Warren Snowdon (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for External Territories) Share this | Hansard source

Firstly, I acknowledge the member for Hasluck and the member for Barton for their contributions to this debate. I recognise the unique perspectives they bring as Aboriginal people and as people who have been impacted by the stolen generations themselves.

My first real interaction with members of the stolen generation was four decades ago. I recall attending a conference, in 1992, at Kormilda College in Darwin of stolen generations members. These were people who wanted justice, and they wanted an understanding of their plight and their suffering and their hurt. Then we saw the then Labor government institute the 'bringing them home' inquiry and we saw its report to the parliament in 1997, where it made 54 recommendations. A key recommendation was reparations. It wanted an acknowledgement and an apology from the parliament, which, of course, took 10 years to come about; guarantees against repetition; restitution and rehabilitation; and monetary compensation.

Sadly, though, the then Prime Minister, John Howard—as the member for Barton pointed out in her contribution—steadfastly refused an apology or to recognise the importance of restitution. That was sad then and, on reflection, it's sadder now, because that was an opportunity not to deal with this issue once and for all but certainly to address the needs which were identified by the Bringing them home report and which have taken so long to properly address.

It's not my intention to go through the details of the legislation; others have properly done that. I do want to talk, though, about the stolen generations. The removal of children from their families was an almost century-long practice by governments across Australia, and we know it created trauma that has transcended generations and instigated intergenerational trauma. The separation of families and the destruction of communities on a systematic scale can't simply be forgotten. The fear and pain remain, not only with members of the stolen generations but with their children, their grandchildren and their extended families. There is no amount of money, despite the importance of this legislation, that will undo that or could adequately compensate individuals, families and communities for that hurt, for that damage and for the long shadow the trauma has cast on relationships, on health, including mental health, on people's economic prospects, and on culture, language and identity. For so many people today, the horror and trauma of systematic child removal policies goes a long way, as the member for Barton said, to explain the mistrust of authority—such as schools, policies of governments, health care and hospitals.

As the member for Barton pointed out, she was up there in the gallery on that wonderful day, 13 February 2008, when Prime Minister Kevin Rudd extended the Apology to the Stolen Generations and the then Leader of the Opposition responded in like terms. That was an important shift, because up until then the then opposition had refused to contemplate an apology to the stolen generations, and Brendan Nelson is to be congratulated for his leadership on that day. It was a very important thing to happen. It brought this parliament together—except, I note, that there are a number of people still in this parliament who absented themselves from the apology, and that was shameful.

I now want to speak about my many friends who are members of the stolen generations, some of whom have died in recent years and so have missed the opportunity for the recognition that this bill will provide. My dear friend the preselected Labor candidate for Lingiari, Marion Scrymgour, who I hope will replace me in this parliament, is a daughter of a stolen generations survivor. Marion recently shared this story on her Facebook page after visiting Ti Tree just north of Alice Springs, the area from which her father came but was taken from so long ago. Marion's father, Jack, was taken from his Aboriginal mother and non-Aboriginal father at Ti Tree and sent to Croker Island off the coast of northern Australia. During the Second World War, he took part in the so-called long walk home to avoid Japanese bombing. Jack, along with many other children and three teachers, initially walked hundreds of kilometres from a point on the mainland near Croker Island to Gunbalanya, and it was the beginning of a trip that took him all the way to the south-east corner of Australia.

Marion had the opportunities to sit with his family that he never had.

When talking about these tragic events, I am reminded of Archie Roach. When Archie sang his most famous song, Took the Children Away, at the bicentennial in 1988, two elderly people from the Northern Territory came up to him afterwards. 'What did you write that song about?' the old man asked. 'Me,' said Roach, who was taken as a child, sadly, from his parents. The old man said, 'No, you wrote it for me.'

A former long-term member of my staff, Jack Crosby, who sadly passed away a few years ago now, was married to Sue Roman, a very dear friend. Sue's mother, Lindy Roman, was taken away to the Kahlin Compound in Darwin Sue, her daughter, was put in the infamous Retta Dixon Home. Sue's mother was forced to work as a domestic for families in Darwin. Sue's mum, Lindy, was judged unfit to look after her own kids but was considered fit to look after the children of non-Aboriginal people.

Sue was the youngest child in a family of five children. She was removed when she was baby. She is now 72. Sue remained under the control of the Aborigines Inland Mission, which controlled Retta Dixon Home, until she was 18. Sue had one brother. He was sent to an institution in Alice Springs, 1,400km away. There were hundreds of kids in Retta Dixon over the time Sue was there, and she was one of the few or only children who was of Larrakia descent. Her mother was therefore in Darwin. Sue was sometimes, and illegally, able to talk to her mum over the side fence of Retta Dixon, where it shared a boundary with the Bagot community,

At 12, Sue was sent to school in Victoria, into the care of foster parents who turned out, sadly, to be abusive. While with those people, her mother wrote letters to her that were never given to her. They had been sent sometimes with a10 bob note. She never saw the money. Sue's mother was not even told she was sent to Victoria.

Sue's version of the impact is simple and powerful. In her words: 'They eff your life.' 'Fortunately', she says, 'I got to learn the truth.' A friendly school teacher she had as a teenager worked with her to go through what had happened. In the process, she says, 'I made a commitment not to be poor bugger me.' She says, 'At 15 I had a couple of years of truth telling.' The school teachers were Brett and Pat Wren. They were school teachers she met in Victoria, and they became her foster parents for 2½ years. When Sue was 17 she came back to Darwin. She then went on to work with other survivors to lead a claim for compensation for what had happened to them at Retta Dixon.

Estelle Ross is a stolen generations survivor. She is an Eastern Arrernte woman. Her daughter is Christine Ross. Christine's mum is 83 in January. Recently, Christine told me of Estelle's story, which Estelle is happy to share. In 1946, as a young child, she was taken from her home at Arltunga. Six were taken at the same time. They were also sent to Garden Point off the north coast of the Territory. The six children were put on the back of a ute. They were told they were going shopping. They never came back. Estelle was sent to Garden Point Mission on Melville Island, which was run by the Catholic Church. Their mothers were not told anything about what happened to them. Estelle only left Garden Point when she was 15 when she was sent to boarding school in Adelaide. She stayed there for three years, then she was released. Estelle only met her mother again many years later, when she was an adult. At Garden Point, Estelle grew up without her family at all. Initially she couldn't speak English. She was completely denied any access to her own language and culture. When she met her mother many years later it was very difficult for her to communicate, because Estelle's mother had very little English. Estelle suffered emotional abuse and mental abuse. She says she was raised by nuns who were not compassionate; in the process, she was constantly abused for minor things. She formed a strong bond with other survivors of Garden Point and she stayed in touch with them all her life. One of the people she was there with was Jack Scrymgour, Marion's dad.

Christine reminded us that what happened to her mother led to intergenerational trauma. For Christine, hearing her mother's story was a huge upset. Estelle says that talking about this is not for the sake of compensation; it's important to make all this part of Australian history. She says it's a story that has to be told. In the words of Christine, 'Stealing children has screwed up so many kids and led to a lot of suicide.' Christine notes there is only so much you can take of living with trauma. For her, the impact has been huge and ongoing. Christine also said it has taken too long for the survivors to get compensation.

This is very important legislation, and it's very important we have bipartisan support for it. I want to acknowledge the leadership of the member for Barton and, indeed, the member for Hasluck in making sure we see this legislation in the parliament today. But let there be no doubt: this is a story of national shame and disgrace. It's a part of our history that we need to constantly acknowledge and address. This compensation process is one part of it. Those stories, like the ones I've just told you, are stories we all need to hear, lest we become relaxed and comfortable in the knowledge we've done something. We're doing something, but we're never going to change intergenerational trauma or the loss, sadness or disgrace that was brought about as a result of this process of stealing children away from their families.

We have an obligation in this place. As members of parliament we are acutely charged with a great responsibility to look after the interests of the Australian community. This legislation does that in part, but it is just so sad that so many have died and will not see the justice that will be brought about as a result of this minor, minor piece of legislation for compensation. I commend the bills to the House.

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