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PM approves stolen generations memorial

By Meaghan Shaw Canberra

30 June 2003 - A memorial to the stolen generations has been agreed on by the Federal Government and National Sorry Day Committee after more than a year's delay. The memorial is the centrepiece of Reconciliation Place, a national landmark that was opened by Prime Minister John Howard last July.

In a significant concession by Mr Howard, who signed off on the design, the proposed text of the memorial includes the words "the stolen generations" - a term the Government has previously rejected.

The artwork, which recognises the past injustice of separating indigenous children from their families, was delayed because of claims by indigenous representatives about alack of consultation and a belief that the proposed memorial inadequately represented the pain and trauma of the stolen generations.

Negotiations over the past 10 months have been bogged down by many issues, including the use of the term "the stolen generations". But National Sorry Day Committee co-chairwoman Audrey Ngingali Kinnear said the term was non-negotiable.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Philip Ruddock said the Government had always acknowledged that the separation of children "was a tragic and terrible part of Australia's history", and he hoped Reconciliation Place could contribute to healing the wounds of the past.

The artwork is expected to be finished in about a year.

Source: The Age

Further information:

• Reconciliation Place website

Further Information on the Stolen Generation

The Stolen Generations

the Sorry Ribbon

Between 1910 and 1970 up to 100,000 Aboriginal children were taken forcibly or under duress from their families by police or welfare officers . Most were under 5 years old. They are known as the ‘stolen generations’. There was rarely any judicial process. To be Aboriginal was enough.

What happened to them?

Why were they taken?

• The main motive was to ‘assimilate’ Aboriginal children into European society over one or two generations by denying and destroying their Aboriginality.
• Speaking their languages and practising their ceremonies was forbidden
• They were taken miles from their country, some overseas
• Parents were not told where their children were and could not trace them
• Children were told that they were orphans
• Family visits were discouraged or forbidden; letters were destroyed.
  

The results

• Most grew up in a hostile environment without family ties or cultural identity.
• As adults, many suffered insecurity, lack of self esteem, feelings of worthlessness, depression, suicide, violence, delinquency, abuse of alcohol and drugs and inability to trust.
• Lacking a parental model, many had difficulty bringing up their own children.
• The scale of separation also had profound consequences for the whole Aboriginal community - anger, powerlessness and lack of purpose as well as an abiding distrust of Government, police and officials.

What is being done?

A National Inquiry was set up in 1995. Its 1997 Report ‘Bringing them Home’ contained harrowing evidence.. It found that forcible removal of indigenous children was a gross violation of human rights which continued well after Australia had undertaken international human rights commitments.

• It was racially discriminatory, because it only applied to Aboriginal children on that scale, and
• It was an act of genocide contrary to the Convention on Genocide, (which forbids ‘forcibly transferring children of [a] group to another group’ with the intention of destroying the group.)

The Report made 54 recommendations, including opening of records, family tracing and reunion services and the need for reparations’ (including acknowledgement and apology by Governments and institutions concerned, restitution, rehabilitation and compensation). The Government increased some funding but has refused to apologise or offer compensation. A Senate committee is investigating the Government’s response to the Report.

People of the stolen generation have started legal actions for compensation against the Government . The cases are likely to be hard fought, as Government lawyers are arguing that removal of children was done for their own good. A statement by Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Herron denying the ‘stolen generations’ caused distress and anger among those affected.

Moving forward: achieving reparations is a project conducted in partnership with ATSIC, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, the National Sorry Day Committee and Northern Territory stolen generation groups. It's report 'Restoring identity', proposing a reparations tribunal for the stolen generations, has widespread support by Indigenous people. Ministers for Aboriginal Affairs in Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia issued public statements welcoming the report and detailing their initiatives to implement the recommendations.

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

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