Greens and Invasion Day., page-193

The other point is that there are too many goodie, goodie Red Cs that indirectly encourage those sorts of behaviour. The past is the past. Today is the first day of the rest of history. Let it not be a repeat of all the past.

 
Each to their own opinion.

One man’s accomplishments

 

Salvado’s faith, patience and courage enabled him to establish the monastery and Christian village of New Norcia that was hailed as a true success by the Catholic colony of Victoria Plains.

 

There were many successes, but like all the nineteenth-century missions, New Norcia could not prevent deaths from European diseases. Efforts to maintain a healthy environment did not change the death rate at the mission that was high for some years.

 

The Aborigines Protection Act in 1887 had far-reaching changes to the New Norcia population. Within the vicinity of the mission, the original Aboriginal population had already declined rapidly mostly due to European diseases. As well, there was a devastatingly low birth rate among the aboriginals.

 

There was, however, a rising number of Aboriginal people of mixed descent and New Norcia now became an institution for Aboriginal and part-Aboriginal people from a very wide area. Salvado was obliged to accept orphaned, abandoned or convicted children, mostly mixed race,from as far away as Geraldton. Bunbury and Albany.

 

He was also disappointed that the affluent Forrest government, commanding vast revenues from Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie gold, gave such meagre assistance to Aboriginal people.  New Norcia was not even mentioned by the delegates of the separate colonies who drafted the Federal constitution.

 

He realised that no-one cared about the Aborigines: they were simply anon-Issue. Salvado's voice was no theard. The Aboriginal voice was no theard.

 

The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia mentioned them only for the purpose of dismissing them: they were not a race with which the Commonwealth was to concern itself: they were not to be included In any count of the people of the Commonwealth.

 

Here turned to Rome as an old man and fell ill two days before Federation, on 29 December 1900, he was given the last rites and quietly passed away, whispering the names of the Aboriginal children of New Norcia.

 

Over the next eighty-eight years, New Norcia became a different Institution. Many Aborigines moved into Perth or Geraldton and the mission gradually became less a centre for Aboriginal people. Its boarding schools were extended to European children as well.