Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/ ... z3BqNKcMFr" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;Tony Abbott under fire for calling First Fleet Australia's 'defining moment'
Date August 30, 2014 - 11:45AM
Prime Minister Tony Abbott's comment that the arrival of the First Fleet was the defining moment in Australian history has earned a rebuke from indigenous leaders.
The chairman of the Prime Minister's Indigenous Advisory Council, Warren Mundine, has told ABC Radio that white settlement was "a disastrous defining moment for indigenous people".
Mr Abbott made the remarks at the opening of a history exhibition at the National Museum in Canberra on Friday, repeatedly stating that he believed the arrival of the First Fleet "was the defining moment in the history of this continent".
"It was the moment this continent became part of the modern world. It determined our language, our law and our fundamental values. Yes, it did dispossess and for a long time marginalise Indigenous people," Mr Abbott said.
"As Noel Pearson frequently reminds us, modern Australia has an important Indigenous and multicultural character. Still it's British settlement that has most profoundly shaped the country that we are."
The head of the Stolen Generation Council for NSW, Matilda House, told the ABCs AM program on Saturday: "I can't fathom how a ship or a boat sailed into Sydney Habour can overtake the 60,000 years before."
Whomever the head of the so-called Stolen Generation Council is... obviously needs to wake up and smell the real world.