Re your post which included; "This is what abbott said.. ##Mr Abbott said he understood why the tent embassy was set up "all those years ago". "I think a lot has changed for the better since then," he told reporters. "I think the indigenous people of Australia can be very proud of the respect in which they are held by every Australian. "I think a lot has changed since then, and I think it probably is time to move on from that."## How could any fool find that offencive?, ..."
For those who monitor the news & notice expressions of social division, disempowerment, discrimination, harrassment & xenophobia today's incident was deeply disturbing. Today all Australians lost something!
Julia Gillard's performance as PM continues to disappoint & to annoy me. Under our archaic & fraudulent constitution that may lead to her loss of a majority in Parliament & probably to the loss of the next election - as is proper under our constitution.
But if our PM can fall victim to actions such as those in Canberra today respect & tolerance are on the back-burner, no-one in Australia is safe & our way of life is under threat. How has this come to pass I wonder?
Let's just step back in time a little: . Federation in 1901 - a constitution that excluded Aborigines until 1967. . The Vietnam War era - Australia divided over conscription etc. . The Whitlam era, war ended, aboriginal land rights - Gough's dismissal by the Queen's representative. . The Fraser years - Vietnamese boat people & economic disaster. . The Hawke-Keating years - massive economic reform on the back of accords, etc. [community cohesion] . The Howard years - the mining boom, our involvement in wars in Iraq & Afghanistan, the introduction of 'tough border protection policies' & Pauline Hanson's 'One Nation' manifesto, 'Work Choices', the Cronulla riots, Howard's steadfast refusal to apologise to 'the stolen generations & his high-handed Aboriginal Intervention - actions that caused deep divisions within the community. . The Rudd-Gillard years - Rudd's 'SORRY!', the GFC & Kevin07's spendathon to prevent economic meltdown in Australia & rejection of the Howard Govt's policies on boat people, etc. Tony Abbott's mobilisation of 'opposition' to the ETS/CT, etc. . Since becoming PM some of our media shock jocks have run relentless offensive & disrespectful campaigns against Julia Gillard [we even had Gillard being sent out to sea in a chaff bag & at a rally in Canberra Abbott spoke under a banner depicting Gillard as an evil witch].
So: . Today's disgraceful event reflects what has been creeping up & bubbling beneath the surface in Australia - deep community divisions & distrust inflamed by self-serving, insensitive comments from all sides of politics & our media of low repute. . After 110 years under our flawed constitution we have still NOT resolved many issues of fundamental impportance to our aboriginal people & therefore ourselves collectively - this issue is highly sensitive & demands much better than Abbott's dumb remarks on of all things, Australia Day. . I am afraid that unless our pollies & journos take onboard their influence on community cohesion & behave more responsbily in the public domain that much worse is ahead of us.
