Sorry

John Howard: I often wonder what goes through that shiny little head of his.

I feel a genuine sadness when I look at the person running our country--a homophobic, conservative, racist, smug little gnome--and I feel deeply ashamed. I feel a deep sadness at the state of affairs we are in. I often wonder if he realises that there are so many jaded citizens (his voters) in his country, ashamed and embarrassed by their elected leader? If he does realise this, I wonder if he cares? And if he cares, I wonder if does anything about it? I would wager than a good deal of my fellow jaded citizens actually voted for him, as I did, in the last election and now regret such a decision with their very souls.

I was lying in bed, half asleep, half watching the late news, when a story caught my attention. Today (17/8/06) marks the fortieth anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan, an important battle in the Vietnam War. I don't pretend to know the historical significance, but I do know it's a big deal. It caught my attention because my grandfather, who I've been becoming much closer with this year, is a WW2 veteran. I saw some footage of truly courageous men fighting in the battle and of various veterans making statements. I had barely finished thinking "now these are REAL Australian heroes" when Mr Howard invaded my television screen making a public address. What happened next took me by surprise and left me completely floored. He apologised to the veterans for the way the Australians of 40 years ago treated them when they returned home to Australia from the Vietnam War. I have to admit a wry smile and a small chuckle escaped my lips.

International visitors may not realise the significance of this statement, in my opinion one that is going to come back to haunt him in the not too distant future, but I hope Australian readers get the joke. Indigenous Australians, the original inhabitants of our great country, had their land taken from them by European settlers (along with their dignity, culture, customs, languages, and in many cases, their children) from the time of invasion in 1788. Yet our PM, John Howard, refuses point-blank to apologise for the way that they were treated at the collective hand of Australians at that time.

Does anyone spot a double standard here?

His argument against apologising to Indigenous Australians is that neither he, nor the present government, are (or were) responsible for the rape and pillage of Indigenous communities, and therefore he owed no apology. However the problem with such an argument is that the collective "Australian people" is not a person. It does not die; it carries on. Each year it gains a new leader in the election, but it is still essentially the same thing. It was the Australian people and their government who denied citizenship rights, voting rights, took their children, discriminated against them and took their lands. Similarly, it was the Australian people and their government of the 1960s who refused pensions, compensations, bravery awards and a whole host of benefits from our Vietnam Veterans. It was the Australian people who spat on them in the streets. The rightly deserve an unreserved apology.

If Howard can apologise for the sins of the Australian people in 1960, he can apologise for the sins of the Australian people from 1788 or any other year.

And don't even start me on the gay rights issues.

It really is sad. This isn't what being an Australian (whatever that means) is all about. We are a great nation, we are not a nation that should be ashamed of its leader. This isn't what the Australian Spirit is all about, something we hear about so often in our classrooms as children. The teachers don't explain the Australian spirit and the twin principles of mateship and hard yakka, only to conclude by saying "although these are the ideals we as a people strive for, when you reach voting age you will probably have a hand in electing a short bigot who will make you doubt your country's democratic system and ultimately cause you to feel extremely embarrassed to be Australian."

You are a tiny, tiny man Mr Howard. And I'm not talking about your stature.