Still not sorry!?

Why have the federal acquisitions of Aboriginal lands without the "just terms" required by the Constitution  (a case already seeks to have this found unconstitutional) been accompanied by the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act, and the weakening, if not the removal, of the traditional communities’ rights to negotiate with resource companies on proposals for exploration and development. ALP amendments opposing these provisions were rejected.

Moreover, there is to be a replacement of the existing standards and safeguards of the mining of uranium by new proposals being developed by the Howard Government's "high-level uranium advisory group". Doesn’t this indicate an agenda directed to the facilitation of an urgent rush to large-scale mining of uranium both for export and for use in a possible new nuclear industry to be set up in Australia under the pretext of it being a "clean" energy source?

Maintaining Our Souls

Captain Cook had disobeyed his Royal Instructions: "If he found the land inhabited", he was ordered to "take possession of suitable sites ... with the consent of the natives". Yet consent has still not been formally negotiated. To me, this failure to seek consent represents "unfinished constitutional business" for all of us; and the reconciliation process is needed to formalise the legal foundation of the international nation-state of Australia. By re-taking control of the Aboriginal lands in the Northern Territory in this way, the Howard government in their hearts is still not obeying those long-ago orders because it is refusing to acknowledge the continuation of the land ownership "since time immemorial" of the Aboriginal peoples of Australia. There are indeed proper reasons for help to be given and there are proper ways to do it. A land take-over that seems to be part of other agendas being pursued at the same time is not a proper way for us to "maintain our souls".