Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) | Hansard source

The trauma of the stolen generation sits deep, and it doesn't just hurt those who were taken; it also hurts their families and the people who come after them. In my time in this place, I've had the privilege of working with Senator Lidia Thorpe and Senator Dorinda Cox, and one of the things that I have started to learn since being here is the meaning of the term 'intergenerational trauma'. What it means is the pain that was suffered because of the violence and dispossession and the racist policies that saw children being stolen. It didn't just happen once; it happened over and over again, and it happened not just to the children that were taken and their families. The unimaginable grief and trauma that that inflicted got passed down to people who continue to live it. They continue to live it not only because it has been part of their family life but because it continues to happen in too many respects. It continues to happen in many ways in our society now, where we see much higher rates of First Nations children being taken and where we see children being locked up in a system that says that children as young as 10, in some places in this country, can be taken and put in prison. Prison is not a place for children. But that is where we are putting them, and we are doing it disproportionately to First Nations children. Some of the policies have ended, but some of them have continued. First Nations people now, as I am learning day by day, aren't just having to deal with the traumas of the past, which we as white people in this country don't do a very good job of being honest about, but they're having to deal with ongoing trauma being inflicted and reinflicted day after day, including on their children.

When we look back and understand that this country that we call Australia has at its beginning a huge act of violence and dispossession, we've got a lot of truth-telling to do if we are to ever move forward. We can heal at some point, but only if we start by telling the truth, including telling the truth about the violence and dispossession and the racist policies that have inflicted so much trauma. Once we tell the truth, then we can start to heal and reconcile.

Apologies are a critical part of that, which is why the National Apology to the Stolen Generation was such a significant moment and why it's right that we come back in this place to mark it and reflect on it. But apologies have to be fully given. Apologies have to come without conditions if they're to be full apologies. What did our Prime Minister say when it was his turn to come and speak? He said: 'Sorry is not the hardest word to say. The hardest is, "I forgive you".' No, Prime Minister; it is not in your remit to be talking about offering forgiveness. That is something that only those whom injustice has been inflicted upon are in a position to offer. And, in many instances, they're only going to do that when they think there's sincerity and when they think there's been truth and when they think there's been healing. That is why, when this sorry with an asterisk came during this really significant occasion, there was outrage. There was outrage from the First Peoples Assembly of Victoria, who said, 'Get in the bin,' and there was outrage from our senator Lidia Thorpe, who said, 'How dare you ask for forgiveness when you still perpetrate racist policies and systems that continue to steal our babies?'

Stolen generations and their families and survivors do not owe this Prime Minister anything. When the Prime Minister stands and addresses the country, people need to hear that he understands the pain and not that he is somehow suggesting that the next step must be forgiveness. The apology must be unconditional for it to mean anything, but this one came with an asterisk. There is work to do. Forgiveness is something you earn, not demand. We have to start in this country by telling the truth, especially those of us who benefit from the decades of dispossession and violence that have happened, that have come before us. All of us who are not First Nations people benefit from it. It is time that we told the truth about that. We also can do some practical things like have a proper, fully serviced national compensation fund. That is not going to take away the pain but it will go some way to helping people address it and will go some way to acknowledging the pain and suffering. That's what we've been pushing for—a nationally consistent compensation scheme, as well as ensuring that there are the range of services available to provide for the emotional and mental health needs of survivors. It is something that makes sense and something that we will continue to push for. But, when we have a situation where descendants of the stolen generation are twice as likely to have experienced discrimination in the last 12 months, 1.9 times as likely to have experienced violence in the last 12 months and 1.6 times as likely to be in poorer health compared to other First Nations people, we have a responsibility to apologise fully and unconditionally but then to set about a process of action and healing.

To come back to where I started, in this country we do not do a very good job at telling the truth about our history. We see, time after time, governments intent on whitewashing history, saying there are only certain accepted, sanitised, whitewashed versions of the history that can be taught in schools, and anyone who dares ask questions about what happened in our country's history—it's no longer allowed. This government is going to use its position to say that there is only one official, politically correct way of thinking, speaking and learning in our schools. But, so long as we fail to tell the truth, all of us are going to suffer. You can't sweep this under the carpet. You can't sweep history under the carpet, especially because, in too many respects, it's continuing to happen. What we need is a process to tell the truth, and then we can talk about justice, and then we can talk about treaty. Other countries have done this. Other countries have begun the process of telling the truth about the shameful acts that lie in their history, because there is an understanding that it is only by doing that and then by reaching agreements that people are going to be able to move forward together as a country.

As we reflect on the abject shame that is the removal of children from their families, purely on the basis of race, we need to do more than words, and we don't need to offer apologies with asterisks. We need to say, 'This is a moment to heal but to learn from,' because it's only by learning from it and beginning to tell the truth that we're going to be able to fully heal. There is so much promise for this country if we do that. By joining the other countries who have told the truth, who have treaties, who have voices, we all will gain, and that is the optimistic future that lies ahead for this country. But it won't happen if we fail to tell the truth and it won't happen if we give apologies with asterisks.

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