And the world it won't stand still

Ah, Sophie, Sophie, Sophie. It’s not enough, is it? It’s not enough to just keep quiet and let the apology pass, even though you didn’t agree with it. It’s never enough to just suck it up (figuratively speaking) and let a deeply divided country do something to come back together.

Now you’re a historian, demographer and pollster all in one! Nice work!

Let’s assume for a moment that 95 per cent of your electorate has never given two flying proverbials about the apology. Let’s assume for a moment that you have actually had written or phone correspondence with each and every one of them, and each and every one of them disagrees with the apology. Have you never heard of Edmund Burke and the notion of representative democracy*?

Apart from anything else, a simple freakin’ google search could have confirmed for you that there WERE children forcibly removed from their parents in Victoria – something everyday joes like myself might not have time to find out, but you’re in position to provide leadership. You DO have access to these resources. You SHOULD be investigating the issue thoroughly enough to acquaint yourself with Victorian and Federal law in this regard. You should be able, with little effort, to find out where Indigenous people (children and adults) were removed to when your electorate was settled by white people (in case you can't, they're known as Cummeragunja and Coranderrk). You DO have access to extensive information about the Stolen Generation and opportunities to increase your knowledge about issues in the national interest. In fact, last time I checked, that is your JOB.

And in case you’re one of those “if you can’t name a member of the Stolen Generation, they don’t exist” types, I know and have actually met (in real life!) at least seven people who were comfortable with talking about the fact they were forcibly removed from their families. This is not some kind of “badge of honour” in the Indigenous community. It’s not something that everyone wants to talk about, nor use to score political points.

In one case, the woman in question was never able to reunite with her mother, who died before A. could find her, although she did find out her name and was able to track down her father eventually. The overwhelming truth for many people removed from their families has been that their lives are a period of depression, disenfranchisement and deep disconnection. Despite what some might think, it hasn’t radicalised all individuals in the way that anti-apologists seem to imagine.

Memo: you’re not in government anymore.

Even Brendan Nelson has recognized this, in his own stupid, ham-fisted, both feet-in-his-mouth kind of way. Alexander Downer and Peter McGauran even more so.

I applaud our statesman-like Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, the committed and hard-working Jenny Macklin and those who worked so hard to ensure that this apology happened. I congratulate Indigenous leaders for their ongoing work in a climate that has been hostile and suspicious of the motives of Indigenous activists. I pay tribute not only to the elders of the community in which I live, but also to those elders whose links to their homeland have been irrevocably severed, and feel sorrow for this loss. For those mothers and fathers who never knew their children, I feel grief and sadness.

And to those who think this gesture is meaningless, I say that this simple word has such deep meaning. I won’t teach my son that saying sorry is not important, nor that it won’t help to heal wounds.


* If there was ever a time when I revealed my civics nerdery in all its glory, it's this moment right here, where I use an 18th- century British politician's speech to constituents to chastise an MP in Australia in the 21st century.