The time has come to shift our focus away from the misery of the past and look to the future by taking positive action in indigenous communities. The words "I'm sorry" can do nothing to improve the dire situation our indigenous people face.
Practical measures designed to encourage personal responsibility, eliminate passive welfare, alcohol and child abuse whilst restoring a sense of pride and dignity are desperately needed.
Positive action for reconciliation would assist communities far more than focusing on the negative symbolic gesture of sorry. Forcing this current generation to apologise for the events of the past would be wrong. Responsibility for past actions cannot, and should not, be attributed to this generation.
That does not mean we cannot express regret to the Indigenous people for historical policies - in fact Australians have already done so. Not using the word sorry does not mean we have a lessened desire to achieve reconciliation. Merely that we support a positive, practical means to achieve improvements in the lives of the indigenous people.
When victims see themselves as victims they feel justified in shifting all responsibility onto someone else. Saying sorry reinforces the victim mentality. This is not helpful in assisting Aboriginal communities to want to move forward. Encouraging Indigenous Australians (who are not already doing so) to take some personal responsibility would be an important step towards achieving reconciliation.
Saying sorry will almost certainly lead to a flood of compensation calls, the first of which we're already beginning to see, whilst doing little to improve relations or mitigate the substantial problem of entitlement without responsibility.
Prominent indigenous activist, Michael Mansell, was recently quoted as saying that any apology without compensation would "give a hollow ring to the words". These types of statements beg the question, what is really important? Is it the apology itself or the money that is anticipated will follow through legal action?
Instead, the focus must be on the real issues. The Howard Government's Northern Territory Emergency Response intervention was directly aimed at protecting the welfare of Indigenous children. It restricted alcohol sales, imposed welfare reforms to ensure money was spent on necessities such as food, provided incentive for parents to send their children to school and made available comprehensive health checks for all children under the age of 16.
This broad based approach was the first step in addressing the breakdown of social norms characteristic in many of the remote Northern Territory communities. The intervention intended to create the beginnings of a sustainable future for the Indigenous Australians in the Northern Territory. Whilst recognising the long and arduous journey ahead, it was a start.
It was immediate, necessary action to address the real issues facing Indigenous communities and an important step on the road to reconciliation. Not merely a symbol or gesture, the Howard Government's intervention was a positive, decisive and constructive action designed to make a real difference.
It's hard to see what practical effects saying sorry would really have. This generation want a positive and lasting solution. To see our Indigenous Australians living a meaningful, constructive and healthy life would be a far greater measure of our regret than the words "I'm sorry."
Constructive programs to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians, rather than more taxpayer-funded handouts of money through a compensation fund, should be the true focus of any formal apology.
