Sorry to Aboriginals (2)

The Australian parliament opened today and in a ceremony they said sorry to the indigenous peoples of Australia - prime minister Rudd called them the oldest continuing cultures in the world. Especially he said sorry to the Stolen Generations. The many children, taken from their parents. He called this step a part of the healing of the nation. We hope it will be that. What he and others said indicates further steps that should be made, in order to close the gap in health, education etc existing between white and aboriginal Australians. Of course this is a good step. Shame upon former prime minister Howard, who did not attend this apology, a thing he has opposed to all his time in office.
The road to reconciliation always starts with reflection on the past, acknowledging what happened and ask for forgiveness. After that, actions must be taken to decolonize and to remove unjustice, until full reconciliation can be reached. This is a valuable first step, even if we can understand the Aboriginal voices outside the Parliament, which were asking for recognition of their sovereignty as a people.

Australia made a good step. Sweden made this step as well some years ago. But now it is up to Sweden - and Australia - to show what a sorry means in practice. So far, Sweden has not done so well...

The text of the apology can be founde here:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23202612-5013172,00.html