Macklin heckled on apology anniversary

Ms Macklin was speaking in Sydney on Friday when she was interrupted by an indigenous man who accused her of being racist and shouted "stop the intervention".

The minister, who was just minutes into her speech, was cut off after telling the audience the apology was the "first step", and the government now had a huge task ahead to improve the lives of Aboriginal people.

"If I could just say to you very sincerely we want to do it with you and with the greatest respect," Ms Macklin said.

The middle-aged man, who said he was a member of the stolen generation, then yelled from the back of the crowd: "Roll back the intervention.

"Reinstate the RDA (Racial Discrimination Act), the government's now more racist Jenny Macklin than you are.

"You want to be ashamed of yourself, you and your government ... you are no different to the previous government."

He stopped only when another audience member told Ms Macklin to continue but many in the room felt the issue needed to be discussed.

The minister remained silent throughout the tirade while giving her speech to an audience of about 100 people at the National Centre for Indigenous Excellence in Redfern.

In response, she said she was happy to talk to people afterwards, before returning her planned speech about the apology.

"If we can just today acknowledge the issues that are so significant for many, many indigenous Australians, and particularly the stolen generations," she said.

Ms Macklin later acknowledged that many people were opposed to the intervention.

She said the government was trying to do all it could to "close the gap" between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.

"I understand that people have the strong views they have," she said.

"But the government has just conducted probably the biggest consultation ever in the Northern Territory ... and the majority view from Aboriginal people is that income management is a very useful tool."

When asked to respond to the accusations of racism, she said the government was working to achieve equality for all Australians.

"We have legislation in the parliament right now to reinstate the operation of the Racial Discrimination Act and to make sure we introduce a non-discriminatory approach to income management."

To mark the anniversary, the federal government has invested $585,000 in the leadership skills of the stolen generations to support them as positive role models in the community.

Source: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/macklin-heckled-on-apology-anniversary-20100212-nwlc.html