Here's some money, now go away. (1 Viewer)

[Justin]

http://www.smh.com.au/news/National...-passed-in-Tas/2006/11/28/1164476198945.html#
Stolen generations bill passed in Tas

November 28, 2006 - 6:34PM



Tasmania's upper house has passed landmark legislation to compensate the state's stolen generations.
The Stolen Generations of Aboriginal Children Bill 2006 was passed unanimously without amendment late on Tuesday.
The $5 million funding package will provide one-off cash payments to more than 100 members of the stolen generations and their children.
The bill will make Tasmania the first state in Australia to financially compensate Aborigines forcibly removed from their parents' homes in what Premier Paul Lennon describes as a "vital step" for reconciliation.
The bill is expected to receive royal assent by the end of the year and should be proclaimed law early next year.
More than 100 members of the stolen generations and their children are expected to benefit from the compensation package, which Mr Lennon unveiled in Launceston last month.
Compensation will be available to Aborigines who were removed from their families between 1935 and 1975 and remained in state care for more than a year.
Payments of up to $5,000 (capped at $20,000 per family) are also open to the children of deceased people who would otherwise have been eligible for payments.
Members of the stolen generations will have six months to apply for compensation. An independent assessor will have a year from commencement of the act to scrutinise applications.
© 2006 AAP

They seem to think that handing out money is going to undo years of damage and deterioration. Even though they say it's a "step" towards reconciliation, it isn't going to do anything really. What other "steps" do they have planned?

 

[Testpilot]

Well we know they won't say sorry.

 

[onebytwo]

good topic

but should there even be a debate?

 

[withoutaface]

They seem to think that handing out money is going to undo years of damage and deterioration. Even though they say it's a "step" towards reconciliation, it isn't going to do anything really. What other "steps" do they have planned?

The biggest steps I'd like to see are a leg up into employment and incentives to migrate to regional centres.

 

[katietheskatie]

They seem to think that handing out money is going to undo years of damage and deterioration. Even though they say it's a "step" towards reconciliation, it isn't going to do anything really. What other "steps" do they have planned?

what the hell do you want them to do, say sorry for something this government had absolutely nothing to do with? or invent a time machine to rewind time so it never happened in the first place?

-insert some joke about aboriginals and centrelink-

 

[neo o]

The biggest steps I'd like to see are a leg up into employment and incentives to migrate to regional centres.

Is this guy one of your trolling projects?

 

[withoutaface]

Nope, it's mathmite. I only use alternates when they're famous people or when my main account's banned.

 

[neo o]

Nope, it's mathmite. I only use alternates when they're famous people or when my main account's banned.

R.I.P. George W. Bush

 

[withoutaface]

gaybasher was my favourite

 

[Captain Gh3y]

I always thought all the Aborigines in Tasmania had been genocide'd.

but should there even be a debate?

No, we should just let anyone claim some money from the Tasmanian Government. In fact, it may be that you don't even have to be Aboriginal,

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20800040-5006788,00.html

Independent members of the Legislative Council Paul Harriss, Jim Wilkinson and Kerry Finch said they were broadly supportive of the bill, subject to government assurances.

The compensation legislation will provide $5 million to be distributed to Aborigines taken from their families under assimilation policies up to 1975.

The children of those taken but since deceased will also be entitled to compensation, to be distributed by an independent Stolen Generations Assessor.

Mr Harriss, who is of Aboriginal descent, said he was likely to support the bill but would first seek assurances that no claimants would be excluded because they were not recognised as indigenous by the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre.

Although it doesn't say in the original post's article (about the bill now being passed), whether this part was eventually included or not.

 

[littlewing69]

what the hell do you want them to do, say sorry for something this government had absolutely nothing to do with? or invent a time machine to rewind time so it never happened in the first place?

-insert some joke about aboriginals and centrelink-

Just say sorry on behalf of the Australian state. It's simply good manners. Other countries such as Germany have apologised for their historical evils, it's time we did the same for ours.

If you really think we should disavow ourselves of history entirely, I expect you will be complaining loudly next time Howard rabbits on about the ANZACS. If we don't accept the shame of the bad parts of our history, we shouldn't be accepting the pride in the good parts.

 

[gerhard]

heaven forbid, could there be some aboriginals who actually deserve compensation?

 

[littlewing69]

Don't be facetious. I don't understand, for example, why we should say sorry when it wasn't our generation. And I don't understand why the descendants of those 'stolen' deserve the compensation - I'll bet most of them had more opportunities living in the 'white' community than otherwise.

Do you enjoy living in Australia? I do. I also know that for me to be able to live here, a lot of bad stuff was done to the previous owners of this land. I have indirectly profited out of the misery of others. Sorry

 

[gerhard]

From my amateur undergraduate knowledge of psychology, i'd say forced removal from homes as well as loss of culture and identity can be quite emotionally destabilising.

Also, why can't you let the democratic process take place, and let the courts decide whether those stolen deserve compensation. Any arguement against this seems anti-democratic.

 

[yy]

i always wondered about saying sorry. if australia as an collective said sorry to aborigines, and because aborigines are also australians, doesn't that mean they're saying sorry to themselves?

 

[Captain Gh3y]

Also, why can't you let the democratic process take place, and let the courts decide whether those stolen deserve compensation. Any arguement against this seems anti-democratic.

Last time the courts got involved in the Stolen Generations (the Cubillo-Gunner test case) they got an outcome you wouldn't like:

http://www.quadrant.org.au/php/article_view.php?article_id=1397

O’Loughlin J concluded that the evidence did not support a finding that there was any general policy of removal of part-Aboriginal children such as that alleged by the applicants.

 

[gerhard]

why wouldnt i like the outcome?

i have no problems acknowledging my lack of knowledge in this area and most others and have full confidence in the courts to come to a suitable conclusion.

my argument is that anyone who doesnt want to let the courts decide mustnt have faith in the system of the courts and thus the democratic system.

 

[blue_chameleon]

Australia brings many different backgronds together as one, Aboriginals especially included. Saying sorry for past governments "mistakes" (to put it lightly) is only going to further harbour the "us" vs's "them" attitude, and imo isnt likely to further the assimilation efforts.

The time to say sorry has well and truly past, as unfortunate as it is. The present government needs to increase focus on policies which give Aboriginal people a greater chance to steer away from a life of crime and alcohol abuse and government dependence.

 

[KFunk]

Don't be facetious. I don't understand, for example, why we should say sorry when it wasn't our generation. And I don't understand why the descendants of those 'stolen' deserve the compensation - I'll bet most of them had more opportunities living in the 'white' community than otherwise.

A quick comment on the latter point about descendants of the stolen:

Earlier this year I did an assignment on parent-child attachment relationships and their impact on emotional development. It seemed to be the case that the presence/absence of a relationship with a caregiver greatly influenced the development of things like empathy, communication skills and emotional regulation. Looking at primate studies, a lot of animals which were raised without a mother became neglectful (even abusive) parents in later life. In particular neglect seems to have a negative effect on childhood development... In any case, I would argue that emotional damage inflicted on past generations do indeed affect and filter down to later ones. Whether saying 'sorry' is an appropriate form of compensation is another matter, but I certainly feel that the Aboriginal community, on average, is landed with a fairly raw deal and that some form of compensation would be reasonable (in particular things like school breakfast programs, aboriginal health funding - they often have 3rd world disease rates - , school counsellors, social workers etc. etc.). To blue chameleon: the question of whether saying 'sorry' further alienates their community is a fairly interesting one, have people got any thoughts on this?