Everybody's saying sorry. Jesse Ryder's saying sorry. Oscar event organisers are saying sorry. And of course, Kevin Rudd is saying sorry for the "stolen generations" and insisting it will all never happen again.
Sophie Mirabella isn't saying sorry. Who the hell is she? She's an Australian Liberal MP (right) who sat out 'Sorry Day' and later expressed her principled opposition to the whole sorry spectacle of people apologising for things they didn't do -- to the Rudd Government's refusal to "release its legal advice regarding compensation claims that may flow as a result of the apology"; to the paternalistic nature of the Apology; to "the policies that ensconced the welfare mentality and dependency into the subculture"; to "the failure to confront the harsh truths of life in Indigenous communities"; to "the misguided paternalism which did nothing to right the wrongs of past decades"; and to "the damaging mindset of the victim mentality, which pervaded the psyche of Indigenous affairs and made coming face to face with the more pressing problems of Aboriginal communities nigh on impossible."
To all of these and more she is opposed.
She is opposed to the flimsy basis on which the whole Apology is based; that "the very term ‘stolen generations’ is not defined, is not qualified ... [and] is too simplistic"; that "in purely legal terms, the word ‘stolen’ has specific meaning denoting criminality, giving rise to "the question of whether welfare officers and other government employees are, by implication, to be held liable in some way for their involvement in saving children at risk of harm in local communities"; that "this apology will entrench the notion of Aboriginal disillusionment and more firmly ensconce the victim mentality right throughout Indigenous Australia"; and that "many who have dared offer an alternative viewpoint, expressed a contrary opinion on the wording of the motion or called for more debate have been called uncompassionate, callous and racist, as if compassion is strictly limited to those who endorse the Prime Minister’s ‘sorry’ motion—as if they have an exclusive monopoly on compassion."
Bravo!
As Aussie Objectivist Prodos says, "it’s refreshing to find a politician who isn’t cringing and grovelling in the radiant fog that is Rudd." Isn't it funny how it's so often the women politicians who have the balls?
Prodos supports Sophie Mirabella, and he thinks you should too: Join his campaign of support here.
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