Apology Text

Here's the text of the apology to the Stolen Generations delivered by the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, this morning and his full speech to the House of Representatives.

Stolen By History

Thousands of Indigenous people are gathering in Canberra for tomorrow’s apology in Parliament to the Stolen Generations, those Aboriginal children, usually illigitimate and of mixed race, who were taken from their homes and sent to missions, orphanages or to live with white families. The practice continued for decades, only ending in the 1970s (Stolen or Saved?).

There is, of course, the debate about what such an apology signifies and whether it is of any worth without compensation, and also about exactly what the apology is for. Once again, Cape York Indigenous leader Noel Pearson says it all. Here’s an extract:

"The truth is the removal of Aboriginal children and the breaking up of Aboriginal families is a history of complexity and great variety. People were stolen, people were rescued; people were brought in chains, people were brought by their parents; mixed-blood children were in danger from their tribal stepfathers, while others were loved and treated as their own; people were in danger from whites, and people were protected by whites. The motivations and actions of those whites involved in this history -- governments and missions -- ranged from cruel to caring, malign to loving, well-intentioned to evil………my view is that Aboriginal people's lives were stolen by history."

It’s worth noting that while many Indigenous people will be in the public gallery tomorrow, there are no Indigenous members of the House of Representatives and therefore there will be no Indigenous voice in the chamber debate. In fact, I know of only one Indigenous person even working in the building and he lost his job after the election.

Stolen or Saved - more

More on the Queensland rape case:
the prosecuter is suspended and
a view from the Indigenous community.

Stolen or Saved?

More horrors emerge of life in the indigenous communities of the Northern Territories and Queensland with the court case resulting from the gang rape of a ten-year-old girl. It’s raising questions about the quality of public administration and about guilt.

The issue of whether the Australian Government should “say sorry” (and that it is the phrase used) for past treatment of the indigenous people and its consequences surfaced again in the recent election. One of the more recent policies for which an apology is sought is that of taking young aboriginal children from their homes to rehouse them with white families to encourage assimilation, creating the “stolen generation.”

The victim of the rape had been living with, by all accounts, caring and conscientious white foster parents but she was returned to her community where the rape occurred because social workers felt her situation was reminiscent of that of the stolen generation.

It seems guilt is not a good basis for taking decisions about other people’s lives. In this case, was the girl stolen or saved when she was fostered?

Old Conflict

The drive to end child abuse and generally improve life in the Aboriginal communities of the Northern Territory took a step forward with
this agreement by the traditional owners to lease their land to the Government. To an outsider, it seems strange that this post-colonial conflict is still being worked at the beginning of the 21st century.

This story about the near-death of an Indigenous language shows the difference between the two societies.

Still Black and White

The debate about the Federal Government’s take-over
of Aboriginal land in the Northern Territories to address the problem of child abuse continues. The gulf between the Government’s “something must be done” position and those who say that what is proposed is paternalistic, opportunistic and purely political is caused by the conflict between those who still feel guilt at what happened when the European settlers arrived, and what has happened since, and those who believe that feeling guilty will not turn back the clock or improve the lot of a single abused child; and between those who believe that a traditional way of life can be resurrected or preserved and those who believe that integration is the only way forward.

These articles by Noel Pearson and Germaine Greer
(I don’t think the latter has appeared in the Australian press) sum up the debate.

Black and White Issue

The Federal Government dropped something of a bombshell last week and announced that it would be taking over the administration of the indigenous land currently in the charge of the Government of the Northern Territory.

The reason was a shocking report detailing endemic child abuse in Aboriginal communities, fuelled by alcohol and substance abuse, and the lack of any action by the local administration. Police stations, for example, had been built by the Federal Government but left un-staffed. New measures will include an influx of police and soldiers, an end to the permit system that restricts entry by non-indigenous people, and health checks, primarily for STDs, for those aged under 16.

It’s hard to see, in the face of the evidence of abuse, how this move could have copped such a bad press, and it continues to do so, with accusations of paternalism and a land-grab, and claims that the health checks could lead to another “stolen generation”, a reference to the formerly widespread practice of removing Aboriginal children from the parents and sending them to live with white families.

No one other than the Federal Government has come up a plan for dealing with the problem though and it has won the support of at least one Aboriginal leader, Noel Pearson, the director of the Cape York Institute. This interview
is highly recommended.