Canberra Liberal shadow attorney-general Peter Cain has apologised for his former views. Photo: Thomas Lucraft.
The Canberra Liberals campaign is again in trouble with the revelation in The Guardian of views from shadow attorney-general Peter Cain on the colonisation of Australia and race relations between First Nations and the British.
Mr Cain has had to apologise for views from 2002 that he says he no longer holds, and Leader Elizabeth Lee was again put on the defensive during the campaign after she was forced to disavow social media comments on Welcome to Country ceremonies and other conservative grievances from a candidate in Ginninderra, Darren Roberts.
Mr Cain is also running in that seat, which is now a train crash for the Liberals, who are only running four candidates after MLA and former frontbencher Elizabeth Kikkert was booted from the ticket and the party over alleged bullying and breaches of electoral rules.
She has vehemently denied the party’s allegations and is now running for the ultra-conservative Family First Party.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr seized on the textbook excerpts, saying that right-wing conservatism keeps bubbling away among the Canberra Liberals and rising to the surface.
“Elizabeth Lee is doing her very best to hide it, but it keeps on emerging,” he said.
The Guardian reported that in 2002, Mr Cain wrote a student workbook and teacher’s manual titled History of Australia, published by Light Educational Ministries, which develops Christian-based educational materials for homeschoolers and schools.
In it, he failed to mention the frontier wars, writing only that “some were afraid of the Aboriginals; some treated them badly”.
Mr Cain portrayed the role of Christian settlers and Christianity in general favourably.
“But the governors tried to protect the Aborigines and encouraged Christians to tell them about the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Christians also tried to help the Aboriginals by caring for them and teaching them English so they could be part of the growing settlement,” he wrote.
One exercise talks about the “unfortunate things that happened” but asks students to discuss how Aboriginal people have been “blessed” by the coming of the British.
Mr Cain also wrote about the conversion of First Nations people and the benefits that Christianity had bestowed.
“Darwinian evolution actually taught that some Aboriginal people on the Earth represented a lower stage of humanity in the evolutionary tree,” he wrote.
“The Origin of the Species [sic] influenced some during the nineteenth century to see Aboriginal peoples as inferior and not worth the full rights of other human beings.
“In a Christian perspective all human beings are made in God’s image and one of the responsibilities for the Christian Church is to make disciples of the nations … generally speaking, the settlement of Australia was accompanied by a desire to help Aboriginal peoples.
“The gospel of Jesus Christ is no doubt greatly appreciated by the many Aboriginal Christians in this land today. Even those Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals who do not consider themselves Christian receive the benefits of a society that still operates in many spheres upon Christian presuppositions and order.”
Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee said the book was written 22 years ago and was not party policy. Photo: Ian Bushnell.
He described God as the “creator of Australia” who had made plans for the various tribes and nations “in the hope that they might find the truth about God”.
“God knew the Aboriginal peoples and made a plan for their salvation,” he wrote.
Mr Cain said in a statement that he had sincere respect for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and “wholeheartedly” apologised for any offence given.
“My own understanding of First Nations history and culture has developed considerably in the over two decades since the student workbook was authored and published and I no longer hold these views,” he said.
Ms Lee said Mr Cain had come out “proactively” and apologised for comments that have may have caused offence.
“Peter has confirmed that he has a lot of respect for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and that his views have significantly evolved over the last 22 years,” she said.
Ms Lee said the book’s words were not party views but were written 22 years ago for academic purposes.
She did not think the report would set back relations with the ACT’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people.
“I’ve got a great relationship with many local community elders and leaders and I have no doubt that we will continue to have a very productive relationship,” she said.
Asked if this would hurt Mr Cain’s and the party’s chances in Ginninderra, Ms Lee said that was up to the people of Ginninderra.
“You know, there’s probably many people who reflect back on 22 years ago and probably realise their views on a number of different issues have evolved and changed,” she said.
But Mr Barr said Mr Cain was only one of a number of Canberra Liberals whose voting record in the Assembly and history demonstrated “extreme right-wing views”.
“Elizabeth Lee proposes that he will be the man writing laws for the Territory,” he said. “You look at that textbook that he wrote this century, this century – that gives you an insight into his views.
“But he’s not the only one. It’s a consistent trend. It is endemic in the party.”
Mr Barr singled out shadow health minister Leanne Castley for her “controversial” views on abortion access.
“These people hold extreme right-wing views,” he said.
“That’s very clear and it’s coming to the surface in this campaign.”
Mr Cain’s website says that he had a 20-year career as a high school mathematics teacher, then as a teacher and principal in the non-government school sector. He completed a law degree in 2001 and was elected to the Legislative Assembly at the last election.
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