Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

In addition to the measures already implemented by successive governments, today the Prime Minister announced a national find and connect service, which will provide Australia-wide coordinated family tracing and support services. The service will also provide counselling and support for family reunifications. I am also pleased to advise the Senate that overnight Prime Minister Brown announced that the British government will also apologise to the thousands of children from Britain who were sent to colonies around the world, including to Australia, during the early part of the last century and into the 1960s. This is obviously a very welcome development. We hope that the apologies of the Australian and British governments will bring some peace to the victims of this tragic policy. We thank those who attended the ceremonies in parliament today, and we hope that this has helped in their healing.