Time to unblock our ears on apology

February 1st, 2008 Posted in Pets Guide

A COUPLE of days ago, I stumbled on the story about Jerome
Bartens, of Haverfordwest in Wales, who had been half-deaf for nine
years. He had recently regained his hearing %26#151; not by some
miracle of modern microsurgery but the removal of a cotton bud that
he had shoved in his ear as a toddler.
This came on the same day that a much more important matter
resurfaced in relation to the Rudd Government’s plan to issue an
apology to our indigenous people. The apology will be an
acknowledgement of regret for the suffering caused by the removal
of thousands of children from the families and communities they
were born into.
In 2008, it is apparent from these unresolved issues that our
country has had cotton wool plugging up its ears for at least four
times as long as little Jerome. Like the removal of his cotton bud,
the utterance of the word sorry will not be precise surgery but is
an essential step towards alleviating some of the hurt.
Some may criticise the apology scheduled for February 13 as
empty words, but as Billy Bragg has reminded many during this
year’s Big Day Out tour: “Cynicism is the enemy of all of us who
want to make a better society.” I, for one, will wake up on
February 14 not a Valentine’s Day hopeless romantic but an
Australian, hopeful in the romantic notion that we have now pulled
out the cotton buds forever and opened our ears.
Daniel Slater, Melbourne
Sentimental do-goodism
TRAGICALLY, the proposed apology to the so-called stolen generation
of Aborigines is flawed on two significant grounds. First, it
effectively places blame on those who were attempting to take
responsibility for the many half-caste children fathered by whites
who abused Aboriginal women and then abandoned them and their
children, instead of on these abusers. Second, it inhibits removal
today of Aboriginal children from abusive situations that few white
children would be left in because of fear of being accused of
stealing such children.
Let’s have real honesty in this process instead of sentimental
do-goodism that isn’t prepared to face the real cause of
problems.
John Weymouth, Ringwood East
Say sorry for me, too
KEVIN, when you say sorry on February 13, are you sure you will be
doing it just on behalf of the Australian Government? You can say
sorry from me, too. I am so very sorry that my fellow Australians
acted the way they did. I regret that as Australians (using terms
indigenous or non-indigenous somehow seems divisive) finding a way
to live harmoniously together in this beautiful land eluded us then
as it eludes us now. I am also deeply sorry that we haven’t
assisted many Australians to live with dignity in recent times; our
homeless, our sexually abused children, our vulnerable elderly.
Why do we leave it to the Government? Why not ask ourselves how
we can contribute? Imagining how we would feel if we were them
would be a good start.
Christine Kaine, Toorak
No apology necessary
I WAS taken from my poor family home near Cobar, NSW, in the 1930s
and placed in children’s homes and a private home in Sydney. I did
not see my family for several years. In retrospect I know that I
was unhappy at times, but I was probably better for the experience.
The people involved in my welfare treated me very well at all
times. Likewise, I suppose that some indigenous people lived in
better conditions after their removal from their families. Some
became well known in various fields.
I have never considered demanding an apology from any government
and I do not believe the current Government or any Australian owes
me an apology for my separation from my parents.
Jack Mott, Craigieburn
Walk the talk on bay protection

HOW much do Victorians really value the appearance of our bay? A
quick stroll from any car park along the Mornington Peninsula to
the shoreline will not fail to reveal litter left by campers,
fisher-people and beach-goers. Plastic bags, drink containers and
cigarette butts line the coast and coastal vegetation. The Rye
jetty this week was covered in bags of litter placed next to
hopelessly inadequate bins, bottles and cans left behind presumably
by party-goers, pizza boxes, and polystyrene coffee cups, all
waiting to be blown into the bay in a gentle breeze.
We have no right to protest about a potential layer of silt or
damage to the ecology brought about by dredging when we ourselves
seem to take no care. May I suggest that when you leave the beach,
take not only your own rubbish, but keep filling up your rubbish
bag. If everyone does a little more perhaps we can then stand on
our collective soapbox.
Victoria Fitzgerald, Camberwell
Review the facts
IS IT possible to have a dispassionate review of the facts rather
than have your readers put up with the continual, strident,
far-fetched diatribe of the anti-dredging lobby?
Perhaps The Age could review and publish the facts. I
understand the bay has been continually deepened since the first
sailing ship entered it. The tonnage of ships of all types has
continually grown and the channels in the bay have been continually
deepened to accommodate them. Over this period there will have been
disturbance to the sea floor and to its inhabitants, but fish seem
to have adapted to these changes. I feel sure some government body
has a record of what has happened and not happened and over what
time-frame.
Peter Nicholson, Sorrento
Tactical blackmail?
WHAT genius contracted to bring in the dredge before the go-ahead
was issued? Was this a result of certainty that the will of the
Port of Melbourne Corporation would prevail, come hell or high
water? Or was the daily penalty of $250,000 for dredging delay a
tactical blackmail to guarantee an otherwise uncertain outcome?
Angela Munro, Carlton North
Shun Carey for life
THE Nine Network and 3AW are right to terminate contract
negotiations with Wayne Carey. He may be a legend of AFL, but he
has a history of violence against women. As someone who now profits
from his opinions on both the game and its players, his personal
life should still stand up to scrutiny, particularly as he has
scrutinised others who play football and judged them harshly.
Carey should be shunned by the AFL and the media that cover it
for life, not just a mutually convenient period, if those who run
and cover the game are serious about making AFL more palatable to
women and families.
Sarah Bowman, Wangaratta
Spectating mad
THE old Romans were fixated on bread and circuses as their empire
collapsed forever. Now, as the Western empire totters and the
Eastern empire picks up the pieces, we too are fixated on
commodities and the spectacle. Nothing has changed but the
technology. We’re just as stupid but much fatter. Hardly anyone
actually plays sport, but watching it while consuming fast food and
alcohol is a favorite pastime. And now, with players as celebrities
and “role models” playing to an intrusive and hypocritically
moralistic media, we have a whole other sporting circus.
Who, of any sensitivity, would want the role of an elite
sportsman with all the scrutiny and unavoidable narcissism? Those
who play sport at the local level for the activity, companionship
and friendly competition are the real role models. Am I the only
one who’s completely sick of professional sport with its avid
promoters, lawyers, up-themselves stars and wall-to-wall media
coverage?
To say that Australians are “sports mad” is incorrect, we are
“spectating mad” %26#151; voyeurs lolling about and dribbling while
Rome burns.
John Laurie, Newport
When will shame of detention end?
RE: MICK Keelty’s call for a blackout on the reporting of
counter-terrorism cases, we need less, not more curbs on freedom of
the press. All praise to the media which does show us the facts
about Government and the AFP’s processes. Aside from The
Age’s notable leadership on Cornelia Rau, forgotten refugees on
Nauru etc %26#133; most journalists did not do nearly enough to
expose the denied rule of law and breached human rights of children
and adults in Australian immigration detention centres.
How else could men neither charged nor tried nor sentenced for a
crime still be denied their liberty after three and four years?
Don’t we value personal liberty?
I am still visiting damaged, broken immigration detainees in a
private hospital for acute mental services. More than 60 days of a
Labor Government and this travesty of justice continues.
Frederika Steen, Chapel Hill, Qld
Get real on rail
I WRITE regarding your recent article concerning the State
Government’s lack of commitment to providing rail services into
Melbourne’s northern growth corridor (The Age, 29/1). It
should come as no surprise that its commitment has never been real.
This is best demonstrated by its refusal to take up the offer of
$80 million from the former federal government to fund road
overpasses at South Morang and Plenty Road to enable the rail line
to be extended from Epping to Mernda.
The truth is, if the State Government had any genuine commitment
to providing rail infrastructure, it would have grabbed the $80
million, which was to be funded from the Auslink program, with both
hands. Its failure to do so is proof of its neglect of the
thousands of families who are establishing their homes in this fast
growing area.
Fran Bailey, MP, federal member for McEwen
Captured by coal
PROFESSOR Ross Garnaut has been carbon captured (The Age,
30/1). The coal lobby has convinced him that the best way to cut
greenhouse gas emissions is not to have targets. He is singing from
the Big Coal song book.
Climate change is an urgent issue.The science is unequivocal
that we must act now to prevent its worst consequences. There are
predictions that the arctic could be ice-free in summer by 2013,
and if we reach this point, positive feedbacks in the climate
system could well make it irreversible. If Professor Garnaut allows
himself to become a mouthpiece by those intent on delaying action,
let’s hope the Government doesn’t pay too much attention to his
recommendations.
Mark Ogge, Brunswick
What about doctors?
I AM continually reading articles about how little teachers and
nurses make in Victoria and how they should be striking to get more
pay. What is never printed is how little junior doctors earn and
the conditions they have to work in. An intern this year will be
earning $23.90 an hour after spending up to eight years at
university %26#151; the lowest rate in the country.
Catherine Deveny’s article “Teachers should strike for more pay”
(Opinion, 30/1) highlights the need to pay more money to get better
teachers in a state with a surplus of $800 million. With our
current hourly rate, why should junior doctors not put their hands
up for better wages and strike with the backing of the public and
media. Surely, like teachers, we should not have to work “for the
love of it”.
James Bacon, Brunswick
Stop hoarding our money, Premier
IF THE Victorian Government can’t pay teachers and nurses what they
deserve, if it can’t provide sufficient trained police officers, if
it can’t provide sufficient public housing, if it can’t provide
enough buses and trains, if it can’t build the required port and
rail infrastructure at Hastings and it can’t provide for the care
of the mentally disabled, what is it amassing this enormous surplus
for? What is the Government planning to do with our money?
Melanie Bennetts, Lower Templestowe
Carbon scepticism
I THINK your article on Tim Flannery’s carbon offset suggestion
(The Age, 30/1) would have benefited from just a modicum of
scepticism and intellectual questioning. Consider that I have a
similar proposal to avert animal suffering. When roasting a
chicken, I will pay my neighbour money if he agrees not to kill his
exotic pet parrot (this year). Nearly everyone is happy %26#151; I’ve
eaten, the neighbour is rich and the parrot is preserved. However,
there is still a battery hen on the dinner table. And even if all
the parrots in the world are saved, it’s irrelevant because the
battery hen trade will continue.
How does this differ from the proposed forest trade? We could
leave every tree on earth untouched to eternity but if Flannery’s
book is correct, our current lifestyle will cause the Apocalypse.
Let’s hear just how this thing really works?
Mark Suss, Caulfield South
Need before greed
WHILE I applaud the Rudd Government for injecting much-needed funds
into our health system, I feel that the most vulnerable are being
forgotten. I am the mother of four young children, one of whom was
diagnosed with a profound disability shortly after birth, requiring
24-hour care. Due to the enormous costs associated with raising a
child with such high needs, I am astounded at the lack of
government assistance.
The aids and equipment funding represents about 55-60% of the
total cost of buying equipment such as standing frames, walkers and
wheelchairs, with many children having to wait up to eight months
for the funding to be approved. This leaves many families hundreds
of dollars out of pocket, with many having to pay the entire cost
of the equipment because they cannot wait this long.
The financial and emotional cost of raising a disabled child is
enormous. I believe that every disabled person should have
immediate access to fully funded specialist equipment. Let me be
the first to raise my hand to redirect those promised tax cuts
towards establishing a fully funded aids and equipment program and
one step closer to my son’s independence.
Sarah Alcock, North Balwyn

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