ipl-logo

Why Does John Howard Refuse To Say Sorry?

2155 Words9 Pages

The ‘Sorry Speech’ Questions
1. Based on the information provided in this spread, give at least three reasons why John Howard refused to say sorry, and place them in order from most to least important.
It is for these reasons that I believe former Prime Minister John Howard refused to say sorry; By publically apologising the government would be admitting culpability, John Howard was reluctant to accept responsibility of others doings and he also believed that Australia’s civilisation began when white people arrived in Australia.
Publically apologising and taking accountability for the theft and mistreatment towards the Indigenous Australians, could potentially cause the government to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars due to compensation …show more content…

The physical and mental abuse inflicted on the Indigenous Australian’s, by the Europeans, is now recognised as, very un-Australian.
The Australian government done the right thing when it came to apologising to the Indigenous Australians. As the first Europeans never apologised for the pain and heartache felt by the Indigenous Australians, it was up to our government to apologise and help mend the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Paul Keating and Kevin Rudd are amongst the few politicians that have formally apologised to the Stolen Generations and other that were impacted by the settlement. It was not out of guilt that our government apologised, rather to achieve the common goal of, belonging and equality.
The Howard government, when refusing to apologise, were unmistakably on the ‘three cheers’ side of history. In Howards speech presented on the 30 October 1996, he stated ‘… I think we have been to apologetic about our history…’ later going on to say ‘… the Australian achievement has been a heroic one, a courageous one and a humanitarian one.’ The Howard government didn’t seek to apologise fearing if they did, they would be admitting culpability and risked being inundated with claims for compensation, also seeing an apology to be unnecessary due to their absence of involvement in the past events. By no means, were the Howard government required to take ownership of the past events if they were to apologise, however refusing to say sorry was a wrong

Show More
Related
297 Words | 2 Pages

Introduction Robert James Lee Hawke was born on the 9th of December 1929 at Bordertown, South Australia. Robert Hawke was the 23rd prime minister of Australia, being in office for the longest period of time. He had been the Australian prime minister for eight years and has contributed immensely to the Australian society throughout his political career. As a prime minister, two of the most significant contributions he made were the Economic Summit of 1983 which produced a “Wages Accord” with trade unions and reforming the Australia’s education and training system. The accord improved economic growth with inflation and cut real wages.

Read More
932 Words | 4 Pages

John Curtin John Curtin was an outstanding individual dedicated to a better Australia. Often described as serious and stern, these characteristics helped him to be the great leader he was during the nation’s toughest times. He was hard working and never stopped fighting for what he believed was right. The combination of these has made him one of the country’s most recognisable Prime Ministers today. This essay will explore how he rose through the ranks: from being an average child in WA to becoming wartime Prime Minister, and his determination and tenacity to overcome the fate of Australia.

Read More
1740 Words | 7 Pages

Introduction In 1993, the former Victorian Premier, Jeff Kennett, stated that ‘from good we gain pride; from the bad we learn; and from the totality of our past we gain our identity'. In his speech, Kennett speaks about his ideologies of republicanism and his “excitement” for the potential for the nation to position itself for the future. The quote is derived from a section of his speech, where Kennett is talking about Australia’s history with the United Kingdom and how it is best forgotten. He states that whilst this section of Australian history is best forgotten, Australia, as a nation, cannot pick and choose its history.

Read More
1078 Words | 5 Pages

Freedom of Speech, the right to vote, and the right to equality in public places. These are all basic rights that everyone in this world should have. All over the world, including in Australia discrimination of these rights occurred for the native people of the land. This happened because of their race and skin colour.

Read More
834 Words | 4 Pages

As the world grew more populated, to many Australians it seemed that Great Britain was both a physically long way and also very different to Australia. The Australia of pre World War II was now very different to the Australia colonised by the British so many years earlier. In 1919, Australia had, for the very first time, been considered a fully self-governing nation and was asked independently of Great Britain to be a part of the Treaty of Versailles (Carrodus, Delany and McArthur, 2012). Prior to this, Britain was responsible for all political agreements for Australia (Museum of Australian Democracy).

Read More
709 Words | 3 Pages

We are gathered here today, in loving memory of the greatest prime minister to ever grace Australian soil. Gough Whitlam broke a 23-year-old dry spell for the labour party and although his term in office was a mere three years, in that three years he did more than any other prime minister ever has and truly began to shape the Australia we live in today. From humble beginnings, to fighting for Australia, Whitlam was a man of great courage and will and for that his legacy will transpire long past his time. FIRST BODY PARA: ‘Terra Nullius’ the two words that initiated white superiority in Australia for over 100 years. Gough Whitlam was the first Australian prime minister to accept instead of oppress and put an end to a previously idealistic

Read More
788 Words | 4 Pages

Essay Outline The human race that inhabited the lands earlier than anyone else, Aboriginals in Canada had conquered many obstacles which got them to what they are today. In the past, Canadian Aboriginals have dealt with many gruesome issues that primarily involved the Canadians opposing them or treating them like ‘‘wards.’’ The Indian Act is a written law which controls the Indian’s lives and it is often amended several times to make Indian lives either peaceful or cruel but especially, cruel. Aboriginals found the Indian Act a massive problem in their lives due to it completely controlling them and how they lived on their reserve.

Read More
625 Words | 3 Pages

Sorry Speech (2007) in the acknowledgement of the maltreatment of Aboriginal people which brought Australia closer to

Read More
989 Words | 4 Pages

Australia Day is one of the most unique national day’s in the world throughout history, celebrating the day of when our ancestors first arrived on the borders of Australia, in 1788. Rather than unite people as one whole though, the spirited outcome of this event isn’t what as anticipated by everyone and has divided the Australian society for good. And so it should be held at an alternative date, where Australian citizens feel worthy of their identity and not cheated by it. However, the celebration shouldn’t be adapted to like that of other commemorations like ANZAC day. Essentially, this day will always be a tragic memory for the indigenous and be viewed as the invasion of their homeland.

Read More
637 Words | 3 Pages

After Paul Keating left office and the 25th Prime minister being John Howard openly declined to apologise to the stolen generations and to, accepting the ‘Brining Them Home Report’, he strongly believed that it wasn’t his responsibility to apologise for something that he did not do but the past Prime Ministers did. On the 13th of February 2008 our 26th Prime minister being Kevin Rudd took it upon himself to take responsibility for what the past Prime ministers did to those of the stolen generations, for the lives that were damaged and for those who are still suffering from

Read More
652 Words | 3 Pages

This article discusses the speech given by an Indigenous journalist, Stan Grant who participated in a debate where he spoke for the motion “Racism is destroying the Australian Dream’’. Hence, the main points of this article are mostly evidence given by Grant in his debate to support his idea that the Australian Dream is indeed rooted in racism. One of the main points is that the indigenous Australians are often excluded and disregarded as non-Australians simply due to their race and skin colour. Grant pointed out the incident where AFL player Adam Goodes was publicly jeered and told that he did not belong to his country as he was not an Australian despite the fact that Australia indeed is the land of his ancestors.

Read More
974 Words | 4 Pages

Australia has been labelled as the country of mateship, fair-go and tolerance, but the mistreatment of Asylum seekers in Australia denies these values. In our anthem we sing “For those who’ve come across the seas, we’ve boundless plains to share”. It ironic isn’t it? As when Asylum seekers arrive in Australia we do not offer a hand of mateship instead we use punitive matters such as sending them to mandatory detention, which shows how xenophobia is manifested in Australia (Ariyawansa,

Read More
2221 Words | 9 Pages

The purpose of this report is to address ethnocentrism and Islamophobia in Australian society and how it can be reduced. This report will cover three key points. The history of ethnocentrism in Australia, how extreme versions of ethnocentrism such as Islamophobia is effecting Australian society, and how it can be resolved. This information has been drawn from peer reviewed academic journals and online newspaper articles. ISSUE History of Ethnocentrism

Read More
1396 Words | 6 Pages

"Reconciliation will not work if it puts a higher value on symbolic gestures rather than the practical needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in areas like health, housing, education and employment." Warren Mundine AO Reconciliation is the action of making one view or belief compatible with another according to the Oxford dictionary of English. The term reconciliation was used as a symbolic gesture in an address made on February 13th 2008 by the former Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd. Kevin Rudd was the first political figure to speak out and seek reconciliation for the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders after being elected as prime minster in 2007. He spoke out after many generations of mistreated Indigenous Australians that had their rights and equality continuously ignored, but after all that has happened, including the effect of broken families, which still in 2018 have the aftermath of "The stolen generation", there was only one public apology and no compensation for the damages caused to the native people of this country.

Read More
141 Words | 1 Pages

Recently a controversy was being raised about changing the date of Australian Day, as it is considered the day when aboriginal lost their land and freedom. The issue is being discussed by the Yarra Council Mayor Cr Amanda Stone, who took the initiative to not only commemorate the British invasion of Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islanders land. Her main point in that article is to basically identify the Australian Day as a date which symbolizes loss of culture, language and the identity of ingenious people. This makes sense to us that the people affected by this issue are mainly Australian citizens (Aboriginals). Following this response, another article was published called, ‘Changing the date of Australian Day won’t change our past’ by Joe

Read More

More about Why Does John Howard Refuse To Say Sorry?

Related Topics

Open Document