Roger focuses on liberal fantasies about the lost generation, but there is more to rue about the treatment of aborigines than just that. The first ever Australian census in 1911 counted only those who were 50% or more white. It was as if the aborigines did not exist.

At some later point, I’m unsure when, aborigines began to be counted in the actual census but it was not until 1967, when the constitution was amended that aborigines were counted when it came to determining how many seats each state received in parliament.

The point here is not to debate whether Ruud’s apology was wise, but there certainly were factual reasons to do something. One such step was made in 1985 when the ownership of Ayers Rock was returned to a local aborigine tribe. Have there been or will there be more such returns, or is White Australia now able to hide behind Ruud’s words and keep valued assets for themselves? Perhaps in a later column Mr. Kimball can bless us with his comment.