Floodgates opened

As we all know, former Prime Minister John Howard refused to say sorry to Aboriginals for two main reasons. The first being that current generations, and indeed current governments, cannot be held liable for the injustices of past generations or governments. Secondly, he believed that it would open the Government to the liability of compensation claims. So instead, he moved a motion of “deep regret” in Parliament. Of course, this being John Howard, he was still derided as a racist scumbag and the moving of this motion has been glossed over ever since. Ask any left-wing political science student, or human rights activist and it’s as if he didn’t do anything at all.

Come November 24, 2007, Howard is tossed out of Government and Kevin Rudd and his dullard front bench are thrown into Government. Fast forward to January 2008, and Rudd says that on the first day of Parliament, he will say sorry to the Aboriginies. Uh, but there’d be no compo. None. Zip. Zilch.

Regardless of this, before and after Rudd’s apology to indigenous Australians, the calls for compensation have been loud and frequent. But, whether he likes it or not, State and Territory Governments — who have all said sorry in the past — are going to be the ones wearing the claims. And it’s only a matter of time before the Federal Government caves in to pressure, what with Jenny Macklin and her wet lettuce leaf of a spine as the Minister for Indigenous Affairs.

I do not dare suggest that Howard was right (what with the bile and hatred that would inevitably be spewed in my general direction), but I’m certainly thinking it loudly.