Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) | Link to this | 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.

Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak more from a personal experience, my family. I wasn't going to speak today and then I saw two photos of my little girls. There's nothing in this world that I love more than my two little girls. Astin, three, and Emery, one, are both Aboriginal girls. My wife is Aboriginal. My mother-in-law was born on Palm Island, was a part of the stolen generation, was born in a jail. The trauma that she has lived through her whole life is something that none of us here would ever be able to comprehend, understand. Therefore, I believe that we as a nation find it easier to not talk about it. That's why I decided to come in today and pay homage to my family and my mother-in-law and to say sorry—sorry that this occurred to her and to the thousands and thousands of other families around the country.

My wife's tribe and my mother-in-law's tribe is Djungan and Gungandji, from Mount Mulligan, from the Tablelands. They're rainforest Aboriginals. I want my daughters in five years, 10 years, 20 years—however long I sit in this place—to know that their dad stood up and spoke. It's a weird feeling for me because, outside of veterans affairs' issues and my family, I'm not an emotional person. But, in thinking about the horrors that occurred well before my time, it just takes the oxygen out of me. It winds me that this happened to Australian people. It winds me that my beautiful wife had to deal with the trauma that followed and the systemic racism that followed. It pains me that, unless we stand together, my daughters will go through the same thing. It might sound like a selfish thing to say, but I'm being about as open and honest as I can ever be. When it becomes real to you and you feel it in your bones, it drives people into action.

Fifty years ago my mother-in-law was at the Aboriginal Embassy, out the front of Old Parliament House. Fifty years ago a young Florence Burns, protesting, standing there, fighting and putting her hand up to be counted, was arrested by the police. Florence is someone that I've often asked questions of around Australia Day, around the different awards that I've received. I brought Florence here for my maiden speech, where she hugged Ken Wyatt and she hugged the Prime Minister. I think she was hugging everyone that day. I've never seen so much pride in her. That was because she felt that she has a voice in here, through her daughter, through me, through her grandkids, who I'm sure in a couple weeks will be asking, 'When's granny coming down from Cairns?' I'm sure my wife will enjoy having a bit of time to relax, as my kids are a handful. I'm sure Josh over there understands all about that! I know that my mother-in-law went straight up to Pat Dodson and gave him a hug.

There's a time when we debate with aggression and there's a time when we debate together, and, with my contribution here, for me this is a debate together. I found it refreshing—but I know the member for Melbourne didn't find it refreshing—to listen to the Prime Minister yesterday and I found it refreshing to listen to the Leader of the Opposition, Anthony Albanese. He's someone that I've spoken to before about Aboriginal issues as well as veterans issues.

When I served, I served with lots of First Nations people, whether they were Torres Strait Islanders or Aboriginal people from lands all around the country. I just saw them as brothers, really. I fought with them in wars and when I was injured they looked after me; I didn't see anything more in it. But when I met my wife, I started to look deeper into the Defence veterans brotherhood to ask: what did they go through when they were growing up? What did their parents have to endure? I think it's the responsibility of all of us to acknowledge the atrocities that have occurred and to create a better future for our First Nations people—for all people—and to walk hand in hand. That's something that I've had to learn through my journey as a young man and it's something that I would like to instil in others. I hope that people who dial in from the electorate of Herbert, places like Townsville, will say, 'Yes, I get it.'

This is about us acknowledging the atrocities that should never have happened. I'm sorry for that and I hope that we can now work together for a better future, because I want my daughters to grow up learning about and understanding the bad that has happened in our world. But then they must know that they can think, 'I can do anything.' I want my daughters to sit in parliament, if they so choose, with other strong women from around the country on all political sides who get here through their ability. I want them to look through Hansard and think: 'You know what? Their contribution that day meant something to me.' It means that we will come together with open arms to create a future where this should never happen again.

I'm sorry that this occurred. I will never understand what my mother-in-law and people throughout this country, including the people of Palm Island, which is in my electorate, went through. I will never comprehend it, but what I promise to do is to listen, to learn and to ensure that we as a nation never do this again. I want a very bright future for my two Aboriginal girls when they go through school. As they grow up I want them not to have go through the things that my wife went through. I know that standing up and talking about it, regardless of your political party, changes how our future will be. I'm very, very confident that with the strong people in our parliament, especially the strong young women in our parliament and the Aboriginal people in our parliament, we will guide this nation, regardless of the political divide, towards a better future for our First Nations people.

Kate Thwaites (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I begin by noting that I'm speaking today on Ngunawal and Ngambri country and I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging. Thank you to the member for Herbert for his very personal contribution. It was a very important personal contribution, as were all the personal contributions to this anniversary debate. These contributions really highlight that it is important that this parliament continues to mark the historic apology Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered, because the effects of the policies and the practices of the stolen generations reverberate down generations. That's why that apology made 14 years ago needed to be made. It was a very special day in this place. I wasn't here then, but I've heard from so many people about the emotion involved in it. It took so much courage for people who've been so wronged to come to this parliament—this institution that had failed them so profoundly—and the members of the stolen generations came here to Parliament House to witness that apology.

It was an apology that was a long time coming and it was promised to them after years of rejection and resistance. I believe it was a unifying moment, and for many it is one that will never be forgotten. I think it says a lot about the priorities of a Labor government, of former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, that it was the first order of business of his new government. On that day, Prime Minister Rudd said:

We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.

And it must be said that we can't look to our future without reflecting on and being honest about the past. Until we acknowledge the full weight of our history, the full truth of our history, we will always be burdened by it. It is important that the wrongs be acknowledged, that we learn from them, and that we look and seek for the ways of healing.

Until last year, this anniversary was also the time when we assessed the Closing the Gap report in this parliament, the annual report that still catalogues the unacceptable chasms that divide Indigenous and non-indigenous people in Australia. And those chasms are a reminder that speeches do not always lead to action. They can just be words if we don't all commit to actions that do better.

The historic speech to the stolen generations will always hold its special place in our national story. But it should hold a special place as the start of a new chapter, not as the end of a chapter. The next chapter must be about the Uluru Statement from the Heart. I actually feel very proud as an Australian that we have been given the Uluru Statement from the Heart, that it has been generously presented to us, that Indigenous people are saying to us, 'Here, take it—we can go further as a nation.' We should feel the generosity of that request for us to take it up and the possibility of the requests that are in that statement: voice, truth, treaty. Labor is committed to all three, to the voice to parliament, enshrined in our constitution; to truth, without which we really can't walk forward together as a nation; and to treaty, emerging from a makarrata commission, which Labor will establish.

Truth can be confronting. But truth does not have to lead to conflict. Truth-telling could and should be seen as a step in finding grounds for the healing that allows this country to write that next chapter, to write a better chapter. We should come to the process of truth-telling not as if we're approaching a battle but as if we are open to exploring the terrible things that happened, to acknowledging those and to finding a way forward.

The apology that was given in this place was incredibly important in helping us to confront a painful past and to bring us to the end of one journey and now hopefully to the beginning of another one. It is important that we acknowledge this anniversary. It is even more important that we acknowledge that the work is not done and that we get on with delivering the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

Peta Murphy (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I too would like to start my contribution by acknowledging that we stand today on the traditional lands of the Ngunawal and the Ngambri peoples and that, in my community, our land is the land of the Bunurong people of the Kulin nation. I want to particularly acknowledge everyone in my community who is a member of the stolen generations or has family members that were members of the stolen generations, and everyone at Nairm Marr Djambana, the gathering place by the bay, which is our local Indigenous community centre.

On 13 February 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered the apology to Australia's Indigenous peoples. In that apology, Prime Minister Rudd said:

The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia's history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.

Prime Minister Rudd apologised for the laws and policies that had inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these, our fellow Australians, especially for the removal of children. And the consequences of policies and laws of successive governments, of stripping people of culture and family and history for so long and of stripping them of country, mean that the grief, suffering and loss continues. The gap, on so many measures that are so important, between First Nations Australians and those of us who came here much later is still much closer to a chasm than a crack.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd ended the apology by saying:

A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia.

As my friend the member for Jagajaga said, that next chapter is clear. It is the generous and beautiful Uluru Statement from the Heart. It is delivering voice, delivering truth and delivering treaty. Too often people talk about the Uluru Statement from the Heart without understanding the beauty of what's in it and what it is asking for, so I want to quote the Uluru statement. It states:

We seek constitutional reforms to empower our people and take a rightful place in our own country. When we have power over our destiny our children will flourish. They will walk in two worlds and their culture will be a gift to their country.

We call for the establishment of a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution.

Makarrata is the culmination of our agenda: the coming together after a struggle. It captures our aspirations for a fair and truthful relationship with the people of Australia and a better future for our children based on justice and self-determination.

We seek a Makarrata Commission to supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations and truth-telling about our history.

In 1967 we were counted, in 2017 we seek to be heard. We leave base camp and start our trek across this vast country. We invite you to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future.

That trek that started in 2017 is still going. It has faced some barriers, and I am sure there will be more barriers to come. I make this pledge: I accept that generous invitation to walk in a movement of the Australian people for a better future, side by side with our First Nations brothers and sisters. The Labor Party accept that generous invitation and will do everything in our power to bring to bear voice, truth and treaty and the better future that will come with it.

Madeleine King (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Trade) | Link to this | Hansard source

I begin by acknowledging the Ngunawal and Ngambri people and pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging. I also pay my respects to the Wajuk and Pinjarup people of the Nyungar nation on whose traditional lands my electorate of Brand sits in Western Australia.

I have said before in this place that I feel sad at practically every welcome to country ceremony I attend and at every acknowledgement of country I witness. My response is from a deep sorrow of how painful the British-led occupation of this continent has been for those who have been here for eons. My sadness is born out of regret for what we as newcomers to this land have missed out on by our centuries-old practice of dominating every culture we find, taking whatever we want and dismissing languages, lifestyles and lives we don't care to understand.

Luckily for us newcomers, Indigenous Australians have a millennia-old practice of patience and care for this land. Sixty-five thousand years on this continent is an eternity for human purposes. New Australians living off this continent for 230 years is but the blink of an eye in relation to that endless time line, but those short 230 years have devastated Indigenous Australia. Nonetheless, our First Nations sisters and brothers are patient with us and continue to try to share their extraordinary culture, history and knowledge of country with us with good humour and generosity, despite our ignorance and despite how long it has taken us as new Australians to understand all that we have missed out on.

After so much trauma and hurt, after so many years of being told no, and after a hard-fought election campaign in which Kevin Rudd committed to saying those two simple words that carry so much meaning, 'I'm sorry', the national apology was a solemn moment of national healing. And, for anyone in the electorate of Brand, I'm really pleased to be able to provide to anyone who asks an official copy of the national apology that Kevin Rudd issued in 2008.

Some people may have noticed a photo I keep in my office. It was taken on the day of the apology. To be honest, I don't know how I came to have this photo. I just don't know. It's got no acknowledgment of the photographer who took it or of the women who are in it. I'm going to describe it for the House. It is a photo of four Indigenous women standing in the forecourt of the parliament. Two of them have T-shirts that say 'sorry', and two of them have T-shirts that say 'thanks': sorry, sorry, thanks, thanks. They are arm in arm, leaning into one another. I think it's one of the most remarkable photos of our time, and that's why I keep it with me, on my desk at work. It sums up how important it is to say sorry, and, equally, the generosity of our Indigenous sisters and brothers that they can so easily say thanks for what shouldn't have been as hard as it was. So, if anyone knows who took this photo or knows the women in it, I would be most grateful if they got in touch, because I would really like to get another copy of it. It's an amazing piece of Australian history.

Now, just as faith without works is dead, so is an apology without a change in behaviour. Australia on that day in 2008 resolved to change to make things better for our First Nations communities. Fourteen years later, there's just as much work as ever to be done—hard work, policy work, cultural work; discussion, consultation, inclusion. Not enough progress has been made to close the gap. The Closing the Gap project has been disappointing, not least because of its slow progress. But falling short of our goals should not mean abandoning them or celebrating mediocrity. No, it means that we strive on, borne forward by our shared commitment to being better than we were before.

On this side of the House, the Labor Party is committed to the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Paul Keating said in Redfern in 1992:

… there is nothing to fear or to lose in the recognition of historical truth, or the extension of social justice, or the deepening of Australian social democracy to include indigenous Australians.

There is everything to gain.

There is everything to gain in listening to Indigenous Australia, working with them and adopting in our hearts and our Constitution the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

This year marks 55 years since the successful 1967 referendum, which sought to ensure that First Nations Australians are included in our community. It marks 30 years since the historic Mabo decision of the High Court, which reversed a 220-year-old legal fiction that sought to obliterate more than 60,000 years of Indigenous land custodianship. It marks five years since the Uluru Statement from the Heart was shared with us. I sincerely thank and honour our Indigenous sisters and brothers and other leaders who have supported these just causes. Now it is time to share this burden across the country. Now is the time for us in this place to show leadership and to ensure that truth is heard, that voices are heard, that rights are enshrined and that reconciliation is real.

Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Communications) | Link to this | Hansard source

I acknowledge the Ngunawal and Ngambri people, who are the custodians of this land, and I also honour the Darug people of the Eora nation. Representing an area that was known as the 'blacks town', I am always mindful that we have the highest urban Indigenous population in Blacktown in New South Wales, if not in all of Australia. I particularly want to thank my office manager, Nicole Duffy, a proud Wiradjuri woman, who wrote this speech for me. Her late father, Phillip Duffy, was a Vietnam veteran. He was also a very high-profile policeman in Riverstone, and he passed away during COVID in 2020. He did not get the send-off that he deserved, but he is honoured by his dear daughter Nicole and their family every day.

On 13 February 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd issued an apology to the stolen generation by moving a motion in the House of Representatives. This finally and formally acknowledged the wrongs that were inflicted on First Nations people. However, prior to this historic apology, the Hon. Paul Keating spoke of the horror and torment inflicted on First Nations people, in his famous Redfern address in 1992. His words were both stirring and emotional, particularly when he said:

It begins, I think, with that act of recognition.

Recognition that it was we who did the dispossessing.

We took the traditional lands and smashed the traditional way of life.

We brought the diseases. The alcohol.

We committed the murders.

We took the children from their mothers.

We practised discrimination and exclusion.

It was our ignorance and our prejudice.

And our failure to imagine these things being done to us.

With some noble exceptions, we failed to make the most basic human response and enter into their hearts and minds.

We failed to ask—how would I feel if this were done to me?

The forced removal of children from their families saw a profound impact on First Nations children and families that is still felt today. Families were broken, communities were shattered and a proud people were left with missing pieces to their family trees. Many of these missing pieces will never be recovered. The children who were forcibly removed suffered a loss of identity. They were robbed of their connection to country, their kin and their language. Horrifically, many children who were institutionalised often suffered unspeakable physical, mental and sexual abuse. The physical scars may heal with time, but the psychological damage is still being felt across the generations.

Kevin Rudd's motion meant that, for the first time, a government had acknowledged and apologised for the hideous atrocities inflicted on our First Nations people. He went on to say:

We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.

Those words were echoed through the chamber and over the live streamed videos across the country. I must say too that I remember being a lawyer at the time, at Gilbert + Tobin. Danny Gilbert, who continues to this day to be a champion of First Nations justice and reconciliation and recognition, gathered the entire firm into our main meeting place. He didn't force anyone to be there, but everyone wanted to be there for this historic moment. I want to honour Danny Gilbert for the efforts that he makes. As he has said, we must deliver for First Nations people; we must deliver voice, treaty and truth. I thank Danny and the partners at Gilbert + Tobin, in particular, for their leadership and for being on this journey for so long.

The raw, heartfelt grief and sadness was met with hope—a hope that we, as a nation, learnt the gravity of these policies and vowed that it would never happen again. Archie Roach summed up what many of the survivors went through in his song 'Took the Children Away'. He sang of the pain of being ripped from his parents' arms, being separated from his siblings, losing connection to his country, kin and language and being raised white while being black. As I stand here today, it's hard to imagine how a government legislated to remove children and shatter families simply because of the colour of their skin. This is something that took place until quite recently in our history.

The apology was brought about following the Bringing them home report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families, which was instigated by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. Fifty-four recommendations came out of the report, and today many of these recommendations remain unfulfilled. One of the key recommendations of the report was reparation, which should include the following: an acknowledgement of responsibility and an apology from all Australian parliaments, police forces, churches and other non-government agencies which implemented policies of forcible removal; guarantees against repetition; restitution and rehabilitation; and monetary compensation.

In reading this report, it is hard not to feel the despair of so many, in particular a man by the name of Paul. His mother was tricked into putting him into care while she recovered from a serious illness. While she recovered, her son became a ward of the state. She fought for her son to be returned, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. He wrote:

… my Mother never gave up trying to locate me.

She wrote many letters to the State Welfare Authorities, pleading with them to give her son back. Birthday and Christmas cards were sent care of the Welfare Department. All these letters were shelved. The State Welfare Department treated my Mother like dirt, and with utter contempt, as if she never existed.

We must, as a nation, move forward and ensure that the lives that were lost were not in vain. We need a treaty, we need to close the gap and we, as a nation, must learn and heal together. While the apology took place prior to my election to this place, as a member, I too say sorry for the pain many First Nations families still face today as a direct result of the past policies and practices of successive governments.

Today, as we meet in this place, it should be noted that, in November last year, a motion in the Senate to fly the Aboriginal flag in the chamber was defeated. That's a simple, necessary act to move us one step closer to being united and resolute in our stance with this country's First Nations people.

Yesterday, it was 14 years since this historic apology, and, sadly, recent data from the Productivity Commission showed that, up to June last year, up to 22,000 children were living away from their parents and more than 8,000 of these children lived in New South Wales. Fourteen years on, we still have so far to go. If we're serious about history not repeating itself and about reconciliation, we must work together with First Nations communities all over this country. We must acknowledge and accept our part to play and be serious about moving forward.

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I acknowledge that this parliament sits on the lands of the Ngunawal and the Ngambri peoples, and I honour the ongoing contributions of all First Nations elders, past and present, that are part of the world's oldest continuing culture, resident here in our nation. We're remembering the apology—that amazing speech given by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. And it was a seminal moment in our nation. I remember it mostly for the impact that it had.

When I saw Kevin come up to Darwin, to Royal Darwin Hospital, there were lots of countrymen out the front, as there often are—lots of First Nations elders who had come in from communities, either for health treatment for themselves or to visit loved ones and support their friends and family. I'd been working with Jose Ramos-Horta, the former President of Timor-Leste, at around the time that he'd survived an assassination attempt, so we'd brought him back to Royal Darwin Hospital. Kevin Rudd, the new Prime Minister, had come up to Darwin to see Jose, and, as we went in the doors of the Royal Darwin Hospital, out the front there were, as I said, those elders, and they just said: 'Thanks, Kevin! Good on you, Kevin!' And it was without fanfare. There were no cameras. It was from the heart, and it was just expressing a bit of relief, a bit of joy and a bit of gratitude that someone had extended that apology on behalf of our nation. And it is something I will never forget. It was beautiful, and it showed that we had heard the apology, as a nation, and that we were proud, as a nation, that it had been done. Of course, we kind of wondered why it had taken that long—what deficiency of humility or of grace had led to such a delay in the extension of that apology. But it was a wonderful, wonderful moment.

As others have done, I might reflect on some personal experiences. In the late seventies, I suppose—I was a young fella; I can't remember the year exactly—or maybe in the early eighties, I had a school friend whose parents had gone to work on an Aboriginal mission in the Wheatbelt of WA, at a little place called Tardun, near Mullewa. So I went over there to visit my friend. I went by plane—I think it was the first time I'd ever been on a plane—from Melbourne over to Perth, and then by road up to this mission. It was my first experience with Aboriginal people over in WA. These kids were amazing sportsmen and sportswomen, or sports boys and girls—they were incredible. And it was a great experience to be out with them on their country. I was at high school in Healesville, in the hills north of Melbourne, which of course is where Coranderrk was. We'd had some Aboriginal kids at St Brigid's Catholic Primary School, but I hadn't really connected. But out on this mission I saw what seemed, I thought at the time, to be working for everyone. Of course, in time, in maturity, you realise that, whilst an education is important, being with your family is incredibly important.

When I moved to the Territory and met so many other members of the stolen generation, I gained a fuller appreciation of the intergenerational trauma and harm caused by separation. That's why the humility with which former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd offered that apology on behalf of the nation was keenly and gratefully accepted, because in the Top End there are lots of people who have had that experience—their families have been taken away. Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs Linda Burney articulated that incredibly well in her speech following the speeches of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in this place.

The member for Barton, the shadow minister for Indigenous affairs, during her speech acknowledged some of the First Nations senators in this place, including Senator Malarndirri McCarthy and Senator Pat Dodson from the Labor Party. She also mentioned former senator Nova Peris, who, when she joined the Senate, was the first First Nations woman elected to our parliament. I had the good fortune to work with Nova for a period, so I can report to the House that postpolitics Nova is doing incredibly well. She has established the Nova Peris Foundation. Of course, she has family connections who were part of the stolen generation. It's very real for people in the Top End. Nova, having established the Nova Peris Foundation, is doing some project work in the Tiwi Islands. The Royal Australian Navy recently had her sponsor NUSHIP Arafura, down in Adelaide, which I think is extremely appropriate. And she can feel very proud that she played a strong role in the campaign to free the Aboriginal flag. Well done, Nova! That's a bit of an update for the House.

So many in the Top End have been touched by this, as I said. What Paul Keating knew to be the power in his speech 30 years ago in Redfern is the power of truth in our reconciliation journey. I hope that following the Uluru Statement from the Heart we are able to implement voice, treaty and truth. We will have the opportunity to bring about further healing through practical action, in health and housing in particular.

When Kevin Rudd delivered the apology, people got to know Lorna Fejo, who's the mum of a good friend of mine, Richie Fejo, and others. A couple of years ago, when Lorna had a significant birthday, we lined up a call so that Kevin could wish Lorna Fejo a happy birthday. It was a beautiful moment. Back in 2008, when Kevin delivered the apology, he said to Lorna, 'Do I call you "Auntie"?' She said, 'No; you can call me by my skin name, Kevin: "Nanna Nungala".' Lorna Nanna Nungala Fejo is unwell at the moment. We send you our love and appreciation, and the respect of this House.

Alicia Payne (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to begin by acknowledging the Ngunawal and Ngambri people, on whose land this parliament stands, and that the electorate of Canberra is their land. I want to acknowledge our Minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Wyatt, our shadow minister for Indigenous affairs, Linda Burney, Senator Patrick Dodson, Senator Malarndirri McCarthy, Senator Jacqui Lambie, Senator Lidia Thorpe and Senator Dorinda Cox. I also want to acknowledge today any members of my community who were members of the stolen generation or whose families were members of the stolen generation.

Fourteen years ago Prime Minister Kevin Rudd formally apologised to the stolen generations on behalf of the Australian government. It was an important and long-overdue moment in our nation's history. Like millions of Australians, I clearly remember the feeling of that day and the importance of that moment that so many had fought for and worked towards over many, many years. It was to be not the end but the beginning of a new chapter, looking to a future where we are honest about our history and come to terms with it as a nation. At the time, Prime Minister Rudd said:

For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written.

We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.

A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.

A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity.

A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed.

A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.

A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia.

The apology was a significant step towards reconciliation, and it's time we had the courage to continue that journey. That is why the Australian Labor Party is committed to implementing the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full. It has been almost five years since Australia's First Nations peoples called for voice, treaty, truth, and it is clear that these should be our next steps. It's why we must confront the truth that we continue to fail First Nations peoples. Today, First Nations peoples have a shorter life expectancy, the highest rates of incarceration in the world, lower levels of education—and, still, too many First Nations children are being removed from their families.

My friend and colleague Linda Burney, the member for Barton, speaking about the impact of the apology yesterday, asked Australians to use our imaginations, to envision what life is like in remote communities during the pandemic. She said:

Imagine what living in a remote community is like, with 15 or 20 people in a three-bedroom house. What that's like? Imagine not having enough RATs to go around when local services are failing because there aren't any staff to step up when those on the front line have to isolate, and when less than half of the community is vaccinated. Every day, I hold my breath and hope, because that failure could mean the end for far too many who carry our culture and language. Our elders are our libraries. They are our internet. They cannot be replaced.

I am so proud to work with Linda in our party and to work with her in our First Nations caucus committee and I am so proud that she is leading our policy platform for First Nations peoples. We have to ask ourselves: would these issues persist if the voices of First Nations people were heard by this parliament in the way they have asked them to be? Self-determination is a vital step towards reconciliation, and it is one that Labor is fully committed to. We are the only party that is fully committed to this. I'm proud that Labor is committed to this.

Labor will establish a makarrata commission as a matter of priority and enshrine it in the Constitution with a First Nations voice to parliament. Labor will also expand justice re-investment, establish consolidated real-time reporting of First Nations deaths in custody at a national level and double the number of Indigenous rangers. These are the next steps that Labor will take, that Australia must take.

The Uluru Statement from the Heart was an incredibly generous gift from First Nations people to Australia, and it called for those three key things—voice, treaty, truth. Voice: an Indigenous voice to our parliament, enshrined in the Constitution, advising our nation's legislators on matters affecting First Nations communities. Treaty: Australia is the only Commonwealth nation that is yet to sign treaties with First Nations people. Treaties are an essential step in acknowledging and giving legal effect to the rights and interests of First Nations Australians. And truth: a comprehensive process of truth-telling about the true history of this nation, once marred by dispossession, conflict and genocide, one which acknowledges the truth strength and resilience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Labor is fully committed to the implementation of these things.

I want to finish my speech today by reading into the Hansard once again the incredibly moving words of the Uluru statement. It is important that we remember these words and the wishes of First Nations people when we have these debates.

Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tribes were the first sovereign Nations of the Australian continent and its adjacent islands, and possessed it under our own laws and customs. This our ancestors did, according to the reckoning of our culture, from the Creation, according to the common law from 'time immemorial', and according to science more than 60,000 years ago.

This sovereignty is a spiritual notion: the ancestral tie between the land, or 'mother nature', and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who were born therefrom, remain attached thereto, and must one day return thither to be united with our ancestors. This link is the basis of the ownership of the soil, or better, of sovereignty. It has never been ceded or extinguished, and co-exists with the sovereignty of the Crown.

How could it be otherwise? That peoples possessed a land for sixty millennia and this sacred link disappears from world history in merely the last two hundred years?

With substantive constitutional change and structural reform, we believe this ancient sovereignty can shine through as a fuller expression of Australia's nationhood.

Proportionally, we are the most incarcerated people on the planet. We are not an innately criminal people. Our children are aliened from their families at unprecedented rates. This cannot be because we have no love for them. And our youth languish in detention in obscene numbers. They should be our hope for the future.

These dimensions of our crisis tell plainly the structural nature of our problem. This is the torment of our powerlessness.

We seek constitutional reforms to empower our people and take a rightful place in our own country. When we have power over our destiny our children will flourish. They will walk in two worlds and their culture will be a gift to their country.

We call for the establishment of a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution.

Makarrata is the culmination of our agenda: the coming together after a struggle. It captures our aspirations for a fair and truthful relationship with the people of Australia and a better future for our children based on justice and self-determination.

We seek a Makarrata Commission to supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations and truth-telling about our history.

In 1967 we were counted, in 2017 we seek to be heard. We leave base camp and start our trek across this vast country. We invite you to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future.

This statement came from the most comprehensive deliberative process of First Nations peoples in Australia ever undertaken. This is what they have asked of their parliament. How could we not accept this generous gift and walk together into a better future? Voice, treaty and truth—this is what we need for healing. This is the next step in reconciliation. I am so proud that a Labor government would do this, and I look forward to our parliament doing this, hopefully in the next term.

Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) | Link to this | Hansard source

I too begin by acknowledging the Ngunawal and Ngambri peoples, the traditional owners of the land on which this parliament meets. I acknowledge the Indigenous members of this place: the member for Hasluck, the Minister for Indigenous Australians; the member for Barton; Senator Dodson; Senator McCarthy; Senator Thorpe; Senator Lambie; and Senator Cox. It seems unimaginable now that it was only a few years ago that we didn't have members of the Indigenous community here in this place. We've made extraordinary changes in such a short period of time and we all wonder why it didn't happen earlier. I extend that acknowledgment to the Wadawurrung and Dja Dja Wurrung peoples, the traditional custodians of the land that my electorate of Ballarat falls within.

Fourteen years ago this week the parliament finally said sorry to the stolen generations. I remember that day very well. I was heavily pregnant with my son Ryan, who's now 13 years of age. It was an incredibly unifying and proud moment for the nation, and I hope very much that, once he emerges from his slightly grumpy teenager years where he's not really that interested in what his mum does, he looks back and reads the Hansard. He might be in his late 30s, maybe his 40s or even his 50s when he's doing the family history—and I'm long gone—and he might think, 'It's pretty amazing that I was in my mum's womb when that amazing moment happened.'

Fourteen years ago we said sorry for the laws and policies of successive parliaments and governments that inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on our fellow Australians. We said sorry for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country, and the ongoing harm it has done for generations. We said sorry on behalf of all Australians. It was, as I said, one of the proudest days in parliament and I believe one of the best days of this parliament. It was an example of what the parliament of this country is capable of when we have compassion in our hearts and unity in our heads. Today I again acknowledge those families, those communities and those histories torn apart by historic injustice. Just because those acts happened a long time ago doesn't mean that the damage does not linger or do harm throughout generations.

I particularly want to recognise those who came here that day to accept our apology. They came to this place with a grace that was perhaps more than we all deserved. Like many regions around Australia, Ballarat cannot escape the history of the stolen generations. Nazareth babies homes, Ballarat babies homes, Ballarat Orphanage, St Joey's—all housed children of the stolen generations. Children from as far away as Gippsland were taken from their homes, stolen from their families and their culture, to be raised in our home town of Ballarat. Ahead of my contribution to the apology debate 14 years ago, I learned some of this history by reading Faded Footprints: Walking the Past, produced by the Ballarat and District Aboriginal Cooperative. This book told the story of Uncle Murray, who was here on that day. He was taken from his family in Gippsland. As he said:

By the time my auntie realised we were gone, we were in Melbourne.

He was later separated from his two sisters and put in what he described as a cell.

When you are 10 years old and you've never been shut in and you go into a dark room and the door is shut on you—well, 60 years later I can still hear that rotten door shutting.

The book also tells the story of Karen Atkinson, who spent 10 years at Ballarat Orphanage, which I later worked for. Karen's mother died three weeks before she left the orphanage, and she never saw her again.

Dianne Clarke remembered this:

So they bailed us up there and took the parents, like dragged them off, kicking and screaming, around to our window and they were fighting. Our parents were putting up a good fight. Our mum was real little but was fired up and was fighting for her kids and I remember seeing the police just giving it to her, just punching her on the ground.

That is the love of a mother up against the institutions of the state. At the apology 14 years ago, Prime Minister Rudd asked us to do one thing: imagine if that were you. In the years since that apology, I have had a child of my own, and the thought of him being taken is just unimaginable. These are just three stories, and there are countless stories like them that come from around this nation.

According to the Bringing them home report, between one in three and one in 10 Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families between 1910 and 1970. They were placed in institutions and church missions, were adopted or fostered and were at risk of physical and sexual abuse. Many never received wages for their labour, and welfare officers failed in their duty to protect Indigenous wards from abuse. They're not in the distant past. Survivors of the stolen generation live amongst us today, as do their children and their children's children. They were removed from their families solely on the basis of their race.

It was fitting that the apology was the first act of the Rudd government, because Australia as a nation faces no more important task than reconciliation. That apology 14 years ago did not solve the problems. It was neither the beginning nor the end of the road towards reconciliation; it was merely a step along the way. It was a process that started a century ago, continuing through William Cooper, the granting of citizenship in the 1967 referendum, the tent embassy, the Barunga Statement, the deaths in custody royal commission, Mabo, the Redfern statement and Bringing them home.

After the apology there remains more to do. As Prime Minister Rudd said:

We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.

We now need to renew the work of laying claim to that future. The apology led to the Closing the Gap process, an important process, but we know that First Nations people are still far more likely to be jailed, to die by suicide and to have their children removed than non-Indigenous Australians. Between 2013 and 2019 the rate at which those children have been placed with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander carers actually fell from 53.6 per cent to 43.8 per cent. Out of the 17 targets that have been set, only three were on track. Speaking on the most recent Closing the Gap statement, the Leader of the Opposition said:

… we are surrounded by unfinished business. Even worse, we are surrounded by business that hasn't even been started.

This 14th anniversary should be a moment to reflect and a moment to move forward. We're now coming up to the fifth anniversary of the Uluru Statement from the Heart—what the Leader of the Opposition rightly described as 'a patiently extended hand, waiting for us to take it and to go further as a nation'.

I remember at the time of the apology 14 years ago there were people, including people who are still in this place today, who felt that making that apology was somehow going to take our nation backwards. They still believed that on that day 14 years ago. The reality is that the world didn't fall apart. Nothing changed other than as a nation for the first time we were actually unified in the grief that had been caused by our institutions and we made a pledge together to move forward. I think many of us saw how incredibly powerful this parliament can be when it does that and really want to see that continue.

The Uluru statement is based on three things: voice, truth and treaty. They are three words that can guide our way forward as a nation. I know there are people who are nervous about that. There are people in this place who are nervous and have made some statements around some of those things. Again I say that nothing is worth doing if it isn't hard and if it isn't something that can unify the country in a way that treaty, truth and voice can—a voice to our parliament enshrined in our Constitution; truth about our past, without which we can never have reconciliation; and a treaty emerging from the makarrata commission, which an Albanese Labor government will establish. As the shadow minister I believe these are not radical propositions; they are a culmination of a century-long journey. I am proud that Labor supports this statement in full. The government needs to do so as well.

The Prime Minister promised a voice to parliament, and we have yet to see that delivered. This journey started long before Aboriginal people were even counted as citizens and it is a journey that has endured over long years of hardship and setbacks. They are incredibly patient. They should not have to wait longer. We know what the next step on the journey is, because they have told us. We need to listen to our First Nations peoples. We need to listen to the Uluru statement. We need to take that next step together. Fourteen years is a long time to wait. Fourteen years, hopefully, will not be in vain.

Ged Kearney (Cooper, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health and Ageing) | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise as well to address the chamber to acknowledge the 14th anniversary of the National Apology to the Stolen Generations. I'd like to knowledge the Ngunawal and Ngambri people, whose land we meet on for every parliamentary sitting and on which we are meeting today. I'm proud to acknowledge the traditional owners of my own electorate, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nations. I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging. I'm also incredibly proud to pay homage to William Cooper, after whom my electorate is named. He was a First Nations man born in 1860 who fought for the rights and advancements of Aboriginal people—and the fight continues.

The national apology was a watershed moment in Australian history. It recognised the deep and brutal trauma of those from the stolen generation who'd been taken from their families. As the member for Barton so movingly put it yesterday, put yourself in the shoes of a three-year-old who is wrapped in the love of a large family and then has that love ripped away. It recognised the immense pain and it met that raw wound with a sincere apology. Our nation failed people. Australia enacted a cruel brutality upon too many of our First Nations peoples. Finally our national leader said sorry. I'd like to quote from the speech made 14 years ago by our Prime Minister:

For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.

To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.

And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.

It was an extremely meaningful moment for so many of us, for so many Australians. The apology tore through an insidious and long-term silence about these acts of horror and violence. The whole nation paused and reflected. We thought of those who hadn't been given a platform to tell their story. We thought of the intergenerational trauma that ripped across families, across communities and across cultures. We thought of the loss of language, the loss of culture, the loss of identity and the loss of family that people endured and still, painfully, endure today. For Australians who do not have First Nations heritage, we confronted the dark side of our nation's history and grappled with the truth that each of us, or our families, may have contributed to this mistreatment, or indeed held silence surrounding these issues.

I remember where I was 14 years ago when the then Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, delivered the apology. I was on the lawns of parliament with my nursing colleagues from the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives. I can't tell you what an honour it was to stand there and share that day, that moment, with those wonderful women. And I do remember, not so proudly, that we all turned our backs on the then Leader of the Opposition, Brendan Nelson, who referred to alcoholism, corruption and abuse. That was offensive. That was wrong. It did not hold the tenor of that auspicious moment.

The Prime Minister's speech aimed to move Australia forward. It was a turning point in history. Words are powerful, and actions are even more powerful. That's why Labor is so committed to delivering the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full. This commitment is underscored by three important words and all the values and empowerment that sit within them: voice, treaty, truth. My electorate of Cooper is home to many First Nations Australians. We have many amazing First Nations organisations that are domiciled in Cooper. Within them, there are so many individuals who embody strength, resilience and leadership. There is also anger—anger at persistent racism, anger at the gap that still has not been closed and anger at the many ways that colonialism continues to play out in the lives and experiences of First Nations Australians.

Apologies are important, listening is important and actions are even more important. But demanding forgiveness after an apology is unforgivable. An apology must be given not with an expectation of forgiveness but with sincere remorse and the promise of addressing the injustice. You don't say sorry because you expect to be forgiven. You say sorry to truly apologise. An apology is not a transaction. You can't set the terms of an apology. It should never demand the forgiveness of those who are wronged.

I've had many people reach out in the past day furious that one Prime Minister could say something so offensive in the context of another Prime Minister's authentic apology. The PM has shown a growing or maybe even an ingrained pattern of telling victims and survivors how they should behave, what they should say, whether or not they should smile and, now, when they should forgive. He says that 'I forgive you' are the three hardest words to say, but I believe the hardest three words for those opposite to say are 'voice, treaty, truth'. This is the greatest piece of unfinished business for this parliament and for Australia.

Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Industry and Innovation) | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which this parliament meets, the Ngunawal and Ngambri people. As the member for Chifley, I'm proud to represent people who either hail from or live on Dharug land, and I want to acknowledge and pay my respects to elders past and present there. It gives me enormous pride—and it is an enormous honour—to represent, within the electorate of Chifley, one of the largest urban based Aboriginal communities in the country. It's something that I wear as a badge of honour, and I take very seriously, beyond just making that reference, the need for us to do things to help every step of the way.

The apology means something to a lot of people in our area, because they were members of stolen generations. I sat with a lump in my throat listening, in particular, to one story about a brother and sister who were taken away from their folks. They thought, for some reason, that their parents were deficient, and they never got to see their parents. Their parents worked multiple jobs just so that they could earn money to send to those kids. The money never made it to those kids, and those kids thought that their parents didn't love them. It was only after their parents died that these kids, who grew up to become adults, learned the true story. They now carry around, like a stone, the guilt that they feel about their parents. It's pretty tough. There's no better way to tell a person they mean nothing—and I mean nothing—than to put a number on them: to take away their name, to take away who they are, to stop them speaking their language, to stop them celebrating their culture and to disconnect them from the land. And that's what we did.

The apology is really important. As was said a number of times yesterday, it's not about making people feel guilty; it's about asking people to do what we ask people to do every single day—to understand what has happened to us, to appreciate it, to walk in our shoes for a bit. There's an elder in my neck of the woods, Uncle Greg Simms, who, whenever he does an acknowledgement of country, says, 'Before you take your next step, remember the ones who took the steps before you.' I think that is a good thing, just for living life.

So the apology is important. Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made it because, for years, we had a Prime Minister who believed it was just empty symbolism and wouldn't do it. There was this whole thing about 'practical reconciliation'. But you can do both things. Symbolism matters, because, if it doesn't—with the greatest respect, Deputy Speaker Coulton—why are you sitting down? Why are you elevated before us? Why do we have flags? Why am I speaking from here? Why don't I sit down and deliver this speech? All these things—verbal, nonverbal and otherwise—mean something. Symbolism is a big deal for us; it's a big deal for others. So we should do both the symbolism plus the thing of making a difference. The reason I mention this is that, right now in my community—one of the biggest communities, I stress—we have an Aboriginal medical service that's not run by the local Aboriginal community. It's hit the wall; it's entered administration.

Mark Coulton (Parkes, National Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! It being 6.30 pm, the debate is interrupted in accordance with standing order 192(b). The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an the order for the next day of sitting. The member will have leave to continue speaking when the debate is resumed on a future date.