Now we have the apology for an apology

Must not quote a black who is telling the truth on public record! And as for mentioning that PARENTAL CONSENT for child relocation was sought .... !

Federal Opposition leader Brendan Nelson has issued another very specific apology to a member of the Stolen Generations. In his speech in reply to the national apology this week, Dr Nelson referred to the story of a Victorian Aboriginal elder, Faye Lyman. But Ms Lyman says Dr Nelson did not ask her if he could use her story. When he incorporated it in what she describes as a "toxic speech", she says he took her comments out of context, misrepresented the way she was taken from her family, and made her feel "stolen all over again".

Dr Nelson phoned Ms Lyman to apologise for any offence he had caused. It was supposed to be a speech in support of saying sorry to the Stolen Generations but now Dr Nelson has had to apologise for his apology. On Wednesday he recounted part of the story of Victorian woman, Faye Lyman, a story she had given to the Many Voices oral history program at the National Library of Australia. "It was very hurtful to leave dad. Oh, it broke my heart. Dad said to me, 'It's hard for daddy and the authorities won't let you stay with me in a tent on the riverbank'," Dr Nelson recounted as Ms Lyman as saying, as part of his speech in Federal Parliament. "'You're a little girl and you need someone to look after you'. I remember him telling us that, and I cried, and I said, 'No, but Dad, you look after us'. "But they kept telling us it wasn't the right thing."

But Ms Lyman said that was not how it happened. "My Dad was not happy that I was taken," she said. "They cheated us, they cheated me of my life with him. Now, I feel like I'm stolen all over again. My dignity, and I'm ashamed he's done this to me, I'm so ashamed."

Speaking on ABC Radio in Melbourne, a clearly distressed Ms Lyman said Dr Nelson did not ask for permission. "He took my story of Many Voices oral history out of context," she said. The reporter who first came across Ms Lyman's story is Darren Linton from the Shepparton News. "Those words that you read out were sandwiched between an explanation as to the fact that some of these children were taken from squalid conditions for their own good, and that some ... it needed to be recognised that some good was done," Mr Linton said.

"And then immediately after reading out the quotes from Ms Lyman, Dr Nelson went on to say there is no compensation fund, and nor should there be. "Even the snippet of her story that was used doesn't represent what she says is the truth, and the truth is that her father gave her over to the authorities. "But only on the understanding, and she said both of them were of the understanding that they could see each other whenever they wanted." ....

Dr Nelson was unavailable to talk to ABC Radio's The World Today program, but a spokesman confirmed the Opposition Leader had a 20-minute conversation with Faye Lyman last night.

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Major regional hospital could not handle miscarriage

This hospital serves an area approximately the size of England

Bree Steele's shocking experience at Cairns Base Hospital is another tragic example of why the Far North is long overdue for a new, better-equipped hospital. Mrs Steele went to the Cairns Base Hospital emergency department the week before Christmas, with symptoms of an undiagnosed miscarriage. She was 13 weeks pregnant but was later told by her doctor that the fetus had died at eight weeks.

The mother of Adelaide, 1, said she was forced to wait six hours at the hospital and was eventually told to go home. She then spent another two days trying to get medical help through the hospital. Later she was told the hospital could not provide the treatment she required to remove the fetus, she told The Cairns Post. Eventually, on the advice of a midwife at the hospital, she went to Townsville for the surgery, which took only 15 minutes a day later.

"I didn't realise there was a problem with the hospital until I had to use it," Mrs Steele, 22, said. "It was traumatic event that was made worse. "I was in a totally desperate situation and no one could help me."

Queensland Health last night confirmed Mrs Steele had experienced a long wait, and had been told she would have to wait until the following week for an appointment to have the miscarried fetus removed. "Queensland Health deeply sympathises with Ms Steele's loss, and recognises what a deeply distressing experience this would have been for her," a Queensland Health spokesman said. "Queensland Health regrets that her experience with the health system was not to her satisfaction.

"While we appreciate how difficult it would have been for Ms Steele, the emergency department at Cairns Base Hospital was extremely busy that night, seeing 135 patients, which is more than the average daily attendance of 110 patients."

Mrs Steele said staff at the Cairns Base Hospital had their hands tied by a lack of facilities and resources. "I really hope this campaign comes to something because there would be other women out there like me," she said. "The hospital needs the services to cope with special needs." "They can't just rebuild the same hospital at a different location because we need more than that."

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Rudd Government and the car industry. Will protectionism return?

Post below lifted from Leon Bertrand. See the original for links

There appears to be contradictory signals coming from the Rudd Labor Government. First of all the Productivity Commission's report into the automotive industry has been disregarded in favour of appointing former Victorian Premier Steve Bracks to head a new inquiry.

Senator Kim Carr has revealed his reservations on the Productivity Commission's report because he believed it was a "tick and flick" based on "grandiose theory". Given his keenness for a "green car" which could never survive without government-imposed protection, it does appear he is rather strongly hinting at tariffs and/or subsidies.

However, Wayne Swan on the other hand has gone on the record to say "I don't think the choice of Steve Bracks is a throwback to the protectionist past. As premier he was the architect of the national reform agenda." Swan has also stated that "there will be no going back to the ideas of the past".

So the question remains: who do you believe? Senator Carr or Mr Swan? Because at the moment they appear to be telling two very different tales concerning what is going on.

We are very strongly opposed to tariffs, for all the reasons we have previously explained. We wish that the Rudd Labor government would drop tafiffs from 15 per cent to 5 or 10 per cent. If this damages the automotive industry, so be it. Better to re-train the workers who lose their jobs into traditional trades, where there are serious skills shortages, instead of importing so many foreign workers.




Special treatment for homosexuals again

A New South Wales Assistant Police Commissioner says community concern about homophobia has been taken into account in a re-organisation of the Surry Hills police command in inner Sydney. Catherine Burn says a new strategy has been developed for the command, which will now focus more on crime prevention and enhancing relationships between police and the gay and lesbian community.

Assistant Commissioner Burn says there has been criticism about the command, especially in its handling of crimes against gay and lesbian people. She says action is being taken to restore [homosexual] community confidence in the police. "We will be conducting liaison training and education of our police in hate crimes, and how to engage appropriately with the community and also in building that confidence," she said.

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