On 13 February 2008, the Parliament of Australia issued a formal apology to Indigenous Australians for forced removals of Australian Indigenous children from their families by Australian federal and state government agencies. Kulasegaram Sanchayan reflects on the event.
The Stolen Generation refers to a very dark period in Australia's history when children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage were removed from their families under acts of the parliament. Many of the Stolen Generation were not full-blooded Aborigines and/or Torres Strait Islanders: most of them were mixed race children of aboriginal women who became pregnant to white stockmen and stationhands.
From the mid to late 1800s to the mid 1900s, influential factions within the Australian Government sought to decimate all traces of the indigenous Australian culture by separating the children from the elders who could teach them about their traditions. Children were removed and placed in white missions, church missions and white foster families. This was done under the guise of stating that "white man's ways" were better, less abusive, and offered more opportunities to the children. However, the effect was the loss of around two-thirds of the aboriginal languages, along with many aboriginal stories and other rich aspects of their culture.
During the latter half of the twentieth century, the issue of Aboriginal Rights gained prominence, along with recognition of the injustices perpetrated upon the members of the Stolen Generation. With the dawning of the new millennium, the Australian Government began to come under increasing pressure to formally acknowledge these injustices by way of an official apology. Finally, on 13 February 2008, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd issued a public, formal apology to the Stolen Generation and their descendants.
During the speech, which was read out to Parliament, Mr Rudd stated, "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."
Prime Minister (Hon Kevin Rudd MP): Mr Speaker, I move:
That 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 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.
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 Australians.
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 failed.
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, Australia.
