19 posts tagged “australian”
What a great Aussie gentleman Bud was.
I think I first saw him on TV when I was 10 years of age, when he was in "Bellbird"
Bud you will be missed.
Veteran Australian actor Charles 'Bud' Tingwell has died aged 86.
His agent Joanne Baker confirmed he died this morning in a Melbourne hospital.
"He had been suffering from prostate cancer," Ms Baker said.
It is understood Tingwell had been battling the disease for the last couple of years.
The Sydney-born star first appeared on the silver screen in 1946 and is best known for his roles in classic Australian films Breaker Morant, The Castle and TV cop show Homicide.
He became a radio actor while still at school, before joining the Royal Australian Air Force in 1941 and serving as a reconnaissance pilot flying Spitfires and Mosquitoes over Nazi-occupied north Africa and southern Europe.
After leaving the service, he entered the film industry and landed his first speaking role in 1945 in the film Smithy, which was about aviator Charles Kingsford Smith.
In 1952, he was invited to Hollywood to work alongside Richard Burton on The Desert Rats.
He went on to have roles in a number of Australian films and TV shows, including All The Rivers Run, Puberty Blues, The Flying Doctors, All Saints and Neighbours.
Most recently, Tingwell had small roles in The Craic, The Dish and the ABC series Changi and Bed Of Roses.
He was awarded the AM (Member of the Order of Australia) in 1999 for his services to the performing arts as an actor, director, producer, and to the community.
He is survived by his son Christopher and daughter Virginia - who is an actress.
Tingwell's wife Audrey died in 1996.
'Australian legend'
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has paid tribute to Tingwell as an "Australian legend".
"Bud Tingwell is in every sense an Australian legend," Mr Rudd said.
"From old generations knowing him through Homicide and newer generations knowing him as the battlers' friend from The Castle. He is so much a part of the Australian character as it's been shaped and as it will evolve in the future.
"A great Australian and all Australians are sad to see his passing."
'A delight'
Tom Gleisner from Working Dog Productions, who collaborated with Tingwell on a number of projects, says the actor was a "delight" to work with.
"He would willingly throw himself into anything - from Neighbours to a small and often uncredited role in a film," Gleisner told Jon Faine on ABC Radio 774.
Gleisner said Tingwell was a master of learning his lines and was happy to "jump into" projects, which helped give him his longevity in the industry.
"He had an interesting philosophy. Some actors are very selective about what they do or are cautious about their image, but Bud had the other end of the spectrum. He virtually never said no to anything," he said.
Rob Sitch, who directed Tingwell in films The Castle and The Dish, says the actor's life was defined by a willingness to try new things.
"He said that one of the secrets to life was saying 'yes', because you end up meeting people, you have new experiences - you know, luck seems to follow you," Sitch said.
"I don't know that anyone's kind of lived a life in entertainment that's proved that point better."
Margaret Pomeranz from ABC 1's At The Movies says Tingwell was an exceptional talent.
"To maintain your craft for that length of time and to put yourself out there and be brave in the films that you take on, I mean it's a pretty wonderful life actually," she said.
"He's given us a lot."
Triple J film critic Marc Fennell says Tingwell's contributions to the local entertainment industry ran deep.
"The thing with Bud Tingwell is that everyone knows the big roles that he's done in The Dish and The Castle, but what a lot of people don't know is that he would do tons of Australian short films and student films," Fennell said.
'He foxed me'
Sitch says Tingwell's death has surprised him.
"Because I visited him last week in hospital and he completely foxed me. We were talking about work and what he was going to do - he was in the middle of a production at the time and he said, 'It's such a bother, I just can't wait to get all these tubes off me'," Sitch recalled.
"I walked away thinking, 'Oh we've got Bud back'.
"It's incredible to think that someone that was so ill was being so positive and welcoming."
Fellow actor Jack Thompson, whose parents were friends with Tingwell, says he will be greatly missed.
"It's like a great tree has been felled in the landscape of our culture and, in particular, in the landscape of our film world," he told Sky News.
I agree that the matter of the date our national day of celebration should be discussed and possibly changed. For Australians not to even consider discussing this issue indicates that we still have a long way to go before we can reconcile our nation. What is the harm with having a discussion and listening to the voices of our indigenous Australians.
Professor Dodson was Australia’s first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity.
Fifty eight year
old Dodson is a Yawuru man from the Broome area of Western Australia who now
lives and works in Canberra. He is widely recognised as a proud,
courageous and humble Aboriginal leader who has spent his adult life trying to
explain to people why and how they can help his people. He has pursued justice
and reconciliation through a process of education, awareness and inclusive
dialogue with all Australians.
While his official roles tell only a small part of the story of what he does, Dodson has served in a variety of challenging and highly sensitive roles at community level, with governments, the United Nations and in academia. He has also actively mentored, nurtured and promoted young Aboriginal leaders and encouraged respect between people of all cultures.
He has described himself as a ‘persistent bugger’ and is uncompromising in arguing for justice and good sense. He champions the successes of the Indigenous community but also expects accountability for failures, not shying away from difficult questions or issues. As Co-Chair of Reconciliation Australia, he has said his dream is to achieve reconciliation in this country, and a better future for his people.
The Prime Minister thanked Dodson for his lifetime commitment to improving the lives of Aboriginal people and promoting understanding between all Australians.
“Mick Dodson has been a courageous fighter for reconciliation and for closing the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians,” said the Prime Minister.
“His efforts truly show that if we work together, we can achieve real progress.”
Professor Dodson, currently Director of the National Centre for Indigenous
Studies at the Australian National University. Well done, Mick Dodson!
Today is Australia Day in Australia. This is the day when we celebrate what it is to be Australian. The date marks the day that British ships landed on the shores of this country with boat loads of convicts to set up a penal colony.
Captain Arthur Phillip and the First Fleet, comprising 11 ships and around 1,350 people, arrived Port Jackson on 26 January 1788.
The Second Fleet's arrival in 1790 provided badly needed food and supplies; however the newly arrived convicts were too ill, with many near to death, to be useful to the colony. The Second Fleet became known as the 'Death Fleet' - 278 of the convicts and crew died on the voyage to Australia, compared to only 48 on the First Fleet.
From 1788 until 1823, the Colony of New South Wales was a penal colony. This meant that there were mainly convicts, marines and the wives of the marines although free settlers started to arrive in 1793.
By 1821 there was a growing number of freed convicts who were appointed to positions of trust and responsibility as well as being granted land.
When the last shipment of convicts disembarked in Western Australia in 1868, the total number of transported convicts stood at around 162,000 men and women. They were transported here on 806 ships.
The transportation of convicts to Australia ended at a time when the colonies' population stood at around one million, compared to 30,000 in 1821. By the mid-1800s there were enough people here to take on the work, and enough people who needed the work. The colonies could therefore sustain themselves and continue to grow. The convicts had served their purpose.
Charles Darwin visited Australia in 1836 and
noted that it was a country doomed to fail due to the convict bloodlines. "It can hardly fail to
deteriorate," Charles Darwin said after his voyage here in 1836.
"It is without doubt an admiral place to accumulate pounds and shillings, but heaven forfend that I should ever live where every other man is said to be somewhere between a petty rogue and a blood thirsty villain."
Charles Darwin was wrong.
There is no doubt that Australia is a lucky country. We are not a perfect country and along the way we have made our fair share of mistakes. We started as a white man’s penal colony on land that belonged to an indigenous population. The white man in the main was not a good friend to the indigenous population and naturally they suffered due to the colonisation of their land. To this day we are still a nation trying to reconcile our past actions and are attempting to put things right. Hopefully in time our nation will be fully reconciled and we will be a better country because of it.
I would prefer
celebrating Australia Day on another date which is not associated with the
"invasion" of the indigenous people's land. Mick Dodson also
feels that another day would be more appropriate, as it would be more inclusive
of the indigenous people. Mick is of the opinion that it is something we
as a nation should at least sit down and discuss as mature adults and decide
together if today is the most appropriate day.
I agree whole heartedly.
Our nation is made up of people from many nations and I believe this has made us a better land, a more tolerant land and hopefully a country that believes in giving every honest citizen a fair go.
Today we welcome more than 13,000 new Australian citizens from 120 countries as they make public pledges at citizenship ceremonies of their commitment to Australia.
An Australian achievement: The portable beer
cooler known as the ‘esky’ was invented in Australia in the 1950's and is now
used around the world.
Come to Australia to discover our secret!
A return ticket home won't be necessary.
ANZAC Day – 25 April – is probably Australia's most important national occasion. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The soldiers in those forces quickly became known as ANZACs, and the pride they soon took in that name endures to this day.
Why is this day special to Australians?
When war broke out in 1914 Australia had been a federal commonwealth for only 14 years. The new national government was eager to establish its reputation among the nations of the world. In 1915 Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of the allied expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli peninsula to open the way to the Black Sea for the allied navies. The plan was to capture Constantinople (now Istanbul), the capital of the Ottoman Empire and an ally of Germany. They landed at Gallipoli on 25 April, meeting fierce resistance from the Turkish defenders. What had been planned as a bold stroke to knock Turkey out of the war quickly became a stalemate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months. At the end of 1915 the allied forces were evacuated after both sides had suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. Over 8,000 Australian soldiers were killed. News of the landing at Gallipoli made a profound impact on Australians at home and 25 April quickly became the day on which Australians remembered the sacrifice of those who had died in war.
Although the Gallipoli campaign failed in its military objectives of capturing Constantinople and knocking Turkey out of the war, the Australian and New Zealand actions during the campaign bequeathed an intangible but powerful legacy. The creation of what became known as the "ANZAC legend" became an important part of the national identity of both nations. This shaped the ways they viewed both their past and future.
What does it mean today?
Australians recognise 25 April as an occasion of national commemoration. Commemorative services are held at dawn – the time of the original landing – across the nation. Later in the day, ex-servicemen and women meet and join in marches through the major cities and many smaller centres. Commemorative ceremonies are held at war memorials around the country. It is a day when Australians reflect on the many different meanings of war. (Source)
Today we honour and remember those who have served in the following conflicts:
Boer War 1899 -1902
China (Boxer Rebellion), 1900–01
World War 1 1914–1918
World War 2 1939–1945
British Commonwealth Occupation Force 1946–51
Korean War, 1950–53
Malayan Emergency 1950–1960
Vietnam War 1962–1975
Indonesian Confrontation 1963–1966
First Gulf War 1991
Afghanistan & Iraq 2001–present
Peace operations 1947–present
May those troops currently deployed come home swiftly and safely.
Lest we forget.
Some photos from my vault:
In 1998 I was a Venturer Scout (Scouts aged 14 to 17) leader and we took our Venturers down to the ANZAC Day Pde in Melbourne, so that the venturers could help carry the banners for the older diggers. It was a 3 hours drive down to Melbourne and we had to be up at some ungodly hour in the morning to get down there. But it was worth the journey.
Today I managed to watch the Parade on TV and I did see the banner our boys carried 10 years ago. The venturers carried the banner for the Royal Australian Survey Corps.
The Royal Australian Survey Corps began in July 1915 at the Australian Survey Corps. The prefix 'Royal' was added to the title in 1936. The Royal Australian Survey Corps provided charts and maps for training and military operations of the Australian Defence Force. The Corps was disbanded in 1996 and was absorbed into the main section of the Australian Defence Force.
**01/05/08 The full video has just been released and I love it - It is extremely inspirational.
Shhhh don't tell anyone, but I tear up when I watch it.
Already The GetUp Mob's "From little
things, big things grow" has featured in over 80 newspaper articles and is
getting airplay on stations nationwide. But
to inspire real change our song needs to reach an audience of millions and
echoes in every corner of the country.
All proceeds go to achieving Indigenous equality:
www.getup.org.au/campaign/MakeThisAHit
Song featuring Paul Kelly, Kev Carmody, Urthboy, Missy Higgins, Mia Dyson, Radical Son, Jane Tyrell, Dan Sultan, Joel Wenitong and Ozi Batla.
Purchasing this track will
cost $1.69 but we encourage you to donate as much as you feel appropriate.
All profits will go to GetUp's Reconciliation Fund and the following charity
organisations:
- Link Up - assisting Indigenous people who have been fostered, adopted or raised in institutions to find their way home.
- Mums and Bubs Program in Townsville.
- Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME)
By buying this song, you'll not only be part
of a movement harnessing the goodwill that came out of the apology, you'll also
be part of the national conversation on reconciliation.
Next Tuesday night we're taking that conversation into pubs, cafes and homes around the nation, Australians are gathering across the country to build a united country from the grassroots up.
We're inviting all Australians: Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous, to have a yarn about reconciliation on the evening of April 29th - click here to join a 'Reconciliation GetTogether' taking place in your postcode, and begin to build a bridge of understanding.Warning to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers that these film clips may contain images of people who are deceased.
It has now been nearly two weeks since Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered his “Apology” on behalf of the Australian Parliament to the stolen generations of our indigenous peoples and made a pledge to improve the standard of living conditions for indigenous Australians.
As a tribute to that special occasion I would like to pay a tribute to an Australian band called the The Warumpi Band.
Given the events two weeks ago I think the following song; Blackfella Whitefella is a very appropriate symbol for our current times as we as a nation move towards reconciliation.
Blackfella Whitefella Doesn't matter What ya' colour As long as you A true fella
As long as you A real fella All the people Of different races Around the world
In different places Doesn't matter What your name is We've got to have lots of
changes We need more brothers If we're to make it We need more sisters If we're
to save it Are you the one who's gonna stand up and be counted? Are you the one
who's gonna be there when we shout it? Are you the one who's always ready with
a helping hand? Are you the one who understands this family plan? Blackfella Whitefella
Yellowfella Any fella Doesn't matter What your colour As long as you A true fella
All the people of different races Around the world in different places Doesn't
matter Which religion It's all the same when the ship is sinking We need more
brothers If we're to make it We need more sisters If we're to change it Are you
the one who's gonna stand up and be counted? Are you the one who's gonna be there
when we shout it? Are you the one who's always there with a helping hand? Are
you the one who understands this family plan? Stand up Stand up and be counted
Stand up Stand up and be counted Stand up Stand up and be counted Stand up Stand
up and be counted Stand up Stand up and be counted (etc) Are you the one who's
always there with a helping hand? Are you the one who understands this family
plan? Are you the one who's always there with a helping hand? Are you the one
who understands this family plan?
Sadly the former frontman
of the Warumpi Band died
in June of last year. Due to cultural reasons he
is now referred to as George Burrarrawanga.
He died on his island home of Elcho Island. The island in east Arnhem Land is the subject
of the classic song called My Island Home,
which was written by the Warumpi Band's Neil Murray. George Burrarrawanga was 50 years old.
As an Australian who lives in a town with a relatively large indigenous community, I understand the importance of this forth coming apology to the Stolen Generation. I also recognise that there will need to be further actions of reconciliation to help heal our past so that we can all move forward as one united nation. I live in a town where there is resentment between the indigenous and the non-indigenous communities. I see and understand the disadvantages that our indigenous community faces every day. I do not wish for these problems to continue to fester and be a continual embarrassment to our country.
Many Australian towns do not have indigenous communities living in their towns and so many Australians may not fully understand the problems faced by indigenous communities and how their problems effect both the indigenous and the non-indigenous people in these towns. It is very important to communities such as my own that this apology is a meaningful apology, so I am hoping that you will take the time to read the following statement, and use the link below to contact your local member of parliament to express your support for this apology. My own local member of parliament is a member of the Liberal party and she has expressed her full support for the apology and understands how important the apology is to our community. If you are unsure what the apology means there are links below with further information about the apology.
Thanks for your time,
Chezz.
A message from GetUp!
Last year, tens of thousands Australians across the nation demanded that the next parliament and PM say 'sorry' to the Stolen Generations as their very first act on the very first sitting day.
Yesterday the PM agreed! Yet as we speak the shape of this historical moment is still being determined in meetings between Labor and Indigenous representatives, in the Liberal party room and in the minds of the millions of Australians who aren't sure how they feel about an apology.
It is important for Australians to
demonstrate to all our politicians the broad groundswell of support for
a sincere and unifying apology from the whole Parliament. You can email your
MP a quick note right now - and urge all your friends and family to do the
same? This online tool makes it easy - just enter your postcode.
www.getup.org.au/campaign/SaySorry
Australia's parliament holds a key to a new way forward - symbolically and practically: 'An apology is not about guilt or shame or individual responsibility - it is the embodiment of the spirit of reconciliation, and the springboard for a nation committed to stamp out the systemic ills that still flow from a nation unable to address its past wrongs'.
Our Indigenous colleagues have stressed two factors in the success of this new way forward. First, the supreme importance of cross party support when the PM takes to the Parliament floor. So, if your MP is Liberal, please urge him or her to push the party leadership to support the apology.
Second, the apology was always only meant to be the first step and must be acknowledged as such. So, if your MP is Labor, please support, commend, and thank them - but also remind them that this a starting point and that what is required now is the full and comprehensive response to the Bringing Them Home Report.
Reconciliation Australia have produced an excellent fact sheet about the apology. If you are unsure about its meaning or want to explain to others about the importance of the apology, please click here and forward it on. The Bringing Them Home Report can also be found here.
Help make this moment the kind of new beginning it deserves to be.
www.getup.org.au/campaign/SaySorry
Thanks for being part of this,
The GetUp team
------
To better help people understand the apology here is an edited version of the Reconciliation Australia fact sheet about the apology. The full fact sheet can be viewed at the link provided above.
The term ‘stolen generations’ refers to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians who were forcibly removed from their families and communities by government, welfare or church authorities as children and placed into institutional care or with non-Indigenous foster families. The forced removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children began as early as the mid 1800s and continued until 1970.
This removal occurred as the result of official laws and policies aimed at assimilating the Indigenous population into the wider community.
The stolen generation should not be confused with other government policies which aimed to help Aboriginal children from remote areas to go to school with their parent’s full consent. It should also not be confused with the removal of Indigenous and non-Indigenous children from dysfunctional families under welfare policies that continue to apply today.
The Bringing Them Home report found that the forced removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families and communities has had life-long and profoundly disabling consequences for those taken and has negatively affected the Indigenous community. For many of the children, removal meant that they lost all connection to family, traditional land, culture and language.
The reality of Australia’s stolen generations is not a thing of the distant past. Children were being inappropriately removed from their families by Australian authorities until 1969. Many people affected by the tragedy of the stolen generations are still alive today and live with its effects.
The Bringing Them Home report recommended that the first step in healing is the acknowledgment of truth and the delivery of an apology. It is the responsibility of the Australian Government, on behalf of previous Australian governments that administered this wrongful policy to acknowledge what was done and apologise for it.
Individual Australians are not providing the apology. The apology is being provided by the Australian Government in recognition of policies of past governments. Similarly, the former Australian Government apologised to Vietnam veterans for the policies of previous governments. The current Government is apologising for wrongful policies of governments. No individual Australian is being asked to take personal responsibility for actions of past governments.
Following on from apologies already made by all State and Territory governments and the churches, an official apology to members of the stolen generations by the Australian Government is an important step towards building a respectful new relationship between us as Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Respectful relationships are essential if we are to solve persistent problems.
In this way, the apology will allow us to work together more effectively towards closing the 17-year life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children - the starkest evidence of how government policies have failed. It is an important starting point in healing the wounds and an historic step forward for our nation that we can be proud of.
The apology is not an expression of personal responsibility or guilt by individual Australians. But it does reflect our Australian values of compassion and a fair go, and allows the victims of bad policy to feel that their pain and suffering has been acknowledged.
It’s important to understand that the “stolen generations” refer to those children who were removed on the basis of their race alone. In contrast with the removal of non-Indigenous children, proof of neglect was not always required to remove Indigenous children. That one of their parents was of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent was enough.
The predominant aim of the forced removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families was to absorb or assimilate children with mixed ancestry into the non-Indigenous community.
As Brisbane's Telegraph newspaper reported in May 1937:
Mr Neville [the Chief Protector of WA] holds the view that within one hundred years the pure black will be extinct. But the half-caste problem is increasing every year. Therefore their idea is to keep the pure blacks segregated and absorb the half-castes into the white population. Perhaps it will take one hundred years, perhaps longer, but the race is dying.
The suggestion that stolen generations children were better off is untrue on any reasonable assessment of the cases where they were placed in situations of deprivation, neglect and abuse. People who were removed gave evidence to the Inquiry of their mistreatment under State care - this ranged from inadequate food and clothing, to physical, sexual and psychological abuse.
Almost a quarter of witnesses to the Inquiry who were fostered or adopted reported being physically abused. One in five reported being sexually abused. One in six children sent to institutions reported physical abuse and one in ten reported sexual abuse.
Why is the word ‘sorry’ important as part of the apology?
The word ‘sorry’ holds special meaning in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. In many Aboriginal communities, sorry is an adapted English word used to describe the rituals surrounding death (Sorry Business). Sorry, in these contexts, is also often used to express empathy or sympathy rather than responsibility.
During the 2007 election campaign, then Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd also recognised the significance of the word sorry:
“… simply saying that you’re sorry is such a powerful symbol. Powerful not because it represents some expiation of guilt. Powerful not because it represents any form of legal requirement. But powerful simply because it restores respect”
I had hoped to post this post on Australia Day however my internet obviously had other ideas and so I was unable to post anything for a few days. Then I thought I would let it pass because I had felt that my window of opportunity had passed. However it seems that the subject has literally been ignited after a group of 100 indigenous Australians protested against Australia Day and burnt the national Australian Flag.
I am not a fan of burning national flags, however I wonder if their point would have been taken seriously had they not burnt an Australian flag.The point which was being made was as follows:
About 100 Aborigines from across Tasmania rallied in Launceston's City Park against what they call "Invasion Day".
After the speeches, Adam Thompson stepped from the crowd and burnt the Australian flag with a cigarette lighter, to cheers from the crowd.
Mr Thompson says he would not have been deterred by the threat of prosecution.
"I would have done it anyway because it signifies something, and that's for a bigger cause," he said.
"Australians know what it means to Aboriginal people for them to celebrate Invasion Day and they do it anyway, so there's a blatant disregard there for Aboriginal people. And that made us angry enough to do that. (Source)
For those who are not aware, Australia Day is Australia's national day of celebration of our great country. The date coincides with the date that the British fleet first landed on the shores of Australia in order to establish the British penal colony in Australia. This occurred on the 26th January 1788. The British felt justified in occupying this land because according to the British the land was void of inhabitants. This was a common practice and was not just applicable to the colonisation of Australia by the British.
The occupation of the land was occupied under what is termed "terra nullius".
Sovereignty of a territory could be acquired under the enlarged notion of terra nullius , for the purposes of the municipal law that territory (though inhabited) could be treated as a ‘desert uninhabited' country.' At the time of the establishment of the Colony in Australia, it “consisted of a tract of territory practically unoccupied, without settled inhabitants or settled law”. Their statement to that effect was thereafter seen as authoritatively establishing that the territory of New South Wales had, in 1788, been terra nullius not in the sense of unclaimed by any other European power, but in the sense of unoccupied or uninhabited for the purposes of the law.
However as we are aware there were people occupying the land now called Australia and as is the case in the majority of colonised countries throughout the world, the original inhabitants were not treated well. In my opinion the date we as a nation have picked to celebrate our national day of pride, is not inclusive of our indigenous brothers and sisters and I believe they are justified in seeing the 26th January as a day of invasion and not a day of celebration given the treatment of their people over the past two centuries by 'white' Australia.
In my opinion if we as a nation are truly working toward true reconciliation with our indigenous Australians, then we also need to revise the date we celebrate our day of national pride. It should be a date that is debated on and decided on by all groups of Australians and it needs to be inclusive of all Australians especially those belonging to our indigenous people and a day all Australians can feel proud. To my way of thinking when we are well on the way to true reconciliation, then a day that celebrates that achievement would have more meaning.
There is some good news and this news has made me feel proud.
The Getup! organisers put out a request to its members to list the things they wanted GetUp! to present to parliament as an agenda we would like our government to tackle in the year(s) ahead.
The item which made it to number three on the top 10 list was: Indigenous rights
and living standards.
2008 People's Agenda
In my opinion that is great news, as the people of Australia really do want true reconciliation. The new government is currently is the process of developing a meaningful statement of apology to the Australian Indigenous people, hopefully this apology will bring about effective dialogue in the future years to come.
We have a great country; and let’s make it even better by making a genuine effort to help Indigenous Australians achieve the life they are entitled to. It will take effort from all communities, but I know if we work together it can be achieved.
A fellow VOX blogger, Daddy-Fu has written some very
interesting posts in regards to indigenous Australians and reconciliation and I would like to draw
your attention to them.
The
Hardest Word - Part One: Me
The Hardest Word - Part 2: The Facts
The Hardest Word - Part 3: Compensation
The Hardest Word - Part 4: Australia Day
Australia Day - a minor side note
