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 (reprinted from Positive News UK)
On Sorry Day - February 13th 2008, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd opened a brand new healing chapter in his country’s troubled history. Tears flowed as he delivered a moving and comprehensive apology to Australia’s Indigenous Peoples for their shameful mistreatment. He said ‘sorry’ for the “indignity and degradation inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture.” He resolved that these injustices must “never, never happen again.”
The Prime Minister also formally apologised for the immense pain and anguish caused by the forced national assimilation programme, in which, be-tween the early 20th Century and the beginning of the 1970s, at least 100,000 Aboriginal children were removed from their parents. Mr Rudd’s apology to the stolen generations was also backed by a call for urgent and practical action to radically improve the lives and welfare of all the country’s Aboriginals and the Torres Strait Islanders.
After honouring the Indigenous First Peoples, Kevin Rudd said: “The time has come for the Nation to turn a page in Australia’s history. We apologise for all the laws and policies of successive parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss. For all the pain and hurt of these stolen generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say ‘sorry’. We, the Parliament of Australia, request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the Nation.
“The stolen generations are human beings who have been damaged deeply. As of today, the time for denial has come to an end. Universal human decency demands that the nation steps forward to right a historical wrong. It is time to reconcile. It is time to recognise the in-justices of the past. It is time to say sorry. It is time to move forward together.
“I know that in offering this apology on behalf of the Government and the Parliament, there is nothing I can say today that can take away the pain you have suffered personally. I cannot undo that. Words alone are not that powerful. Today’s apology, however inadequate, is aimed at righting past wrongs.
“Let us seize the day and take this as a reconciliation between those who emerged from the Dreamtime a thousand generations ago and those who, like me, came across the seas only yesterday. As we begin a new chapter, we embrace with pride, admiration and awe these great and ancient cultures we are truly blessed to have among us.
“First Australians, First Fleeters and those who first took the oath of allegiance just a few weeks ago, let’s grasp this opportunity to craft a new future for this great land - Australia.”
Kevin Rudd’s apology and speech received a standing ovation from those in the chamber, while the thousands who had gathered outside Parliament House, cheered, applauded, hugged and cried.
Sorry Day is a symbolic gesture of immense importance but should only be seen as an initial step in a long journey. Prime Minister Rudd said that a raft of constructive education and better health measures must be implemented, aimed at narrowing the gulfs in life expectancy that divide the Aboriginal community from the average white Australian.
Professor Mick Dodson, a member of the Yawuru Peoples and director of the National Centre for Indigenous Studies said: “The apology is an enormous moment for us - it is the rock to build the future upon. Australians will feel proud that their country has the maturity, the strength and political will to do this - it ought to ennoble all of us.”
Tom Calma, of the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commis-sion responded to the speech on behalf of the National Sorry Day Committee and the Stolen Generations Alliance. He praised Kevin Rudd and said: “It’s the day our leaders have chosen dignity, hope and respect as the guiding principles for the relationship with our First Nations Peoples.” He finished his speech with a heartfelt urge to: “Let your healing and the healing of the Nation begin.”
For full speech click here.
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November 20 - 21
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