Australian government to issue formal apology to Aborigines
Australian government to issue a formal apology to Aborigines over child removal during 20th century
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Wednesday, 30, Jan 2008 10:40
The Australian government is to issue a formal apology to the country's indigenous people, it has been confirmed.
While former prime minister John Howard refused to apologise to the families of Aboriginal children taken from their parents under state and state federal laws, arguing that his administration should not be held culpable for previous regimes, newly installed prime minister Kevin Rudd has pledged to push for a public apology.
And in a statement today, interior minister Jenny Macklin confirmed that a formal apology on February 13th will be the first item of business for the new parliament.
"The apology will be made on behalf of the Australian government and does not attribute guilt to the current generation of Australian people," she explained.
"Once we establish this respect, the government can work with indigenous communities to improve services aimed at closing the 17-year life expectancy gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians."
Around 100,000 mixed-blood Aboriginal children were forcibly removed from their parents between 1910 and 1970 due to the supposition that the full-blood Aboriginal race would be unable to sustain itself and thus saving the children was a humane measure.
The "stolen generation" has received increased scrutiny in Australian culture since the publication of the Bringing Them Home report in 1997, which argued that compensation for those removed from their families was necessary due to the long-term psychological damage caused by the separation.
It concluded that indigenous families had "endured gross violations of their human rights" which "continue to affect indigenous people's daily lives".
And it argued that the separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families was "an act of genocide, aimed at wiping out indigenous families, communities and cultures, vital to the precious and inalienable heritage of Australia".
Tom Calma, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice commissioner, commended Mr Rudd's decision to issue a formal apology in a statement.
"An apology that acknowledges the existence and the impact of this dark aspect of our history where indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families, and which pays respect to the stolen generations for their suffering, their resilience and their dignity, is an early and exceptional sign of goodwill from the new government," he commented.