Right now there is the same type of hope that was in the ether in 2000. But reconciliation must be more than a week – or a word

This year Australia’s National Reconciliation Week went with the theme: More than a word. Reconciliation takes action.

Yes, the need for meaningful action is urgent and hard to fault.

But at the heart of the matter was a problem with what was actually meant by reconciliation in the Australian context. The word itself was problematic. It is an old word derived from the Latin word meaning “restoration”, which usually referred to the restoration of previously good relations. It is difficult to see how this could possibly apply to Australian history.

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