day of Healing for all Australians. The Day focuses on the healing needed throughout Australian society hopefully to achieve reconciliation. It is now an annual event, with marches, speeches and presentations held throughout the country. At this years celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the 1967 referendum on Aboriginal rights, Prime Minister John Howard was heckled by an audience member accusing Mr Howard of genocide. Earlier Mr Howard told the gathering that too many of the hopes expressed by those who campaigned for the referendum had not been realised. He said - "the right of an Aboriginal Australian to live on remote communal land and to speak an Indigenous language is no right at all if it is accompanied by grinding poverty, overcrowding, poor health, community violence and isolation from mainstream Australian society.
Well Mr Howard you seem to be one of only what is a handful of Australians who still refuse to recognise that a Government apology is little to compensate these people for the destruction of their race. How else will we ever get forgiveness?
I’m Phillip Pye.
If you didn’t already know, it was ‘Sorry Day’ last week. Sorry about what? Some may ask, and that is a question that is still being asked by a handful of Anglo Saxon Australians. Just to fill you in on a few facts about what ‘Sorry Day’ is all about, the first National Sorry Day which was held on 26 May 1998 - one year after the tabling of the ‘Bringing them Home’ report which resulted from an inquiry into the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families. One of the recommendations of the report was that a National ‘Sorry Day’ should be declared to offer the community the opportunity to be involved in activities to acknowledge the impact of the policies of forcible removal on Australia's indigenous populations.
In 1998, a huge range of community activities took place across Australia on Sorry Day. Books, in which people could record their personal feelings, were presented to representatives of the indigenous communities. Hundreds of thousands of signatures were received. People could also register an apology electronically, and 24,763 did just that. On Sunday 28th May 2000 more than 250,000 people participated in the ‘Corroboree 2000 Bridge Walk’ across Sydney Harbour Bridge. This walk was in support of Indigenous Australians and was organised by the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, now known as Reconciliation Australia, a Federal Government initiative to promote greater understanding between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. The event highlighted the issue of a lack of an apology by the Commonwealth Government to the Stolen Generations.
Back in 2005, the National Sorry Day Committee renamed Sorry Day as a National Day of Healing for all Australians. The Day focuses on the healing needed throughout Australian society hopefully to achieve reconciliation. It is now an annual event, with marches, speeches and presentations held throughout the country. At this years celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the 1967 referendum on Aboriginal rights, Prime Minister John Howard was heckled by an audience member accusing Mr Howard of genocide. Earlier Mr Howard told the gathering that too many of the hopes expressed by those who campaigned for the referendum had not been realised. He said - "the right of an Aboriginal Australian to live on remote communal land and to speak an Indigenous language is no right at all if it is accompanied by grinding poverty, overcrowding, poor health, community violence and isolation from mainstream Australian society.
Well Mr Howard you seem to be one of only what is a handful of Australians who still refuse to recognise that a Government apology is little to compensate these people for the destruction of their race. How else will we ever get forgiveness?
I’m Phillip Pye.