Hi everyone out there at my school. I know these days you are busy with exams, but our week on Australia is nearly here! If you want to take some fun activities for your students to your class, check this link. I'm sure you'll find something to suit your needs!
Hope you go through the week, at least, with a smile.
In this video, we can watch and listen to the opinion of some Australians about the situation of aborigine population in the country.
Samantha Maiden and Matthew Franklin February 12, 2008
PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd has revealed the wording of Federal Parliament's apology to the Stolen Generations.
Mr Rudd has told Parliament the apology will be for the “indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture".
It pledges that Australia will work to ensure that "the injustices of the past must never, never happen again”.
Mr Rudd has just tabled the words he will use, the first part of which reads:
"Today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.
We reflect on their past mistreatment.
We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations – this blemished chapter in our nation’s history.
The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia’s history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.
We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians."
Read the full text of the apology here.
The National Aboriginal Alliance welcomed the wording of the apology, with spokesman Michael Mansell saying Mr Rudd had deliberately framed the motion to leave the door open to compensation for the stolen generations. Mr Mansell said the reference in the text to the government wanting to right the wrongs of the past suggested Mr Rudd was not ruling out compensation. “We look forward to working with the Prime Minister and the Government on working out the terms of the compensation package if that's what his words mean,” he said.
"The fact that these words are used in the text does indicate that the door is open for negotiations.”
Asked why he could form this conclusion when Mr Rudd had previously ruled out compensation, Mr Mansell said there had been a huge shift during Mr Rudd's short time in power and it was possible Mr Rudd was open to compensation but was not willing to clearly indicate this in the text of the apology. Mr Mansell said the one thing missing from the wording was an explanation for why indigenous children were targeted by authorities for removal from their parents. But despite this the aliance was totally behind the stolen generations in accepting the apology. “We are all looking forward tomorrow to hear the Prime Minister of Australia deliver that apology to the stolen generations,” Mr Mansell said. “I think the stolen generations members will be very relieved that that word (sorry) has finally been used because, as we know, the previous prime minister refused to use the very word that the victims were looking for.”
Source: The Australian
Now that you have the video, how about listening to complete the words I've forgotten (oops!) to include in the lyrics?
Hello everyone,
another possibility to get to know Australia... a webtask created by Ana MartÃnez and I. We hope you enjoy it and, remember, if you get to write the final task, e-mail it to me and I'll have a look.
... why not search the web and find a definition for the word "Aussie"?
Try here to find out.
