Some of you may have actually seen Australia in the news the last few days and its not because someone famous died (oh I cried when Fatso the Wombat from A Country Practise passed on) or because of our crocodile wrestling prowess, it is because our country is about to do something it should have a long time ago, say "sorry" to the Aboriginal people.
So whats the deal? Like many other indigenous peoples, the Native Americans or the Sami up north, our Aboriginal guys had a rich and deep culture and then some British dudes rocked up, steam rollered the place and displaced them good. There is one particularly bleak part of this history, around the 1960’s when we had this nasty piece of legislation called the "White Australia Policy" (sounds good already right?) where any Aboriginal childen who were "half cast" or looked a bit whitey, were taken from their families, their land and their culture and placed with white adopted families and told to just "be like whitey". One doesnt have to be Freud to imagine the mess this makes to a person and to the entire culture, this is what we know as The Stolen Generation.
Today, the first day of the new Australian parliment, our new Prime Minister, Keven "07" Rudd, will make a formal apology to the Aboriginal people on behalf of all Australians and the government. Its a big step to formally say the words out loud and it means a lot to both white and black Australians.
The thing you might be asking is.. Why Now? Well it comes back to our former, ass licker Prime Minister, being in power for 12 years who refused to give such a formal apology. This is a man who divided Australia, a proud multicultural nation, along cultural aboundries, turned us back towards being a selfish conservative nation and entered us into an unjust war. John Howard said that he wasnt going to apologise because he felt that the current generation didnt have to take the blame for what they didnt do.
Ive got news for you Howard you, out on your ass mother fucker, me, ben folds and every Australian of this generation knows WE DIDNT DO IT DIPSHIT. WE ARNT SAYING SORRY BECAUSE WE DID IT, WE ARE SAYING SORRY BECAUSE ITS SOME BAD STUFF OUR FOREFATHERS DID WHICH WE WISH HAD NEVER HAPPENED. Im proud of my nation but not too proud to admit we havnt messed some stuff up, which nation hasnt and the best we can do is admit we did some bad stuff and try and make up for it.
My name is Kevin Rudd and while I may look like a finger waving twerp, Ive got atleast a few good ideas on how to make people involved in their country again because the truth is, its not rocket science.
Kevin 07 might not be our saviour but hes doing Australia the service is dearly wants by saying sorry. A leader should bring people together, not divide in attempt to rule in fear like our previous government. Some will still see Aboriginal guys as just petrol sniffers who want to make off with your DVD player. While every man is his own creation, they dont exactly get a leg up in life now do they? If you dont get a good education and get your culture molested by another for generations, your going to have a hard time too.
Oh and while im here and ranting about my home country, I find it offensive that in this week of reflection on the past, there is talk of knighting John Howard and making him "Sir John". John Howard as a socially divisive, devious arse fuck who appealed to our lowest senses in keeping his conservative image of 1970s alive. Little johnny should be made to go sit in a corner and think about what he did.
Compassion is a good thing for people, its not a weakness.
ps. sorry for the profanity, im just… you know… fired up. you think if I felt this way Id just go live there or something.