From Little things Big Things Grow
February 13, 2008
Working in a school I know that “sorry” is a word that is of paramount importance. One encounters it on a daily basis, an hourly basis even. It’s apparent to me and has always been, that only the truly arrogant do not see the point in saying sorry. It’s the same children that can’t give a sincere apology that find it hardest to not only make friends, but more importantly keep friends. It’s those that can’t say sorry, that also have problems empathising, problems sympathising, problems engaging and problems growing emotionally as humans. Some never say it at all – steadfastly refusing on some technicality never realising that the word is symbolic of mate ship – the one true Australian value. Some children need to understand a situation better before they will utter it, some will take the responsibility on the chin and say it when it needs to be said and others still will say sorry even on behalf of their friends because they know that sorry is not always about blame but also (and most importantly) about comforting someone to the point where they are then able to move forward.
And so, with this in mind the collective we: Australians who cared about taking a united step forwards, waited today for the word we knew was aimed to give comfort, to put a hand on the shoulder of a whole race of people, our oldest people, and say not ‘we regret that..’ but that we are sorry – because when all is said and done this is what a friend would say to another friend. I’m sorry, you didn’t get that job. I’m sorry your mother died. I’m sorry this bad thing happened to you. And yet, this devastating issue of an indigenous generation ripped away from their families many years ago now, had not heard that simple two syllable word…until today.
And it was said.
And it was good.
And hopefully from this little thing big things will grow.
From Little Things Big Things Grow – Paul Kelly (written with Kev Carmody) (A song worth listening to)
February 13, 2008 at 8:51 am
I’m listening to this song for the 3rd time today. Thanks for this post
February 13, 2008 at 9:05 am
It’s the song I listened to on the bus, on the way to work- being in WA, the apology was at 7am, so I watched in my pyjamas.
February 13, 2008 at 10:07 am
linda – how beautiful is this song?!
amanda – we had it on at school at an assembly where we all watched it together.
February 13, 2008 at 10:20 am
It was about time for the apology…but there is still such a long way to go to helping those within the indigenous community who still need help and unfortunately would actually benefit from removal today.
But maybe intent is what makes the difference.
February 13, 2008 at 10:55 am
I’ve cried today, several times, as I’ve listened to the radio, and watched the broadcast of the apology. As I’ve listened to individual stories and what hearing that word meant to so many. And I’ve cried several times listening to this song. One of my most powerful memories is of watching Kev Carmody sing this, supported by Tiddas at Dallas Brooks Hall, and the sound of the audience singing the chorus as people openly sobbed.
February 13, 2008 at 7:42 pm
I haven’t heard a sincere apology in a long long time.
February 13, 2008 at 11:00 pm
I thought the apology was very moving. And I hope Mr Nelson can maintain the commitment to bipartisanship.
Now the calls are coming in for a “Sorry Day” public holiday.
M, I know teachers often spend time preparing children for Anzac Day, but Australia Day must be a bit harder because it is so close to the start of the school year. I suggest Australia Day be moved to Feb 13 (and away from “Invasion Day”) Would this make a difference in the classroom?
Alternatively I could easily do without the Queen’s Birthday, although it is handy for catching up on finance stuff just before the end of the financial year
February 14, 2008 at 12:36 am
I love the drawing in this post. Is it yours or one of the little ones?
February 14, 2008 at 3:36 am
OK…out on the limb I climb…Mikefitz, why would the Govt. seriously consider moving Australia Day?
I mean any day you chose is going to offend some minority group or some racial or cultural group, so let’s just leave it…as it really is the day that started modern Australia, whether you want to argue it was an invasion or not?
I sincerely hope that with this apology and some real Govt. initiatives that we can start to get over the past and start to accept what happened happened, yes it was a tragic, but thats what powerful nations did to indigenous people everywhere and everywhen, I mean do you hear the Germans Suing the Italians for the Roman invasions…the time has come for us to accept that “yes, Austrlia’s leaders in the past were not the most forward thinking people, and yes, what they did was wrong and maybe even “evil”, but the time has come to move on and accept the world we live in is not going to go back to 1777 and “pre-white” Australia.
The time has hopefully come for ALL Australians to move forward cause god knows there are enough challenges facing the nation today and in the evolving world at large without constantly having to spend all our time in debate about what people long dead wrongly did.
February 14, 2008 at 6:46 am
Indiana, because Australia Day marks the day the Europeans landed in Sydney Harbour to begin colonisation – this is a date irrelevant to migrant groups and fine for white Australians but marks the very day that black Australians began to experience degredation, repression and, frankly, cultural genocide.
It’s not hard to imagine why this (siginificant) group might find it difficult to celebrate that day as “Australia Day” – I don’t see why we can’t accommodate that and pick a day that we can all enjoy.
From Little Things is Kev’s best song.
Proud day to be an Aussie
February 14, 2008 at 7:18 am
indy – I don’t know if you could say that one particular racial group would benefit from removal from their family. I mean, there are lots white Australian families that live in shocking poverty/abusive situations too but one never points the finger at their race..just the situation.
But you’re right, it was about time for the apology.
frou – you know, it is one of those songs that speaks volumes. It’s a true story but it’s a story that is still so relevant even today.
hammer – sad, isn’t it?
mike – nelson ..I dunno, what a nob, seriously why can’t they just accept that it’s been said and support it?
preparing for oz day is impossible since it’s been and gone by the time we get back to school but we do a follow up. It’s just that it all gets lost in the hoopla of the new school year. If it was moved, from a classroom perspective it would be a bigger focus.
Do without the Queen’s Birthday? You shut your mouth!
I love that holiday!
clea – haha, okay I know now that you must not know many young children! No, definitely not one of theirs. heee
dune – very proud!
February 14, 2008 at 7:36 am
I love the song and the story behind it — and maybe one day there will be a song about Rudd having the balls to finally say sorry. Great post.
February 14, 2008 at 7:41 am
indy – the italian/german situation was hardly the same thing! I mean they are bloody independent countries for gods sake.
jay – such a good song and yes, maybe one day there will. I hope Paul Kelly writes it – he’s magnificent.
February 14, 2008 at 9:30 am
G’day Indiana,
I suppose I was just noticing that 20 years ago the popularity of Anzac Day was in decline. Today, however, it is growing enormously. I put a lot of that down to the work of primary school teachers.
Now support for Australia Day is also increasing but not nearly as much because…
1 as Mez points out, it’s too close to the beginning of the school year for teachers to get kids enthused about it,
2 it’s hard to get Territorians and West Aussies enthused about “Sydney’s Birthday”, and
3 there’s also the “Invasion Day” thing.
Just floating the idea of a Feb 13 public holiday. There are plenty of calls for it in today’s press. A lot of people feel that yesterday was a significant day in our nation’s history and should be remembered. I’d be happier if it were called “Australia Day” rather than “Sorry Day” or “The day before Valentines Day“.
February 14, 2008 at 11:00 am
I’m not at all opposed to keeping Australia Day at all – it’s a significant start to Oz in it’s infancy – it should be up there in lights – regardless of how it came about.
We can’t wind back the clock, we can’t change what we’ve been built upon – but we can acknowledge this part of our history – acknowledge the ways in which it hamstrung a peoples (and the real reasons why), learn our lessons from this, and get on with the business of moving forward into a better future for ALL Aussies!
I’ve served in two defence force uniforms for ten out of my soon to be forty years of age. I served with all sorts of peoples from all sorts of cultural groups, including Muslims… and they ALL served loyally under an Australian Flag.
They served for their mates mostly… and had no time for the bulldust associated with the colour of a persons skin. Most of my mates – once we’d yarned properly about this Sorry business went – “Oh – yeah… now we get it!”.
Most people don’t have a problem about it – as soon as they realise that it’s NOT about guilt! It’s about acknowledging a bad decision made in our past, and the subsequent backing up of this decision that kept a peoples of Australia down.
Right this wrong, and get on with it! Australia and Australians (all over the world too mind) have a life that needs to get on with living… and I’d rather live that life out from under such a shocking shadow.
As an Aboriginal person – whose mother was taken away under some extremely suspect circumstances – yeah, for me it’s quite personal… but I think it should be considered personal for all of us Aussies!
In twenty to fifty years time – how would you like to be measured as an Australian in your kids (or grand kids) future???
February 14, 2008 at 11:27 am
mike – I don’t really mind if oz day moves or stays but…why is it better for it to be a school initiative though? Why can’t parents take more responsibility for raising their own children with some semblance of knowledge about the nation they live in?
belongum – I think understanding that the actions of the past governments HAVE kept a peoples of oz down is the most important thing to come from all this. We, as a society, tend to look at things in terms of the bottom line. We see only what exists now, and not the reason for it. You’re right, it shouldn’t be about guilt, and wasn’t. It was about acknowledgment and understanding. Hopefully about moving forward too.
February 14, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Hi Mez: Caution broad generalisation follows…
Sometimes young people will more readily accept something they experience in the company of their peers. Not just school, but also cubs & scouts, the gang down the mall, the basketball team, whatever. In comparison, advice from the oldies is often easily dismissed; the generation gap is not a new concept.
Of course Australia Day shouldn’t be only a school thing. It’s just that school provides such a good opportunity for shared experience learning.
I like to think that as a parent of three (now adults), I’ve done my bit to foster Australia Day celebrations, which are huge at our place.
February 14, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Mez, I, of course, followed the apology in the papers here. We have a similar situation; in fact, schools no longer celebrate Columbus Day, but Indigenous People Day.
The very important thing about a “sorry” is that it’s meaningless if it keeps getting said for the same misbehavior. As I tell my kid, if you keep doing something you have to apologize for, you’re making a bad choice over and over again. One sorry is all it takes, then change your behavior!
Sorry, I’ll get off my soapbox now ..;-)
February 14, 2008 at 6:04 pm
I read about this in the news and was pleased. It doesn’t reverse how the Aborigines were treated, but it does start a dialogue of acceptance that what happened was wrong.
I’m hoping a change at the top in our country will produce similar results. Thanks Mez and great drawing as always.
February 15, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Call me crazy, but why can’t we have an EXTRA holiday? (I would not complain) With some name like “Reconciliation Day” – I see the problems with Australia day, but marking a national holiday doesn’t necessarily have to be about celebration. ANZAC day is not supposed to be a happy occasion, So maybe the key is how you personally decide to observe Australia day rather than seeing it in terms of good/bad. Aust day is a significant one in this country’s history so it seems unnecessary to remove the day as a holiday, but significant doesn’t have to automatically equal celebration.
And while we’re at it – maybe we need lots of extra holidays. What about “Banjo Patterson Day”, “Women Getting The Vote Day”, “Rolf Harris moving to England Day”… just as a start.
February 16, 2008 at 5:00 am
Firslty, Mez, beautiful post, i’ve used the same analogy on my blog about “saying sorry”.
Secondly, Indy, I really take issue with people using the “countries were taken over in war blah,blah” argument. The difference I feel is that both countries had similar armaments. The Aboriginal people could hardly defend their country with spears against guns now could they?
Plus they had no idea they were about to have something stolen from them.
February 16, 2008 at 5:08 am
mike – I think this is exactly the point. You make Oz day a big deal and so chances are that your kids will really take that on board too – because it becomes more than just oz day and something extremely personal to them. I think that’s something that school can’t do and only family can.
kat – yes, sorry must be followed by action or else it is an empty apology. For us though, we’ve been living for years and year with this shadow of ‘why didn’t the last gov ever say sorry?’ – it became huge and divided the nation. The sorry itself has become about more than just sorry…it WAS action just to say it because it was so symbolic of accepting change and facing forward. A good moment.
egan – yes exactly! That dialogue of acceptance will hopefully change things. Language is thought after all.
felix – AMEN! what’s so wrong with public holidays? I reckon we could do with a few more. It makes people happy. It promotes more family time. It promotes well being! We work too hard (as a nation). I fully support Rolf Harris moving to England day – and am holding out for Nicole Kidman becomes gives up Australian Citizenship day!
February 16, 2008 at 5:11 am
steph – oh the countries at war thing is a completely inadequate analogy in so many ways! And thanks, it’s just how I feel – and it’s so true isn’t it that we say sorry to reach out to friends and even people we’ve just met even for things which are not directly our fault and yet we hold issue with saying it to the indigenous peoples? It stinks!
February 17, 2008 at 9:49 pm
I think “I’m sorry” can be an over-used phrase because so many people are insincere when they say it.
But it doesn’t sound like it was the case today. Sometimes, an apology is what you have to do to make a start. To begin a journey.
It sounds like it was indeed a great day for Australia. With good things coming now that the ball has been set into motion by two of the most simple words in the English language.
February 17, 2008 at 11:16 pm
I guess time will tell if Kevino7 will follow up the words with action. Forgive my cynicism… I remember a treaty back in 1988.
Nonetheless, it’s an important start… and it needed to be said.
February 18, 2008 at 7:19 am
amber – i think in this instance we aussies are taking it in good faith that the sorry is the first stepping stone to moving forward.
gb – yes, I know – politicians love to talk big don’t they? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Hopefully he will prove the cynics wrong!