Tony Abbott criticised by indigenous leaders over naming First Fleet arrival ‘defining moment’

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott has come under fire from indigenous leaders over his comment that the arrival of the First Fleet was “the defining moment” in Australia’s history.

Launching an exhibition at the National Museum on Friday, Abbott’s comments weren’t going to go unnoticed when he repeated the line that has earned swift condemnation.

“The First Fleet was the defining moment in the history of this continent,” he said.

“Let me repeat that, it was the defining moment in the history of this continent. It was the moment this continent became part of the modern world.”

Despite his firm stance on the issue, head of the Stolen Generation Council for New South Wales and the ACT, Matilda House, said the PM couldn’t have been thinking straight when he delivered the one-liner.

“I can’t fathom how a ship or a boat sailed into Sydney Harbour can overtake the 60,000 years before,” she told ABC’s AM.

Chair of Abbott’s own indigenous Advisory Council Warren Mundine also joined the criticism.

Mundine told the program it was inarguable that the arrival of the first fleet in 1788 was a defining moment in Australian history, but added “it was also a disastrous defining moment for indigenous people”.

Abbott’s latest clanger was delivered at the opening of the Defining Moments Project in Canberra on Friday — the project has identified Australia’s 100 defining moments over the past 52,000 years.

http://www.news.com.au/national/tony-abbott-criticised-by-indigenous-leaders-over-naming-first-fleet-arrival-defining-moment/story-fncynjr2-1227042292321