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Don't just say sorry
Fulfill the whole apology recommendation

10 January 2008 - Media Release NSDC - “Recommendation 5a of the Bringing them home Report is the proper place to start on the way forward to the formal apology to the Stolen Generations”, said National Sorry Day Committee Indigenous Co-Chair, Helen Moran.

It is not just about saying Sorry, or about ‘Closing the Gap’ in health inequity. It is about reparations that embrace Rehabilitation, Restitution, Acknowledgement, Apology, measures against Repetition, and Monetary Compensation.

"As the Peak National Advocate for the Stolen Generations since 1998, the National Sorry Day Committee strongly calls on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin, to honour their promise to apologise to the Stolen Generations their families and communities by fully implementing and fulfilling the ‘Apology Recommendation’, Recommendation 5a of the Bringing them home Report.

“There is so much more to the apology than words. There is the content and the intent of the Rudd Government regarding outcomes and future action. There is the all important necessity to focus on meeting the needs and the fundamental human rights of the Stolen Generations, their families and communities," Moran said.

"This recommendation clearly asks, and has been asking for over 10 years, that the Federal Government of Australia acknowledge responsibility for these policies and the resulting effects, negotiate with the Stolen Generations, their families, and communities, implement appropriate reparations and fulfill the remaining recommendations."

“If Recommendation 5a and the following recommendations of the Bringing them home Report are fully implemented and fulfilled, the ’GAP’ will be closed, compensation will be allocated and appropriate wording for the apology will be agreed upon.

“For Minister Macklin to rule out compensation when the Rudd Government has not commenced appropriate consultation with the Stolen Generations, seems a little premature to say the least,” Moran said.

“It begs the question of whether we are facing more of the same treatment Indigenous Australia has faced for the past 11 years under the Howard Government. More tokenistic consultation when in fact the decisions have been made before hand”.

RECOMMENDATION 5a.

That all Australian Parliaments:
1. Officially acknowledge the responsibility of their predecessors for the laws, policies and practices of forced removal;
2. Negotiate with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission a form of words for official apologies to Indigenous individuals, families and communities and extend those apologies with wide and culturally appropriate publicity; and
3. Make appropriate reparations as detailed in following recommendations.

Given the abolition of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, the National Sorry Day Committee and it’s State and Territory affiliates, in partnership with Link Up services and HREOC are in negotiations with Prime Minister Rudd and the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, towards an inclusive and extensive consultative process with the Stolen Generations, their families and communities.

CONTACT: Helen Moran NSDC Indigenous Co- Chair, Email: helen@nsdc.org.au PH: 0413246470

Source: National Sorry Day Committee NSDC

Further information: stolen generations issues page - includes news index and external links

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