Other parts raise questions. I do not think that many non-Indigenous Australians would see a ceremonial spearing in punishment for a killing as an acceptable part of Australian law. Nor is it likely to be acceptable under any number of International Conventions to which the nation is party. On the Canadian model , perhaps some advanced form of self-government is possible, but don t expect reconciliation this millennium on that basis, because it wouldn t be politically popular here. This is perhaps the nub of the problem.
Reconciliation is a step further than treaties or agreements.
It requires an engagement beyond legal assent. It also requires near unanimity on all sides for it to be successful as a Government Project. If the Nine MSN online poll is any guide, Chairperson Evelyn Scott took a false step with the suggestion that the document should be recited by school children. The direction of that result, if not it s magnitude, was predictable. We also have yet to see much indigenous reaction.