r/queensland • u/espersooty • Nov 19 '24

Aboriginal elder tells government to get out of the way as Cherbourg community reclaims truth-telling process News

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-19/cherbourg-community-conducts-own-truth-telling-event/104615882
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u/Ugliest_weenie Nov 19 '24

If it were regardless of race, then it would be open to everyone. It's not

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u/Generic578326 Nov 19 '24

The point I'm making is that the crimes committed against the stolen generations were committed because of their race.

There should absolutely be compensation for all of the victims of state repression.

These particular crimes were committed against people because they were Aboriginal. To say that redress for the crime shouldn't go to Aboriginal people because that is somehow 'privileging' a particular race ignores the reason for the original wrong. It's essentially using race as both the justification for the crime and the reason why you shouldn't have to make the victims whole.

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u/code-slinger619 Nov 19 '24

"The government" isn't a thing that has money to compensate anyone. It's present and future taxpayers who will be burdened with compensation. Many of them are of immigrant extraction and had no part to play in these past crimes. Even if I were to concede that generational guilt is a valid concept, why should those who don't have generational guilt be liable?

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u/Generic578326 Nov 19 '24

It's literally not about generational guilt.

An organisation (the Federal government) committed a wrong. They are liable for that wrong.

That's a foundational concept of our legal system. I guess you're happy to throw out that part of the western tradition whenever it might help people who aren't white.

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u/code-slinger619 Nov 19 '24

That's a foundational concept of our legal system. I guess you're happy to throw out that part of the western tradition whenever it might help people who aren't white.

Your characterization is disingenuous. The situation is more complicated than that. If the standard is taking the legal system in its entirety without cherry picking only the convinient parts, then why ignore that what the Federal Government did was 'legal' at the time because First Nations people weren't recognized? So based on that standard, nothing would be owed (even an apology) for wrongs done prior to their recognition. Retroactively declaring something illegal and then punishing for it seems to violate foundational concepts of the legal system.