Fed:The Great Hall crowd turns its back and boos Nelson en masse

AAP General News (Australia)
02-13-2008
Fed:The Great Hall crowd turns its back and boos Nelson en masse

By Melissa Jenkins

CANBERRA, Feb 13 AAP - Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson was booed by a crowd of about
1,000 people in the Great Hall of Parliament House as he delivered a speech today in support
of an apology to indigenous Australians.

By contrast, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's speech received spontaneous outbursts of applause
with the crowd rising as one to deliver a rapturous, standing ovation when he finished
speaking.

Indigenous and non-indigenous people of all ages crammed into the hall. Some held each
other, crying, throughout Mr Rudd's speech.

Dr Nelson was applauded when he began, but the crowd started to boo when he said there
should be no compensation fund for the stolen generations.

His remarks - that many Aboriginal people currently live lives of "existential aimlessness"

and depend on "welfare without responsibility" - were met with shouts of "shame".

As Dr Nelson continued to argue that present generations should not feel guilty about
what was done in the past, in many cases "with the best of intentions", the crowd turned
its back.

"Oh, come on!" one man yelled out.

"No more, no more, shut up!" another yelled.

AAP mj/rl/jm/bwl

KEYWORD: SORRY GREAT HALL

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