Australia Apologises to the Stolen Generation
phatmoneysack
Melbourne 1,124 Posts
Time for nation to turn new page[/b]The normally ordered surrounds of Parliament House in Canberra were filled with a wonderful chaos today as a black and white flood of Australians poured into the People's House to hear the long-overdue apology to the stolen generations.Prime Minister Kevin Rudd rose to deliver the historic apology after receiving a standing ovation when he walked into the chamber with Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin.Before his speech, Mr Rudd formally moved that the House of Representatives apologise to Australia's indigenous peoples.''We reflect on their past mistreatment, we reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were stolen generations - this blemished chapter in our national history.''The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page.''Mr Rudd said the apology was meant in the ''true spirit of reconciliation, to open a new chapter in the history of this great land, Australia''.''Our nation Australia has reached such a time and that is why the Parliament is today here assembled,'' he said.''To deal with this unfinished business of the nation.''To remove a great stain from the nation's soul and in the true spirit of reconciliation to open a new chapter in the history of this great land Australia.''While today's formal apology said ''sorry'' three times, Mr Rudd's speech also offered apologies to the stolen generations.''As Prime Minister of Australia, I am sorry,'' he said.''On behalf of the government of Australia, I am sorry. On behalf of the parliament of Australia, I am sorry. I offer you this apology without qualification.''Mr Rudd recounted the emotional story of a woman who had been taken from her mother as a four-year-old in the 1930's.Mr Rudd said the woman's experience was ''only one story, there are thousands of them, tens of thousands of them.''This was just one of tens of thousands of stories of forced separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, Mr Rudd said.Mr Rudd said the stories ''cry out'' to be heard and ''cry out'' for an apology.''Instead from the nation's Parliament there has been a stony and stubborn and deafening silence for more than a decade.''As of today the time for denial, the time for delay, has at last come to an end.''Addressing critics of a formal apology who argued that the stolen generations were a historical anomaly who did not require an apology, Mr Rudd said the stolen generations ''are not intellectual curiosities, they are human beings''. Mr Rudd also addressed the argument, often forwarded by his predecessor John Howard, that a government cannot apologise for actions of a past government's policy.''Let us remember the fact that the forced removal of Aboriginal children was happening as late as the early 1970's, the early 1970's is not a point in remote antiquity.''The laws that our Parliament enacted made the stolen generations possible.''This is not a black armband view of history, it's just the truth, the cold uncomfortable truth.''Mr Rudd called for the Opposition join the Government in forming the equivalent a war cabinet to tackled indigenous issues.''I therefore propose a joint policy commission to be led by the leader of the opposition and myself,'' he said.The Prime Minister said the commission would first develop and implement an effective housing strategy for remote communities during the next five years.If that was successful the commission would then work on the constitutional recognition of first Australians.''The nation is calling on us the politicians to move beyond our infantile bickering, our point scoring, our mindlessly partisan politics and elevate this one, at least this one, area of national responsibility to a rare position beyond the partisan divide.''Mr Rudd said he wanted to establish a form of "war cabinet'' where government and opposition would work together to repair the damage to indigenous Australia.And he urged Australians of all origins and political persuasions to co-operate."Let us turn this next page together.''As Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson began speaking, some people in Parliament's Great Hall, outside the parliamentary chamber, turned their backs on the large screen on which the speech was being televised.They began clapping and yelling ''shame'', and some started to walk out.Dr Nelson said he rose to speak ''strongly'' in support of the apology.''Today our nation crosses a threshold. We formally offer an apology, we say sorry to those Aboriginal people forcibly removed from their families through the first seven decades of the 20th century,'' Dr Nelson said.''In doing so, we reach from within ourselves to our past, those whose lives connect us to it, and in deep understanding of its importance to our future.''Dr Nelson urged other Australians to place themselves in the the shoes of the stolen generations and see the issue through their eyes ''with decency and respect''.As Mr Rudd finished his speech, he and Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson shook hands across the House floor.There was a palpable surge of emotion as MPs on both sides of Parliament and hundreds in the public gallery leapt collectively to their feet, clapping loudly.The MPs on the floor turned and clapped towards the people who included many members of the stolen generations and their families.From early in the morning a long queue formed at the main entrance and crowds gathered outside the building around giant screens. Carrying Aboriginal flags and decked in black, red and yellow shirts, the throng carried with it a palpable feeling of expectation and relief.Among those who came to the capital were athlete Nova Peris-Kneebone who brought her daughters to represent her sick grandmother who, as a child, was taken from her family. As she approached the building, she said she was steeling herself for a flood of emotion when she finally heard the word "sorry''.Mr Rudd said that until Australians confronted the truth about the stolen generations there would always be a shadow over them.This morning, on a cool and cloudy day in the capital, that shadow began to lift.with Leo Shanahan and AAPhttp://www.theage.com.au/news/national/t...2760343133.htmlThis is an amazing day for our nation.
Comments
It is so good that John Howard is gone
And what's more, you've got a woman and a black man running for President in America. Maybe this political shift is happening globally? Overseas headz can feel free to comment... except Brian!
hahaha.
and Golliwog biscuits which were still on sale till 2001 all around Australia??
*Arnotts biscuit company renamed their Golliwog chocolate biscuit to Scalliwag in the mid-1990s.
GREAT! Scalliwag
I agree, there is no doubt that there is change in the air. Kind of feels like the nation has let out one long sigh of relief.
As far as this morning goes, it was a fantastic speech, and the way in which Rudd delivered it was flawless. Now lets just hope his government can start to deliver the results that the indigenous population desperately needs.
IMO, North QLD is the Deep South of Australia, if you catch my drift.
So really if Rudd wanted to offer REAL hope, and not just symbolism, he should really tear up Howards invasion plans for NT..... And look at serious investement into indigenous education and health, he needs to back the word SORRY with action that shows Aust. has learnt from the past mistakes....
watching the BBC coverage of this last night, they had a few bush/scrub/outback types on a vox pop, and the responses were basically "ungrateful abo's, we fed 'em, housed 'em and schooled 'em"
If that's representative of a sizeable minority, IMO it will take many many years to get to where the indigenous need to be. But the longest journey etc etc
It looks like the tide is turning. I reckon there must be quite a buzz in the country at the moment?
Great first step, now lets see you follow through.
Oh, and:
EAT A FAT DICK JOHN HOWARD YOU FUCKIN JUMPED UP LITTLE MUMMYS BOY, BET YOU FEEL REAL PROUD TO BE AUSTRALIAN TODAY. COCK.
classic.
So funny and yet so sad. So Saba
good for yall
good for Rudd
follow through, of course, is the important part.
but when things are done officially like this, it can positively impact mainstream and conventional values. some folks just need to hear shit from the (white) dudes in charge before they are willing to accept it