SORRY FOR NOT REMOVING ABORIGINAL DESPAIR

From the published accounts of those who removed Aboriginal children
from their families, it is clear that most were following policies
they thought would reduce harm to the children.

More recently, policies of this type have come to be known as "harm
minimisation", and are being suggested to be applied to many other
problems, including drug abuse.

Rather than attempting to fix a problem, the "harm minimisation"
approach is to accept that the problem is ingrained and will
inevitably continue, but to seek ways to reduce harm to those involved
- - for example, by providing injecting rooms and free drugs to addicts.

It is interesting that some similar charities to those involved in
removing Aboriginal children have been involved 50 years later in
promoting "harm minimisation" for drug abuse. Earlier in the 20th
century, some with similarly altruistic motives promoted appeasement
of Nazi Germany, believing this would lead to "harm minimisation".
Instead, it led to the Holocaust.

In 50 years' time, one can only wonder which current "harm
minimisation" policies will be looked back upon with a similar sense
of disquiet to that which is now expressed over the stolen
generations.

Perhaps if our society had decided to take a "zero tolerance" approach
to the appalling conditions that many Aboriginal people lived in 50
years ago, and to spend more effort to fix those conditions (rather
than remove children from them), we might have more to be proud of
today.

Michael Copeman,
Northbridge.