Cultured Views

February 13 will be the day a nation says ’sorry’

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It takes a mature person to hold up their hand and admit that they were wrong, that they made mistakes. So what will it mean for an entire nation to say ’sorry’ for the mistakes it has made during it’s history? This is what Australia will do on February 13th; the Australian Prime Minister will officially acknowledge the treatment to which our indigenous people were subjected over a 100 year period and which saw thousands of young Aboriginal children removed from their families and placed for adoption.

Now, it has to be said that there is some division over this issue; not all Australians are behind this apology by any means but the majority do recognise that wrongs of the past have to be acknowledged. It is the only way in which to truly go forward. Australia is one of the youngest nations on this planet. We are proud of our history on the whole, but there are parts of it that we need to think about. Are we sorry for what happened to our indigenous people? Yes, I have to say I think we should be. Even though it was another time. But even though present day Australians had nothing to do with what happened all those years ago we can at least acknowledge what our ancestors did and let the world know that we are a nation who made mistakes but are prepared to acknowledge that and ensure that such a thing never happens again. And that world out there is a world that needs to watch and listen.

When you take a look at what happened throughout the world in the 20th century alone, our problems seem quite small. Germany has never apologised for it’s persecution and murder of the Jewish people in Europe before and during WWII. Japan has never even acknowledged it’s atrocious crimes against humanity during the same period let alone get around to an apology. They will all claim ‘that was in the past, we had nothing to do with it’. Fine, so it was. But there is no better way to go forward than to clear the past. This is what Australia will do on February 13th.

The rest of the world will hear about it, the rest of the world may comment, but that is not the point. ‘Sorry’ means nothing unless it means something. And to Australia, whichever side you are on in this issue, it will mean a hell of a lot. They say Australia came of age at Gallipolli on April 25 1915…February 13 is when we prove it.

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