Category: Indigenous


National Reconciliation Week

Filed under: Baptists, Indigenous, reconciliation — Leave a comment
May 31, 2011

This weekend marks the beginning of National Reconciliation Week, a time for reflection on the past, an honest assessment of where we’ve got to as an inclusive society, and an opportunity to forge a better future together as Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

It is 43 years last Friday since the 1967 referendum, and this coming Friday is the 18th anniversary of the High Court’s historic Mabo decision. Churches have been at the forefront of engagement with Aboriginal and Islander peoples, not all of it good, but today they are leading the way.

The Baptist churches have released a fresh statement acknowledging the wrongs and hurts of the past, and standing in solidarity with all who pursue justice and mercy for Indigenous people.

Baptists have urged the Australian Government to enact just laws and policies to improve Indigenous health, housing, education and employment; and they urge their constituents to work with Indigenous people to heal the wounds of the past and establish Australian society on a more just and harmonious foundation. Easier said than done, but definitely worth a try.

Broadcast in 2CH Sydney, Sunday 29 May 2011.

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Using the Bible in English classes

Filed under: education, Indigenous, literature — Leave a comment
February 11, 2011

Australian author Tim Winton and some rocks

 

The Federal Government’s national school curriculum includes the study of Aboriginal culture and spirituality at almost every year level, but nothing about our nation’s biblical heritage, says NSW teacher David Hastie.

Knowledge of the Judeo-Christian Scriptures is important for cultural as well as spiritual reasons.  Even ardent atheist Christopher Hitchens said, “You are not educated if you don’t know the Bible.  You can’t read Shakespeare or Milton without it.”

And it’s not just classical Western literature – the works of post-colonial writers such as Salman Rushdie, Allende, Marquez, and Neruda are infused with biblical material.

And great Australian writers like Les Murray, Tim Winton, Gwen Harwood and Thomas Keneally also make use of biblical narratives and motifs.

The new Australian English curriculum requires the study of Indigenous dreaming stories, rightly regarding Aboriginal spirituality as of national importance.

Why should it not also introduce school students to the literature of the Old and New Testaments as essential background to our cultural and historical heritage?

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 13 Feb 2011.

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Customary law fiasco

Filed under: Indigenous, Islam — 1 Comment
October 2, 2010

Yuendumu from the air. Source: homepage.mac.com

By Rod Benson

When a large group of Aboriginal men, women and children fled from the central Australian community of Yuendumu last week, they were fleeing a form of retributive justice, a tribal punishment inflicted by spears, where violence repays violence and the accused are shamed into changing their ways.

It’s not for me to pass judgment on those who fled, or on those who sought to bring justice at the point of a spear, but the event raises a thorny issue we should consider more carefully than we do — should we continue to condone Aboriginal customary law in Australia, and recognise it in the legal system?

A society that has more than one legal system, and where different standards of justice pertain to cultural or religious minorities, is a society in crisis.  It is only a matter of time before sharia law also claims legitimacy on a similar basis in this country. 

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 3 October 2010.

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Reconciliation requires action

Filed under: Indigenous, Kevin Rudd, social justice — 1 Comment
September 18, 2010

By Rod Benson

Recently the NSW Parliament moved to follow counterparts in Victoria and Queensland in reforming its Constitution to formally recognise and honour “the Aboriginal people as the state’s first people and nations,” and “as the traditional custodians and occupants of the land.”

Similarly, Prime Minister Julia Gillard has indicated that she will hold a referendum on whether to recognise Indigenous people in the federal Constitution, after an abortive attempt in 1999.

I welcome these moves as a symbolic turn toward justice after more than two centuries of largely ignoring past wrongs.  Mr Rudd’s National Apology early in 2008 was another sign that Indigenous justice and reconciliation are regarded as more than theoretical niceties by the Australian people.

Yet the danger is that mere words will not be accompanied by courageous and costly and healing actions.  Yes, we should change the NSW and Australian Constitutions.  But that will only be the beginning of a new journey. 

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 19 September 2010.  Image: Andrew Sheargold/Getty Images,

13 Feb 2008.
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Saying sorry is not enough

Filed under: Indigenous, social justice — Leave a comment
September 8, 2010

By Rod Benson

It is 30 months since former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said sorry to the Stolen Generations, acknowledging the great harm done to children and their parents.

A large number of Australians strongly approved of the National Apology.  They felt the right thing had been done, and they felt relieved and cleansed.

But many believe no further action needs to be taken.  Lawyer and human rights activist Julian Burnside is not among them.  He believes the harm done should be compensated, and advocates for the creation of a national compensation scheme focused on children removed from their parents by the state without welfare justification.

Will the original owners of this land receive justice in the form of compensation for the wrongs done to them?  Will it heal our national wounds?  Probably not, at least not until lone voices like that of Julian Burnside are joined by thousands of others who agree that saying sorry is not enough. 

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 11 July 2010.

Image: http://www4.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/Stolen+Generations+Accept+Apology+Kevin+Rudd+WAet_3yLD5ml.jpg

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