25 May 2005
NATIONAL DAY OF HEALING MAY 26TH
The National Sorry Day Committee has renamed Sorry Day (May 26th) as a National Day of Healing for all Australians.
Accepting that the current Australian government will never deliver an apology on behalf of the nation for past injustices to Indigenous Australians, former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser has stated that there was still much that ordinary Australians could do to further the process of reconciliation. Mr Fraser was speaking at the media launch for the National Day of Healing and in his speech highlighted the failure of both major parties to advance Indigenous health, and Indigenous participation in Australian public life.
He went on to point out that several indicators of Indigenous well-being and involvement have seen a reversal in recent years. There are now fewer Aboriginal people at university than there were five years ago, and fewer Aboriginal people in the public service than a decade ago. The Office of Indigenous Policy, which is shaping the new approach to Indigenous affairs, has only one Indigenous person at senior level.
There has been no improvement in the life expectancy of Aboriginal people since the Commonwealth Grants Commission in 2001 reported the gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians as over 19 years. In New Zealand, the gap is 5 to 6 years; in Canada, it is 7 years; in the USA, it is 3.5 years. Every developed country except Australia eliminated trachoma decades ago; we still have 20,000 to 30,000 Aboriginal children going blind through trachoma.
For the full text of his address and information about activities planned around the country for Reconciliation Week visit the Journey of Healing website.
Accepting that the current Australian government will never deliver an apology on behalf of the nation for past injustices to Indigenous Australians, former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser has stated that there was still much that ordinary Australians could do to further the process of reconciliation. Mr Fraser was speaking at the media launch for the National Day of Healing and in his speech highlighted the failure of both major parties to advance Indigenous health, and Indigenous participation in Australian public life.
He went on to point out that several indicators of Indigenous well-being and involvement have seen a reversal in recent years. There are now fewer Aboriginal people at university than there were five years ago, and fewer Aboriginal people in the public service than a decade ago. The Office of Indigenous Policy, which is shaping the new approach to Indigenous affairs, has only one Indigenous person at senior level.
There has been no improvement in the life expectancy of Aboriginal people since the Commonwealth Grants Commission in 2001 reported the gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians as over 19 years. In New Zealand, the gap is 5 to 6 years; in Canada, it is 7 years; in the USA, it is 3.5 years. Every developed country except Australia eliminated trachoma decades ago; we still have 20,000 to 30,000 Aboriginal children going blind through trachoma.
For the full text of his address and information about activities planned around the country for Reconciliation Week visit the Journey of Healing website.
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