This year, more than ever before, Australia has been confronted by a series of major challenges. It is natural to look to leaders for guidance through such uncharted territories. Leadership comes with both responsibility and power. In Australia, we expect leaders to be held accountable — whether among a group of friends, at a large corporation, or in parliament. In other words, we expect them to explain and justify their actions and decisions. We expect consequences when they perform their responsibilities poorly.
Facing the summer’s bushfires and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, our leaders in politics, business, and the community have been making daily major decisions with little or no precedent. Even in more normal times, it is inevitable that mistakes are made along the way. So, why do we move on from some mistakes but demand heads to roll in the wake of others (e.g. the recent departures of key leaders at both AMP and Rio Tinto)?
Genuine apologies are an important ingredient. They require not only the apology itself, but also an explanation and justification, plus the honesty and compassion that Australians seek in their leaders. While perhaps the scariest to make, the genuine apology is the only apology that opens the door to learning, forgiveness, healing, and moving beyond the mistake and the conditions that enabled it in the first place.
In this way, genuine apologies can be a force for making the future Australia wants.
In mid-August, the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Ruby Princess handed down its scathing report into the bungled disembarkation of passengers from the ship after two cruises in March. Hundreds of passengers would later test positive for COVID-19. In response, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian apologised “unreservedly to anybody who is continuing to suffer, or has suffered unimaginable loss because of mistakes that were made within our health agencies.” She acknowledged that, "I can't imagine what it would be like having a loved one or being someone yourself who continues to suffer and experience trauma as a result”. NSW Opposition Leader Jodi McKay accepted the apology at face value, saying, “I found her apology to be sincere, to be genuine and it's obviously something that has weighed very heavily on her”. At least some of the Ruby Princess passengers said they too accepted the Premier’s apology.
In mid-June, Prime Minister Scott Morrison, in response to the failed robodebt scheme, said “I would apologise for any hurt or harm in the way that the Government has dealt with that issue and to anyone else who has found themselves in those situations. … Of course I would deeply regret any hardship that has been caused to people in the conduct of that activity.” The Opposition spokesman for families and social services Bill Shorten labelled the apology as “crocodile tears”. Some people affected by the robodebt scheme also saw the apology as an empty gesture. Meanwhile, there have been calls for Services Australia staff to also receive an apology.
In February 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made what has become known as the National Apology to the Stolen Generations. He said on behalf of the Parliament of Australia:
We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians. We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country. For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry. To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry. And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry. We the Parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation.
This apology was largely accepted by the Opposition and the general public and by many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples: “Following the Apology, Lorraine Peeters, a member of the Stolen Generations, presented the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition with a glass coolamon, made by Bai Bai Napangardi, a Balgo artist. Inside the coolamon was a message thanking the Parliament for saying ‘sorry’ – that the Apology showed compassion and opened a path for walking together in the future.”
So, why were two apologies accepted and one rejected?
Part of the answer is that Berejiklian and Rudd were honest about failures, showed compassion for those affected, acknowledged their responsibility, and did not try to blame others or limit their apology.
In contrast, Morrison’s repeated use of conditional words like “would” and “any” limit the sincerity of the apology. His “would-any” formulation is reminiscent of the sport star / celebrity / politician “if-any” non-apology that starts something like, “I am sorry if I caused any harm…”.
But another part of the answer might be the grace that the NSW Opposition Leader and the Stolen Generations community brought to the table — accepting the apologies without point-scoring.
Imagine what would be possible for the future of the country if Australia became world champions in the genuine apology — given unreservedly and with explanation, honesty, and compassion and received with grace.