The Sydney Morning Herald Letters: Walking together is just the start Date: 30/05/2000 My nine-year-old daughter wore a badge on our march on Sunday that cried "Walking together!" I felt that this slogan captured the feeling of immense goodwill among the crowd which turned out on that historic day. Yet the cool, crisp, sunny, self-congratulatory gloss that this day provided for us paled uncomfortably and pointedly when a member of our indigenous community co-opted the stage at a very enjoyable, slick, feel-good post-march performance. She was distressed, disturbed and immensely disturbing. I could feel myself and the crowd shift uncomfortably as the fabulous MC struggled to "civilly" regain the agenda. Our "interloper" cried: "You have all done a wonderful thing today. You walked across the bridge! But will you walk the distance with me? Can you walk the distance with me?" And she marched her distress, damage, pain and defiance across the stage. Yes, this is the post-march/Reconciliation Day question. Just as her personal horror and pain will not go away, our national history and pain will not go away. We can only learn to acknowledge, accept and live with it. Only then can we truly walk together. Jacqui Leonard, Avalon. Yesterday as we were on the bridge, in the crush of thousands of walkers, a man who was setting up his subjects stepped back suddenly with his camera and we collided. He quickly turned to me with a friendly touch, and we both said "sorry!" He was an Aborigine. We laughed together, and then pointed to the skywriting. Margeri Mather, Woollahra. The sobriquet Little Johnny is of no account regarding John Howard's stature, but it is pertinent when one considers his obvious limitations of intellect, philosophy and spirituality. Perhaps the Canberra people were grateful that John Howard sacrificed his usual sojourn at Kirribilli (with a fine view of the bridge), to spend a rare weekend at our nation's capital, watching an entertaining game of rugby. However, 250,000 of my fellow Australians (many more marched in rural towns and cities), both black and white, irrespective of sex, age, race or religion, shamed in the eyes of the world by the attitudes of the Coalition Government, were forced to the streets to clearly demonstrate their desire to say sorry to the indigenous people of Australia. It is now too late for John Howard, but it is not too late to say sorry. Lyn Gunn, Taree. Following the magnificent march for reconciliation over the Harbour Bridge on Sunday, John Howard and John Herron will no doubt do their maths and decide that 250,000 people represents less than 10 per cent of the population, so it does not qualify as a mandate. The rest of us know better. Richard Keyes, Enfield. Could the headlines this morning have been "Three million Sydneysiders didn't march for reconciliation"? The less demonstrative majority maybe? John Valder, Bayview. We are told that up to 250,000 took part in yesterday's march for reconciliation. That sounds like a good turnout. But before the number could have any real significance at all one would also have to know what percentages of Sydney's other 4.5 million: a) supported the march but couldn't make it; b) were opposed to the whole idea; c) couldn't care less. And it's not hard to understand John Howard's reluctance to apologise on behalf of the Australian nation. He knows that, once the apology is official, the rush to the High Court for compensation will make Sunday's march look like a Sunday school picnic at Wilcannia. Geoff Whiteman, Laurieton. As a participant in the reconciliation walk on Sunday, I want to pay tribute to all the volunteer helpers and special tribute to the NSW police. Despite having to stand for long periods in freezing winds, all the police men and women I saw were smiling and extremely friendly to all. The police band provided entertainment and the mounted police added colour and the opportunity for many children to pat the horses. Commander Adams (Herald, May 29) rightly gives credit to the people, but the Police Service set a great example. They're a credit to NSW. Thanks guys. Bob Mackay, Collaroy. John Howard, you are not responsible for the actions of previous administrations or society's handling in decades past of the so-called stolen generation. You do not need to apologise. It was not your fault, nor is it the fault of the Australians you represent today. Kate McDonell, Chatswood. For us it was a case of a bridge too far, but we walked in spirit. The Olympic torch passes here today, a public holiday and one of celebration for indigenous and expatriates alike. There is no reason for apology or reconciliation. Wouldn't that be nice for the arrival of the torch in Sydney? Anne and Ian Heydon, Port Vila (Vanuatu). Today, I walked across the Harbour Bridge to say sorry to the Aborigines. I felt ashamed that the Aborigines who owned this land for at least 40,000 years had it taken away from them without any treaty or reconciliation. It would be like someone went to your house and said it was their house and drove you out with guns, and they did it to all of Forestville, all of Sydney, and all of Australia, and then they made their own laws in which you had no rights to your house and land. Where would we live then? I learned from a friend that the Maoris in New Zealand were treated much more respectfully. They were given a treaty and land that allowed their culture to live. My friend said that the Maori language is taught in all schools in New Zealand. Now, more than 200 years later, our Prime Minister doesn't even want to say he is sorry. Maybe he is scared that if he says sorry they will put him in a pot and eat him. But I don't think so. Jenny Howard (nine years old), Forestville. Prime Minister! You are out of step with your nation. Richard Lynch, Redfern. As I walked across the bridge today, I couldn't help thinking the land itself had sent that strong cold westerly wind to blow the colonial cobwebs from our minds and invigorate our stride for reconciliation. Peter Fyfe, Lavender Bay. The Macquarie's definition of corroboree includes "warlike character ... a disturbance, an uproar" and so it seemed, prefaced by the turning of backs to the Prime Minister. How, in the midst of his address, could the audience be sure that John Howard was not to deliver the abracadabra they so seek. Where was the tolerance in that action? And don't tell me that this is just the Aboriginal way; it is a body language recognised universally as a slur. This divisive and confrontational approach changed my plan to walk the bridge in a spirit of hope for all humanity. Cynthia Cato, Mosman. No national apology, yet a nation apologises. Elizabeth Lee, Hurstville. I support my Prime Minister. Stephen Benedek, Northbridge. When the inaugural chairman of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, Pat Dodson, mentioned in his keynote speech on Saturday that a "radio shock-jock was sacked for saying Aborigines wouldn't work", he was clearly referring to me. First, the Australian Bureau of Statistics says 16 per cent of Aborigines are unemployed, which, conversely, must mean that 84 per cent are employed. Well, I don't believe it, and anyone who observes Aborigines from Redfern to Wilcannia will dispute those numbers right along with me. Second, the Prime Minister has a very good commercial reason for not saying sorry. When the Canadian Government apologised to the Inuit, land claims exploded 100-fold. Third, I'm in favour of Aboriginal land rights - but only if they live on the land, and don't on-sell or lease it for large sums for mining or farming. Truth is, Aborigines don't want to live on the land at all - they just want to live off it. And there needs to be a definition of just what constitutes an Aborigine. I'd say at least one full blood grandparent would do. But the most vocal members of the "sorry industry" - people like Ray Martin, for instance - are whiter than I am yet still claim Aboriginal rights and a heritage. As for the statistics of Aboriginal health, they don't look after themselves, and of course you're going to die young if you don't take care of yourself. Some of the misinformation being spread about leaves the reconciliation debate in a very sorry state. Ron Casey, Mosman. It was the extraordinary ordinariness of it all that I found most moving. All of us - old, young, politicians, celebrities - made equal by an issue larger than us all. I feel inspired and heartened by the basic goodness of my fellow Australians. I now believe that the Prime Minister's foolish intransigence no longer diminishes us as a nation; it diminishes him. Anne Garvan, Allawah. It is just as well the Prime Minister decided not to walk across the bridge on Sunday, as he would have encountered a few thousand "mainstream" Australians walking in the opposite direction. Congratulations, Australia. A leap forward in the right direction. Michael Hambly, Redfern. -- ********************************** 'Click' to protect the rainforest: Make the Rainforest Site your homepage! http://www.therainforestsite.com/ ********************************** ------------------------------------------------------ RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/ To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." RecOzNet2 is archived for members @ http://www.mail-archive.com/recoznet2%40paradigm4.com.au/
