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Prime Minister Rudd's promise in his sorry speech to the
Aboriginal population in federal
parliament will come back to haunt him just as surely as Bob Hawke's infamous
statement.
For Rudd's promise to be fulfilled it must be preceded
by another promise:
Every able-bodied adult Aboriginal
must be a teetotaller engaged in full-time employment or home duties by 2012.
Without that pre-condition, Rudd's promise is nothing more
than fairy floss.
Rudd's speech was full of rhetoric eagerly lapped up by
the Aboriginals and the media.
Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson's speech, on the other
hand although charged with emotion, reminded the Aboriginals that there would be
no direct monetary compensation, a position previously put by Rudd. He also
reminded them of the current appalling conditions of many outback Aboriginal
children that needed urgent attention.
In a belligerent display of mean-spirited hostility,
many persons outside parliament house and other public locations turned their backs while
loudly booing and hissing Nelson. One (apparently) white moron stood
with his back to the TV screen giving a finger signal with each hand for the
entirety of Nelson's speech.
Reconciliation is a two-way street. By their display
yesterday, many Aboriginals revealed their hostility to reconciliation.
As to compensation, the federal government spends around
$3.5 billion annually on Aboriginal dole money, housing, medical, education and
a plethora of special Aboriginal privileges. That amounts to a total payment of
around $70 billion dollars over the past 20 years - an enormous amount of
compensation.
Unfortunately a considerable portion of this money has
been expended on
saturating the ground around liquor outlets.
Read: Apology to the
Aboriginal population from mainstream Australia
Aboriginal
apology to Australians
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