Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In my electorate of Page there are a significant number of people who are referred to as forgotten Australians and lost innocents. I have been privileged to get to know some and become friends with them. I have supported their calls for an apology and forms of other redress covering reparation, compensation and a whole range of things. I know that some states have given apologies. I know that some forgotten Australians and lost innocents though want a formal apology and acknowledgement from the Australian national government. I have been supporting for some time the locals in my area who have been advocating for this—notably, Nicholas Kostyn, Deborah Lowe and Graham Wilson. I name them as they have been very public about this. They recently attended a morning tea I hosted on 16 July for forgotten Australians to hopefully raise more awareness in the community and make some who feel forgotten feel included.

A man turned up at my office before the event because he saw it in a local newspaper. He was actually reading it when he accompanied his wife to an appointment. He came in and saw me. I encouraged him to come to the morning tea, and he did with his wife. It was the first time he had talked about the issue. He left behind a book for me to read. I have started to flick through it—I cannot quite face it yet because of some of the stories I know that are in there. I promised him that I would read it, and I will. All of us in this place have heard many stories about physical and psychological abuse. Reading some of the things that people have gone through sounds like torture.

Nicholas Kostyn in my area has been very active in trying to establish a place for forgotten Australians to go locally. I have been supporting him and will continue to do so. I have approached the Australian government and the minister. I hope the state will pick up this responsibility as well. A lot of the people are left with poorer health and educational outcomes. They are poorer in general. It is not everyone, but statistically we know that there are a lot. They require support beyond what the general system gives.

After the Prime Minister visited my electorate one person SMSed me: ‘Janelle, does the Prime Minister know about us?’ I said: ‘Of course the Prime Minister knows about you, as does everybody in this place. People do care.’ I said to him that something will happen. He asked whether I had advanced notice. I said: ‘No, I did not. I just sensed it.’ I was really pleased when I heard Minister Jenny Macklin on 30 August announce that by year’s end we would have a formal acknowledgement and apology.