He’s still not willing to offer an apology but Australia’s Prime Minister has finally conceded that our indigenous people should be recognised in our constitution.
John Howard delivered a speech this evening taking extra care to avoid the word ‘sorry’. Mr Howard is well known for speaking without notes but tonight’s statement was carefully scripted.
I was pleased to hear him admit that he had made mistakes in the reconciliation process and that he had changed his attitude on certain indigenous issues.
This article at News.com.au tells us that if the Coalition is re-elected we’ll have a referendum within 18 months to decide if the majority of Aussies want to officially show our original Australians some of the respect they deserve.
PRIME Minister John Howard has announced plans to hold a referendum on whether indigenous Australians should be recognised within the preamble to the Constitution.
“If I am re-elected, I will put to the Australian people within 18 months a referendum to formally recognise indigenous Australians within our Constitution,” he said tonight.
Mr Howard said there was a “deep yearning in our national psyche” to find a positive and permanent solution to the issue of reconciliation.
While many are sure to see today’s announcement as a cynical election stunt, at least it’s a move in the right direction. I would hope to see such a referendum pass with a massive majority.
It is Labor Party policy to offer our indigenous people a full apology for the way they’ve been treated since Australia’s white settlers arrived over 200 years ago. While John Howard has moved forward in his attitudes, an apology is unlikely if he retains power at this year’s Federal Election.
“I have never felt comfortable with the dominant paradigm for indigenous policy, one based on the shame and guilt of non-indigenous Australians (and) a repudiation of the Australia I grew up in,” he said.
“In the end I could not accept that reconciliation required a condemnation of the Australian heritage I had loved and owned.”
Mr Howard said reconciliation based on a symbolic apology “would only reinforce a culture of victimhood and take us backwards”.
He said a new definition of reconciliation that recognised indigenous heritage but also emphasised integration, rather than separation, was needed.
Whichever way the upcoming election goes I hope we can move towards a fairer Australia for all.
Posted by Rodney Olsen
Technorati Tags: Indigenous Australians – John Howard – Australia
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