Too sorry?

Tim Blair is a bad, bad dude. Funny bad, though. While I don't agree with his non-apologetic stance concerning aboriginal Australians, there are many reasons why the detail of the apology matters. To this effect, Claire Smith made a relevant observation in her letter in today's Sydney Morning Herald:

How is it that the new "consensus-style" Government of Kevin Rudd, which has promoted itself as open and listening, got so close to the planned apology without letting the rest of us see the wording?

If community consultation and discussion was ever called for, it was for this. Most of us agree sorry needs to be said, but for sorry to mean anything, we must know what we are saying, and why and how we are doing so. The Government was not just frustrating the Opposition with its delaying tactics, it was snubbing the millions of non-indigenous Australians who also want this momentous occasion to speak for them.

Claire Smith, Chatswood