Former Prime Minister John Howard was the agent of national responsibility and history. Apparently, he still can’t see that.
You would have liked to have thought you would never hear from him again. After all, he had been out of office for 15 years. And in the main, he had been so quiet, settled into well-deserved obscurity. But no, along comes the National Archives of Australia and its annual release of cabinet papers, and we’re back to 2001. We’re back to John Howard.
And we’re back to the black armband and the apology he wouldn’t make, and still won’t. He’s consistent, if nothing else.
In 1997, a year after the Coalition won power, and Howard became prime minister, the “Bringing Them Home” report into the Stolen Generations recommended that a formal apology be made for the removal of Indigenous children from their families, and the devastating and traumatic ripple effect it had.
But Howard wasn’t going to apologise. Really, people shouldn’t have expected such a thing from him. In his mind, it all happened a long time ago and thus, not in his time, and thus not in his universe.
In October 1996, seven months after being elected Howard said this:
‘‘I profoundly reject the black armband view of Australian history. I believe the balance sheet of Australian history is a very generous and benign one. I believe that, like any other nation, we have black marks upon our history but amongst the nations of the world we have a remarkably positive history.
‘‘I think there is a yearning in the Australian community right across the political divide for its leader to enunciate more pride and sense of achievement in what has gone before us. I think we have been too apologetic about our history in the past. I believe it is tremendously important, particularly as we approach the centenary of the Federation of Australia, that the Australia achievement has been a heroic one, a courageous one and a humanitarian one.’’
Last week, when interviewed on the events of 20 years ago, he told SBS: ‘‘I was not in favour of an apology for a couple of reasons. The first one was that the idea of one generation apologising for the acts of another is an empty gesture.
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‘‘If you apologise for your own behaviour, that has meaning, but I think it’s a very empty thing for one generation to say, ‘Well, we apologise for something that was done by other people.’ That’s meaningless.’’
Actually, what is without meaning is Howard’s justification for his non-action, both initially and to the present. As prime minister, he should not have spoken for one generation, his, but as part of a continuum of this country’s history. He was the representative of government. It really had nothing to do with generational gap.
He was the agent of national responsibility and history.
Apparently, he could not, and still can’t, see that.
The destruction of his argument that an apology would be an empty gesture was seen, and felt, when Kevin Rudd actually made the apology when he was prime minister. Rudd said, in part:
‘‘For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.
To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.
And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.
We the Parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation.’’
The apology meant something to whom it was being given, that is the Stolen Generations, their descendants and all the First Nations people. It meant something to the one giving it, that is the top representative of this country’s government and history, the prime minister. How could it not?
To argue that it was done by other people is too neat and too cynical. It wasn’t about him, and yet he couldn’t see that, still can’t.
And for that, Howard owes this nation an apology.
A variation on the “personal responsibility” mantra of the LNP and right wing. “I didn’t do it, it’s not my responsibility”. That’s why they love it – personal responsibility lets them weasel out of any responsibility.
You can just see LNP’s rewriting of history in 50 years… “A terrible plague fell upon the land and the people did not take personal responsibility. Many became seriously ill. Hospitals were overrun. Many people died. Businesses were crippled and failed. Millions lost their jobs. And still the people did not take personal responsibility. The great ‘Scotty from Marketing’ tried. He holidayed; he traveled; he lazed around; he did photo ops; he even flew in a barra from the NT. He tried. But he was just an ‘ordinary bloke’, what else could he do? He had tried to show the people the life they too could have if only they’d take responsibility for ridding the land of the scourge. But they did not listen. And so today, we say sorry. Sorry to ‘The Great Scotty’, to Josh, to Christian, to Peter. Sorry you had to endure an ignorant electorate that threw you out despite being the greatest hands-off government (and hands-on behind locked doors) this country has ever known.”