Australia - Report for The Indigenous World, 1999-2000

The article contrasts two Australias. One is a modern, open, inclusive society which wants to heal its history and the wounds of indigenous peoples through genuine reconciliation as a precondition for life as a unified nation in a busy, multi-racial world. The other associates its own comfort with a hazy past in which 'blacks knew their place' and women, intellectuals, people with foreign accents, and new-fangled technology were not forever challenging the adequacy of old prejudices and limited education. This latter Australia has no future but feeds fringe groups and eccentric little political parties lashing out at foreigners, minorities, and worldliness in general while major parties mute their ideals while hoping to harvest or not lose such voters