Rudd says sorry

Written by Greg Ansley
Tuesday, 12 February 2008
Photo / Reuters: Rudd makes it official. CANBERRA - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has delivered the Government's apology to indigenous Australians, promising that the injustices of the past will never be repeated. Watched by hundreds of fellow politicians, dignitaries, indigenous representatives and members of the Stolen Generation inside Parliament House, and by millions of other Australians through direct broadcasts, big screens in major cities and in schools, Rudd finally said the word so long denied, "sorry," three times. Former Prime Minister John Howard, who steadfastly refused to apologise for more than a century of forced separation of Aboriginal children under assimilation policies, did not attend the apology. But his predecessor Malcolm Fraser, whose Liberal Government introduced the nation's first land rights legislation and who was a strong advocate of a formal "sorry", joined former Labor Prime Ministers Gough Whitlam and Paul Keating in the audience. Supported by Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson and the leaders of the minor parties, Rudd's apology joined the constitutional recognition and voting rights of the 1960s, and the recognition of native title in the 1990s, as potent landmarks in the long road to reconciliation. While not including compensation and carefully crafted to avoid any implications of liability the apology has been welcomed by both indigenous and white Australia as a long overdue and important recognition of policies that have mired Aborigines in poverty and disadvantage. The states and territories have already made their own apologies, and Tasmania has established a A$5 million compensation fund for its members of the "Stolen Generations" of children taken from their parents and alienated from their families and country in white communities, Although specifically referring to the "Stolen Generations" the apology accepted a broader responsibility. "Today we honour the indigenous people of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history," the apology said. "We reflect on their past mistreatment." Rudd apologised for the laws and policies of previous Parliaments and governments that had inflicted "profound grief, suffering and loss" on indigenous Australians. "For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry," Rudd said. "To the mothers and the fathers, to 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." As many as 100,000 children were forcibly removed from their families and homes under laws and policies that began in the 1860s, included laws that removed parental rights and effectively made indigenous children wards of the state, and continued until about 1970. The impact of the policies compounding the appalling living standards of most Aborigines was revealed in the 1997 report of an inquiry into the Stolen Generations, called "Bringing Them Home". While sparking a new awareness of indigenous disadvantage and creating a new mood for reconciliation that included the mass walk across Sydney Harbour Bridge in 2000, the Howard Government refused to implement key recommendations, including a formal apology. This morning Rudd used his apology to promise a brighter future. "We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians," the apology said. "A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must bever, 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 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." - www.nzherald.co.nz Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment Name Email Title Comment
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 12 February 2008 )

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