Apology? Yeah, right!

"You want to apologise, you take the belts off. You take the guns off."

Words spoken to NT police by the grandfather of another indigenous man who died in custody in the Northern Territory.

You have to wonder if the NT police really want reconciliation, to give a genuine apology. You have to wonder what's going on in our society and in the corridors of our governments. You have to wonder where we're headed. Would the same tortuous path be offered to the families of non-indigenous Australians who lose a child to a "death in custody"?

I know these themes have been discussed ad nauseam but isn't that the problem?

The Latin phrase means "until we are sick". We can add "of it" to give it even more weight. Surely Indigenous Peoples are vomiting from the pain, venom, disease, disrespect and outright prejudice and hatred they have endured?

Have any politicians ever spent significant time in the communities they purport to support? What is their sleep regime like, one might ask? Where is the idealism they carried to an election victory? And those bright eyes on election night - are they now dulled by a different, more powerful light?

I cry for the pain, the desolation and betrayal felt by Indigenous families who have lost loved ones. This journey is felt by all peoples who mourn family, but more acutely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples because their purported protectors have failed in their duty and have lost their humanity.