Slowandeasy: Thanks for being a reasonable person, and don't worry about the children and their taunts ... I'm not aboriginal, and even if I was, calling me one wouldn't be an insult anyway (except maybe in the mind of a racist.)
As to your points and concerns, while I believe them to be reasonable, I don't think that in actuality they are valid, with the exception of the political one where no politician or government wants to put themselves up as a champion for something that so many people don't understand.
1st, the magnitude of the claims may seem to be astronomical, but in reality, something like that has never prevented similar cases from proceeding. Lots of claims for damages have started out asking for unreasonably large settlements, as everyone knows, when the parties finally decide to address the issue, the "awards" are always lower than the original claims. I don't see anything different happening here.
2nd: I agree, the politicians have something to fear personally, but I really don't give a shit about politicians in this case. If they can't do the right thing then I hope they do get roasted ... they deserve it.
3rd: No, they are claiming large amounts of money, as anyone bring in any kind of case before the courts looking for awards for damages does. They start off asking big to have some negotiation room. This is a normal situation and doesn't "scare" me in the least. The government can go in there offering $1, and negotiate upwards, so eventually either the government and the Aboriginal group will come to a more reasonable compromise, or the people doing the judging will say, $infinity is too much, and $1 is too little, so here is a realistic $figure that makes sense given the damages done to the claimant and the ability of the defendant to pay.
4th: We have also been the ones benefiting from these same "centuries old problems". If my Grandfather illegally stole your rich Grandfathers fortune, thus leaving your family poor an penniless, which meant that instead of you in all likelihood being sent to the best university, you instead had to take a low paying job to help support your family, while I, instead of taking a low paying job, went to the best university because my Grandfather used your Grandfathers money to send me there, and then set me up in a great business where I am now making millions ... wouldn't you think that my family, upon finding out that our good fortunes came from your families stolen fortune, shouldn't at the very least, be made to compensate your family?
I realize I didn't actually steal the money myself, but I did receive stolen goods, and there are lots of precedents in law where receiving stolen goods, even if you are not aware that the goods were stolen, does not entitle you to keep those stolen goods once they are discovered in your possession.
If my father steals a car and gives it to me, it doesn't matter that I didn't know it was stolen. If the owner and the police find out I have the stolen car, it is returned to the original owner ... in the case of Aboriginal land claims, even if it is shown the lands were stolen, we still get a chance to be compensated, or make some other arrangements to lessen our hardship in losing our ill gotten gains ... sounds more than fair to me.
I suggest we go to court, listen to the claims, find out if they have merit. If they don't then we've settled the argument in our favour; If they do have merit, then we accept that we have in our possession stolen goods, and make every attempt to come to a fair arrangement in returning the stolen property.
