Sorry, but Kevin and Malcolm pulled it off
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Well done to both Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull, who this morning made excellent speeches in Parliament’s Great Hall, to representatives of the Forgotten Generation — survivors of institutional care, many removed from families in the UK in the post-war years and sent to Australia. Turnbull was emotional, having to stop several times. Rudd was calmer, but no less stirring. Both spoke of the pain of separation, of the physical, emotional and s-xual abuse suffered by children in institutions, of how their cries for help were ignored and disbelieved for so long, in a way that even now should fill us with shame and anguish. Both men recounted anecdotes, of both agony and hope. Both said sorry, repeatedly, and thanked the survivors, and their representatives, those who have worked tirelessly on their behalf, for enduring and refusing to be silenced. The content of the speeches, though, wasn’t the real point. As soon as the Prime Minister rose to speak, one man near me began sobbing, nearly uncontrollably. It was, perhaps, the mere fact that acknowledgement was finally being made, that the apology would be offered, that was important, not the specific words. The words were good, they were comforting and reassuring and even uplifting, but it was the spirit of recognition behind them that mattered, for hundreds of thousands of people who for years — decades — had not been able to speak out, or who were ignored or even abused when they did, even disbelieved when they related the abuse suffered at the hands of those charged with caring for them. Jenny Macklin was behind the Government’s decision to make the apology, following the work of a number of other MPs and Senators, most especially former Senator Andrew Murray, who was present today and singled out for thanks by the Prime Minister. As with the Stolen Generations apology, though, the apology came with a warning, that Governments should ensure that it never happen again. Families will always break down. Children will always need to be removed from dysfunctional environments. The pain of separation will continue to be felt by children. Whether governments — - all governments, or whatever stripe — are doing their best to protect those who must be removed remains an uncertain and painful question. But, for once, let’s acknowledge an unmitigated good on the part of our political leaders, men and women who have heard the voices of those who have suffered, who understood their pain and realised that a simple apology could help the healing of those who suffered at the hands of people charged with the most important duty of all. |
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9 Comments
Hear hear!
“But, for once, let’s acknowledge an unmitigated good on the part of our political leaders….”
Sorry, but:
On the occassion of the historic Apology to the Stolen Generations, the then leader of the opposition made an abominable “response” speech (that if I recall, many in the audience turned their backs on). Apparently no such faux pas on this occassion (I haven’t seen heard or read Apology Mark II).
The first apology brought tears of joy to me. I honestly believed that a new era of true reconciliation was upon us…
I live on a “prescribed area” under the Northern Territory Emergency Response, and those wonderful words of that first Apology sound increasingly hollow as Government policies tear at the social fabric of Remote Aboriginal Australia.
I sincerely hope those that Apology II is aimed at won’t be as disilusioned (and betrayed) as Indigenous Australians and its supporters have been.
It may seem ungenerous to say this.
It is in no way meant to undermine today’s gesture to those who have suffered at the hands of government decision making and bureaucratic cold heartedness and then just plain cruelty.
However I have to ask two things
Is this country a serial abuser of children- first indigenous children who were stolen then the children who survived institutional care and still in the abuse pipeline are the children of asylum seekers.
Secondly how long must we wait until the pain caused to the hundreds of children who survived the bashings, water cannon, solitary confinements and emotional abuse meted out in Woomera, Baxter, PortHedland, Curtin, Maribrynong, Villawood, Perth, Nauru, Manus Island and Christmas island is acknowledged. And when will it stop.
Apologies are meaningful only for aday if they are not accompanied by mechanisms to stop the serial abuse of all children in this country.
Along with these apologies must come real protection for children. Why dont we have A National Childrens Rights Commissioner with Powers to challenge government regulations that abuse children.
@Pamela
Shut up
I was so proud when Apology number 1 was made. To the stolen generations.
I am proud to hear that we have had the courage to say sorry again: to the children who suffered in various institutions.
However, like many others, I have come to be less excited after seeing very little real action follow the great words of the first apology.
Words without deeds is easy. But very disappointing.
As Winston Churchhill once said “When all is said and done, much more gets said than done.”
The Recognition by the National Government is vital and so important. It was important in my life to go to the Qld Parliament today, and accept the apology on behalf of my mum who was taken away from her unwed mother during the Blitz in Birmingham. Incredibly I met a couple of people who were in the same orphanage 1941-1950 and then put on the ship - they were told they were going on an excursion. One lady recognised my 10yrs old mum in the photo I had of all the girls at the Albury orphanage, St.Johns run by Sisters of Mercy. The woman today had been sent to the other one at Rockhampton.
My mum cannot remember the first 9 years of her life. Yes they were so cruel, its unbelievable and on such a mass scale - it was everywhere - those kids were bastards, from sinners and they viewed them as scum - the underclass, lowest of the low - but then another child migrant I met, said, but at least I wasn’t black(they were looked on worse).
The audience today were so like my mum - you could tell they’d had rough lives, battling stigma with their resilient rebellious spirits which they brought out even amongst the most horrid of tortures. “How they thought up punishments like they did, I’ll never know,” said one and these were supposed to be religous.
My mum went back to Birmingham, back to country, but she’s torn - she wants to be here too. She asked for a recording of the apology in her 70th year, so she can feel at last recognised for what she went through, day after day for 18years.
http://myspace.com/jewelsescape
Pamela :
“… first indigenous children who were stolen then the children who survived institutional care …” The indigenous children were among the children who survived institutional care. Counted in their number. It wasn’t serial child abuse. It all happened at the same time.
As someone who was abandoned and grew up loveless, abused and exploited in three institutions and with three foster mothers I was pleased to have an apology delivered with grace and compassion by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. The debate went then to both Houses and some excellent speeches were made especially by Jennie Macklin, Richard Marles, Jason Clare and Steve Irons (the only MP who grew up in ‘care’).
I was very pleased (with a few reservations) with the outcome. The two lead speeches were better than I had anticipated. I will be keen to find time to read the texts more carefully, but I thought the way they were framed was excellent.
All the key points I would like to have seen were mentioned except for three:
- redress for those whose childhoods continue to weigh heavily on their adult lives.
- the use of experimental drugs on defenceless children (the University of Melbourne has issued its own apology for its part in this shameful exploitation of vulnerable children)
- the deaths of children in institutions (including my 12 year old aunt) and those who went missing and haven’t been seen since.
I was particularly pleased to have an undertaking about targetting ‘care’ leavers as a special group in respect of accommodation for the elderly. The last thing we want is to spend our dying years back in institutions prey to other forma of abuse. The Government’s initiative establishes an important precedent that may provide a springboard for other areas of mainstream services where older ‘care’ leavers have been unable to get access.
The national service to help us search and find our lost families was a pleasant surprise but it requires more detail.
Incidentally, the last home I was in has 20 Koorie kids (at least) - out of 200. I noticed at the time that, unlike some of us whites, they never had visitors, probably because their parents were not told where they were. In all other respects we suffered equally the deprivation of love, the neglect, the ill-treatment and absence of support in understanding why we were incarcerated.
Bernard, did my Fed MP Peter Dutton, walk out on apologising to the Forgotten Australians like he did to the Stolen Generation?