http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/apology/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/hush-your-apologies-you-celebrity/ Last week, Madonna earned the ire of florists everywhere when she revealed her contempt for hydrangeas. After receiving a bunch of the popular flowers from a fan at a press conference, cameras caught the Material Girl chucking them aside and whispering: “I loathe hydrangeas”. Pre-empting the inevitable online rage, Madonna uploaded a video “apology”, which saw her gently caressing a forlorn arrangement of the purple flowers. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/hush-your-apologies-you-celebrity/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/hush-your-apologies-you-celebrity/#item6715 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Blimey, we can barely make it through a week without someone proffering an apology. Those above came from John Galliano, Tiger Woods, Todd Carney, Ricky Nixon and Fergie, the Duchess of York – whose latest transgression led her to admit: “I am just so contrite, I cannot say.” This, just two weeks after her last apology for offering to sell access to her ex-husband, saying she needed to “find the lotus flower within”. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/celebrity-apologies-and-crocodile-tears/ Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Blimey, we can barely make it through a week without someone proffering an apology. Those above came from John Galliano, Tiger Woods, Todd Carney, Ricky Nixon and Fergie, the Duchess of York – whose latest transgression led her to admit: “I am just so contrite, I cannot say.” This, just two weeks after her last apology for offering to sell access to her ex-husband, saying she needed to “find the lotus flower within”. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/celebrity-apologies-and-crocodile-tears/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/celebrity-apologies-and-crocodile-tears/#item5414 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Blimey, we can barely make it through a week without someone proffering an apology. Those above came from John Galliano, Tiger Woods, Todd Carney, Ricky Nixon and Fergie, the Duchess of York – whose latest transgression led her to admit: “I am just so contrite, I cannot say.” This, just two weeks after her last apology for offering to sell access to her ex-husband, saying she needed to “find the lotus flower within”. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/sorry-is-no-longer-the-hardest-word/ Last week British Prime Minister David Cameron apologized in the house of commons for what he called the ‘unjustified and unjustifiable’ actions of British troops on Jan 30 1972 in Londonderry Ireland – a day better known now as Bloody Sunday. On that day 14 demonstrators were killed and many more injured while protesting against internment. An investigation in the aftermath of the day cleared troops largely of any wrong doing.  However, 38 years later and a follow up investigation costing $280 million, it was concluded that the initial findings were incorrect and that the victims were unarmed and had been engaged in a peaceful protest. In Northern Ireland, the Troubles had been rife in the two years prior to Bloody Sunday, but that day remains one of the most significant events since it was carried out by the army and not paramilitaries, in front of the public and world press. For that reason, David Cameron’s apology is most significant and was duly met with great applause. But where does an apology like that lead, are there consequences? Will potential criminal prosecutions for “unlawful killing” by soldiers open up old wounds- what about the other side, the unionists? Will they now seek apologies for those in their community who were also killed during those years through bombings, assignations or shootings.  Could this apology destabilize the peace process or alternatively, strengthen it? feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/sorry-is-no-longer-the-hardest-word/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/sorry-is-no-longer-the-hardest-word/#item3385 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Blimey, we can barely make it through a week without someone proffering an apology. Those above came from John Galliano, Tiger Woods, Todd Carney, Ricky Nixon and Fergie, the Duchess of York – whose latest transgression led her to admit: “I am just so contrite, I cannot say.” This, just two weeks after her last apology for offering to sell access to her ex-husband, saying she needed to “find the lotus flower within”. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/pope-apology-wont-be-enough-for-change/ Ever tried to apologise to someone and been rebufffed? Pope Benedict experienced just that on the weekend when he made an apology to Irish people who were sexually abused by Catholic priests. His apology came in the wake of last November’s government report, The Murphy Report, which found the Irish clergy “obsessively” concealed child abuse by priests in Dublin from 1975 - 2004 and operated under a policy of ” don’t ask, don’t tell.” feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/pope-apology-wont-be-enough-for-change/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/pope-apology-wont-be-enough-for-change/#item2675 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Blimey, we can barely make it through a week without someone proffering an apology. Those above came from John Galliano, Tiger Woods, Todd Carney, Ricky Nixon and Fergie, the Duchess of York – whose latest transgression led her to admit: “I am just so contrite, I cannot say.” This, just two weeks after her last apology for offering to sell access to her ex-husband, saying she needed to “find the lotus flower within”. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/not-just-government-closing-the-gap-apology/ Every now and then life deals you a moment which overloads your emotions. You’re not sure whether to cry or cheer or run and hide just to catch your breath. That’s how I felt standing on the sixth floor of NAB’s Melbourne headquarters when watching Kevin Rudd’s apology to my people’s stolen generation. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/not-just-government-closing-the-gap-apology/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/not-just-government-closing-the-gap-apology/#item2370 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Blimey, we can barely make it through a week without someone proffering an apology. Those above came from John Galliano, Tiger Woods, Todd Carney, Ricky Nixon and Fergie, the Duchess of York – whose latest transgression led her to admit: “I am just so contrite, I cannot say.” This, just two weeks after her last apology for offering to sell access to her ex-husband, saying she needed to “find the lotus flower within”. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-apology-that-turned-out-to-be-just-words/ When Kevin Rudd delivered an apology to the indigenous people in 2008, he committed himself and his government to a series of practical measures, designed to lift many aborigines from appalling conditions of poverty and abuse. He promised a new bipartisan approach under the leadership of himself and the Leader of the Opposition. Subsequently, he promised the report on this great moral challenge on the first sitting day of each Parliamentary year. Today these solemn promises can be seen for what they were: hyperbole from a Prime Minister who regularly makes grand statements but fails to follow-up on many of them. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-apology-that-turned-out-to-be-just-words/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-apology-that-turned-out-to-be-just-words/#item2363 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Blimey, we can barely make it through a week without someone proffering an apology. Those above came from John Galliano, Tiger Woods, Todd Carney, Ricky Nixon and Fergie, the Duchess of York – whose latest transgression led her to admit: “I am just so contrite, I cannot say.” This, just two weeks after her last apology for offering to sell access to her ex-husband, saying she needed to “find the lotus flower within”. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/what-makes-a-good-apology-forgotten-australians/ The former Democrats Senator Andrew Murray, one of the driving forces behind today’s apology to the “Forgotten” Australians recently told Kevin Rudd that while many apologies had been made by state governments, churches and charities to the children abused and neglected in care in this country “some were better apologies than others.” There was a pretty strong sense in the Great Hall of Parliament House this morning that this apology was one of the “better” ones, how ever you might define it. For a start you could hear it. “Sconey”, 40, from South Australia, told The Punch when the SA Government apologised the speakers didn’t work. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/what-makes-a-good-apology-forgotten-australians/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/what-makes-a-good-apology-forgotten-australians/#item1745 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Blimey, we can barely make it through a week without someone proffering an apology. Those above came from John Galliano, Tiger Woods, Todd Carney, Ricky Nixon and Fergie, the Duchess of York – whose latest transgression led her to admit: “I am just so contrite, I cannot say.” This, just two weeks after her last apology for offering to sell access to her ex-husband, saying she needed to “find the lotus flower within”. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/for-leonie-for-vera-for-everyone-who-suffered/ In 1957 a little girl’s life was changed forever. She was three years old when her family was torn apart, when she was separated from her brothers and sisters and sent to St Catherine’s Orphanage, in Geelong. For the next thirteen years she lived in constant fear of being punished for every minor indiscretion and with the empty feeling of a childhood deprived of love.  She wouldn’t see her brother again for forty years.  Hers is one of half a million stories. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/for-leonie-for-vera-for-everyone-who-suffered/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/for-leonie-for-vera-for-everyone-who-suffered/#item1750 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Blimey, we can barely make it through a week without someone proffering an apology. Those above came from John Galliano, Tiger Woods, Todd Carney, Ricky Nixon and Fergie, the Duchess of York – whose latest transgression led her to admit: “I am just so contrite, I cannot say.” This, just two weeks after her last apology for offering to sell access to her ex-husband, saying she needed to “find the lotus flower within”. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/acknowledging-the-anguish-of-those-we-forgot/ - This is the speech given by Labor MP and Punch contributor Richard Marles this afternoon on the Forgotten Australians. The Punch will run some of the MPs’ addresses this week. Today we have heard just a few of the half a million stories of the Forgotten Australians, each as sad and as powerful as the last. Collectively they represent a well of pain and a great wrong which today our nation acknowledged. Among those are the stories of the co-founders of Care Leavers Australia Network (CLAN) - Joanna Penglase and Leonie Sheedy. These two were the driving force behind the original Senate inquiry. They have been the driving force behind the National Apology. Their shoulders have provided support for a multitude of Forgotten Australians. Their ears have heard a thousand stories and in the process provided relief. They are great Australians. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/acknowledging-the-anguish-of-those-we-forgot/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/acknowledging-the-anguish-of-those-we-forgot/#item1748 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Blimey, we can barely make it through a week without someone proffering an apology. Those above came from John Galliano, Tiger Woods, Todd Carney, Ricky Nixon and Fergie, the Duchess of York – whose latest transgression led her to admit: “I am just so contrite, I cannot say.” This, just two weeks after her last apology for offering to sell access to her ex-husband, saying she needed to “find the lotus flower within”. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-do-you-make-up-for-a-lack-of-parental-love-apology-forgotten-australian/ Breaking the news to Leonie Sheedy that our national Government was to apologise to the Forgotten Australians and the former Child Migrants unequivocally rates as the best day in my short parliamentary life. As she screamed with a mixture of disbelief, joy and relief the enormity of what this will mean to the 500,000 Forgotten Australians and the 7,000 Child Migrants was palpable. Leonie’s emotions were overwhelming and they overwhelmed mine. It was impossible not to join in the tears. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-do-you-make-up-for-a-lack-of-parental-love-apology-forgotten-australian/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-do-you-make-up-for-a-lack-of-parental-love-apology-forgotten-australian/#item1124 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Blimey, we can barely make it through a week without someone proffering an apology. Those above came from John Galliano, Tiger Woods, Todd Carney, Ricky Nixon and Fergie, the Duchess of York – whose latest transgression led her to admit: “I am just so contrite, I cannot say.” This, just two weeks after her last apology for offering to sell access to her ex-husband, saying she needed to “find the lotus flower within”.