Reconciliation spirit is vital

That a formal apology for wrongs committed is directly relevant to the matters with which Brough is concerned today, in particular allegations of child abuse in Aboriginal communities, ought to be self evident.

There is, in Aboriginal Australia, a continuing deep distrust of the European culture.

It is a distrust that is exacerbated by the refusal of European Australia, through the Federal Government, to say sorry for crimes committed in years gone by.

Ministers like Brough are outraged at crimes committed by Aboriginal people against each other, and demand this behaviour end immediately and that those who commit the crimes show remorse.

Yet, Brough belongs to a government that stubbornly refuses to apologise for equally horrific crimes committed by white Australians on their Aboriginal compatriots over two centuries, instead wanting to sweep the issue under the carpet.

At Farley's funeral the congregation was reminded of the 1997 Reconciliation Convention, where Rick met his future wife, Linda Burney, then an outstanding advocate for Aboriginal education, now a NSW MP. It was at this event that Prime Minister John Howard deliberately broke that political and policy consensus.

If Brough were to persuade his prime minister that if he were to return to the bipartisan spirit of the early 1990s and acknowledge that only through a genuine spirit of reconciliation will substantial progress in Aboriginal Australia be achieved, then he will have achieved as much as Farley did for the advancement of race relations in his country.