Spoken at last by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd:
Today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.
We reflect on their past mistreatment.
We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations – this blemished chapter in our nation’s history.
The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia’s history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.
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 fathers, the brothers and 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.
For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written.
We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australian.
A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.
A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity.
A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have changed.
A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.
A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country.
7 comments:
Yes it was a nice speech and all, and Kevin Rudd was sincere and heartfelt; but I wonder how long it takes before clamouring call for 'compensation' begins.
I wonder if now we will hear an apology to the OTHER 'stolen generation' - the tens of thousands women during that same 70 year period who were drugged, blackmailed, tricked and had their babies stolen from them simply because they were unmarried? Women like my mother who were totally fucked up by having their 'illegitimate' babies ripped away from them at birth or told they had died, just to be able to be adopted out, and are now unable to lead a normal life as well...
I doubt we'll hear an apology in parliment for these white women's grief and the generational impact it has had for the children and grandchildren of these women...
How does a national apology impact an individuals right to claim compensation? Many white women who suffered similar appalling circumstances have.
Of course it does not, and I am sure there are many indigenous persons who before this apology have, or are currently applying for compensation for whatever their individual circumstances are.
What happened to many of those people is dreadful, as is any child that is taken from their mother.
What frustrates me is 'excuses'... in my experience dealing with indigenous people on a daily basis, it is not colonisation that is the root of their problems, it is generational entitlement, alchohol and drug problems.
I imagine that a good number of those children will be saying THANK YOU to the government of the day for rescuing them from situations such as we see in Arakun and the other communities. No this is NOT an isolated incident, and I actually had an indigenous colleague tell me it is because of the white man that indigenous children are being gang raped.
And here is a question, do we now leave all indigenous children who are being abused and neglected in their situations for fear of accusations of another 'stolen generation'? When most of a community walks into Alice Springs to get drunk on dole day, leaving the kids behind, do we turn a politically correct blind eye?
What happened in the first part of last century what misguided, and yes hurt a lot of people. But I can guarentee if there were mobs of white people living in shacks in the scrub with no education, health care and being sexually interfered with - DOCS would be there in a flash. I can tell you from someone who deals with this, I have had Safe Kids wanting to interfere with a white mum who was homeless, but DOCS not doing a thing about a pregnant 12 year old who was living on the streets and being bashed by her 20 yo indigenous boyfriend!
I'm all for the apology, and we watched it proudly... but what we are not proud of is our fellow Australians of indigenous descent (not those 'stolen' themselves), clammering for money.
Well you're describing your Mum and women like her as "totally fucked up" and "not being able to lead a normal life" and the "generational impact" that occurs there because of what has happened to them and yet you don't like this as an "excuse" to be all fucked up and in need of help? It sounds like a pretty good reason to me!
And I don't think there would be such a thing as generational entitlement or drug and alcohol problems throughout the Aboriginal population before colonisation. Do you?
Obviously I don't think anyone should turn a blind eye to children being mistreated.
Of course you don't think a blind eye should be turned, because you are an educated, intuitive person. But imagine the pressure on the government now every time they remove an indigenous child from their parents from now on...
I have never said that the stolen generation did not impact the future generations (as having their babies removed from them did my mother and the women of her generation who suffered the same for the 'good of the children')... but I am not sitting on the dole, smoking 30 cones a day with my flagon and blaming the government for the trauma that caused my mother to become the person she is today.
I think this is just another issue that divides the nation. As far as I am concerned people are people - not colours. If any child, black or white, is removed because of abuse or neglect - then it is justified. If the same occurs for no reason other than race, then there needs to be some kind of accountability, such as Prime Minister Rudd's apology on behalf of the GOVERNMENT OF THE DAY.
Think I might go comment on your teaset and treats - a much cheerier topic... politics, sex and religion are always bad to get into - chocolate brazil nuts and lemon myrtle tea is much more pleasant.
So you've made the comment that government organisations are often in a very difficult position when it comes to intervening on the behalf of sexually abused and mistreated inidigenous kids and they are often left in these destructive situations, but then time passes, and these kids grow up and then it's as if you're saying "why aren't you capable of functioning well in society now? Why do you smoke 30 cones a day? Why are you pointing fingers and lashing out in anger?"
PS - I think sex is a good topic of conversation
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