Tony Abbott and Australia Day 2012

January 28, 2012 in Rants & Raves
Tags: Australia, Australia Day, human rights, Indigenous Australians, Invasion Day, politics, Survival Day, Tony Abbott

Tony Abbott is surely a fool.

People in Australia and around the world have read of the extraordinary events that occurred in Canberra on Australia Day (26 January for international visitors).  The headlines paint a pretty scary picture.

There’s also been a great deal of commentary about it already (and you can expect to read more in the coming days or until the media find something new to obsess about). There are some that I agree with and even more that I disagree with. For starters I can’t agree with the statements of ‘violence’ or ‘riots’ because the people I know that were participating in the protest said it was peaceful. I have no reason not to trust them; they are themselves non-violent people.

I won’t go into the condemnation of condemnations but I think it is disappointing that one of the most senior politicians in the country would have the insensitivity of telling Indigenous Australians that a lot has changed since the tent embassy was first established in 1972, and that people should move on. It would also suggest that Mr Abbott is not as in touch with the issues and challenges of concern for Indigenous Australians as he’d like us to believe.

For me the most disappointing thing is some of the utter rubbish passed off as commentary. It’s not particularly surprising to read  from commentators that the protestors misunderstood Mr Abbott and overreacted, and that this somehow had put a dark cloud over the day’s celebrations. It’s a pity that these so-called commentators didn’t bother to think about the nature and context of Mr Abbott’s comments.

Unfortunately for these commentators they’ve ignored the very essence of Mr Abbott’s comments – that things have changed and people should move on.

That somehow a national apology makes up for 200+ years of dislocation, displacement and despair is ludicrous and shows Mr Abbott to be insensitive. That somehow the massive gap in health and education is a sign of how much things have changed for the better shows how dangerously out-of-touch Mr Abbott (including the commentators and mainstream media) is with the issues and concerns of Indigenous Australians.

It’s also pretty disappointing that Mr Abbott made such comments with the You Me Unity report released last week recommending that Indigenous Australia finally be recognised in the constitution, including the removal of sections that sanctify racially discriminatory laws. Though who is entirely surprised he made insensitive comments given his comments about the recommendations contained within the You Me Unity report. When commenting on the report he was quick to add that he didn’t support removing the racially discriminatory sections. He argued amazingly that somehow those sections were essential to the capacity of the government to govern; that somehow removing those sections weakens our democracy.

For someone who claims he cares for helping Indigenous Australians attain their goals and aspirations, his comments on Australia Day and those following the release of the You Me Unity recommendations, reveal the opposite. Indigenous Australians have every right to be mad as hell with the comments made by Tony Abbott. And they have every right to protest his comments and positions.

Ultimately the scenes created by the hysteria of law enforcement agencies could have been avoided if Mr Abbott had bothered to excuse himself from the event he was at and speak with the protesters. I’m sure if he had bothered to be the man of his convictions like we’re told he is, he would’ve had no problems discussing his comments with the protesters. He was certainly given a perfect opportunity to correct false impressions, speak with people about his comments, and to calm the situation; to prove himself a leader but failed.

Ultimately, Mr Abbott’s comments reveal he isn’t interested in having a national conversation about a day many in the community view as the day they were invaded.

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