Aprils pitiful little rejects...

Tony Abbott’s opinion piece in yesterdays SMH (Balance gets the wobbles in lofty stacks, 12th April) seems another indication of an already disturbing trend towards allowing politicians to use the pages of our national newspapers as spaces for Party Political advertising thinly veiled as comment. Surely the political mix of the Heralds’ own commentators should be enough to give us a broad range of political arguments and perspectives without having to replace journalists or columnists with Liberal or Labor party hacks. If the Herald is going to continue this trend, perhaps we could have a separate page on which State, National and International politicians can have their say away from the democratic spaces of the letters and comments pages?


It is argued that one of the signs of a robust democracy is the ability to tolerate and benefit from dissent. Indonesia’s treatment of the Papuans is a clear denial of their right to disagree with, and agitate for change of, their government. It is interesting to note that Australia granted the Papuans protection visas based on claims of persecution by their government for speaking out. Meanwhile our own government attempts to curtail dissent in Australia through sedition laws and criticism of those who speak out against the Pacific solution policy. It’s not just Jakarta who should be asking for an apology; the blatant double standards here mean that the Indonesians, Papuans and the Australian public all deserve a long and sincere apology (“Jakarta: say sorry or no ambassador”, April 19th). Preferably followed by a resignation.


Recognizing the evils that have been perpetrated by our forbears does not inherently demand that we think of Australia society as anything but “relatively benign and tolerant” (Truce, and truth, in history wars, April 20th). On the contrary, an understanding of the history of dispossession and disenfranchisement experienced by Australia’s indigenous population can help us to understand how we as a society have changed and how much action is still necessary to ensure that Indigenous Australians are never again treated like second class citizens. The view shared by Ms Devine and Mr Windschuttle that our society would be crippled by such admissions misrepresents the general public of Australia who on the whole recognize that it is possible and often productive to recognize a shameful history and it’s resonance with other historical events like the Holocaust to ensure that we can with some confidence say “never again”.