Issues

A National Apology

The Stolen Generations inquiry recommended that all Australian parliaments officially acknowledge the responsibility of their predecessors for the laws, policies and practices of forcible removal, and extend official apologies after negotiation with ATSIC. Apologies were also recommended from police forces, churches and other non-governmental agencies.

Many state parliaments, police forces, churches and NGO's have made apologies. In addition over one million Australians, deeply moved by the experiences of Indigenous people, signed and wrote messages in Sorry Books.

Most Australians were not directly involved in the removal of children, though we must not forget that we continue to benefit from living on Indigenous land, and that we have failed to be vigilant in the defence of human rights of all people in this country. Nonetheless many wished to publicly acknowledge the hurt their system had done to Indigenous people, express solidarity, and commit themselves to ensuring such acts are never done again.

The Federal government response is deeply disturbing. The Prime Minister has consistently refused to apologise on behalf of the nation, merely expressing regret. Many of the stolen generation have expressed how deeply hurtful this refusal is. The government has attempted to minimise the issue, reducing it to a 'significant blemish' on a proud history when the report was tabled in parliament on 27 May 1997. In April this year the old Aboriginal Affairs Minister Senator John Herron supported the Prime Minister, denied the existence of a stolen generation of Indigenous children, undermined two years of intense effort put into the report, and said 'the treatment of Indigenous children was essentially lawful and benign in intent'.

Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation chairwoman Evelyn Scott said 'the denial harmed the reconciliation process in Australia, and aggravates wounds which the reconciliation process is trying to heal'. Democrat Senator Aden Ridgeway asked 'how much more pain can the stolen generations take- how can one government be so insensitive so consistently?'

To most people a genuine apology carries with it a commitment to not repeat the offence. Put together with government rejection of self-determination (a fundamental UN principle and a recommendation of Bringing them Home), a retreat from multiculturalism, support for assimilationist principles and ongoing paternalism, the refusal to apologise raises grave concerns that this government is not committed to never again.

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