Australia says "sorry" to Aborigines By Sebastiaan Gottlieb* 13-02-2008
Australia has offered its apologies to the Aborigines. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd three times said "sorry" to Australia's oldest inhabitants for the distress they suffered in the past two centuries. The new Australian Prime Minister wants the Aborigines to feel like fully-fledged citizens, and put an end to their feelings of inferiority compared to the rest of the population.
The expression of regret from the Australian government is hugely important. On the lawn in front of the parliament building in Canberra, thousands of Aborigines set up camp so they could be present for this historic event. They followed the Prime Minister's speech on giant screens that were also set up in other places in Australia for similar gatherings of Aborigines.
"The stolen generation" The apologies of the Australian government apply primarily to the Aborigines of the "stolen generations". Between 1920 and 1970, the government took Aboriginal babies away from their parents on a large scale, and re-housed many of them with white families. Many of these children were abused, though for some it meant the chance of a better life. At the time, it was official Australian policy to give Aboriginal children a ‘white' upbringing, as the government was convinced that the Aboriginal culture would die out.
GUESS ONE MIGHT CALL THAT AN ATTEMPT AT GENOCIDE, BY SOME.
Already in 1997, the distress of the "stolen generations" was recognized by an investigation commission that advised the Australian government to offer its apologies. The previous Prime Minister, liberal John Howard, refused on the grounds that it was not his government's responsibility.
Traditional welcome greeting
But Kevin Rudd, who was elected last November, sees things differently. In close discussions with Aboriginal organisations, he produced the text of a speech in which he offered his wholehearted apologies. Professor Ad Borsboom, an Aboriginal expert from Radboud University in Nijmegen, says this gesture is hugely significant:
"This apology is very important. Also, the ceremony which the Aborigines performed at the opening of the parliamentary year has great symbolic importance. For the first time in 200 years, they were able to express their welcome to the newcomers in Australia, and give their permission for their work to begin. It's a kind of reinstatement of something that hasn't happened in two centuries."
As a result of the holding of the ceremony and the offering of apologies, the Aborigines no longer have to play the role of victim, which they have played for so long, says Borsboom:
"There can now be an end to the injustice that has been done to the Aborigines for two centuries. The Aborigines themselves also say that now work can begin on the improvement of their status with regard to health care, housing and employment."
Compensation
A sign of the second-class status of the Aborigines in Australian society is the fact that their average life expectancy is 17 years shorter than for the white Australian population. According to Borsboom, the recognition of the Aborigines is also intended as a first step towards correcting this anomaly. Nothing has been said about compensating individual victims of the "stolen generations". But Borsboom doesn't see that as important. He sees more value in the setting up of a general fund that can be used to improve the situation of the Aborigines, such as has happened in Tasmania.
Borsboom points out that there are many differences among the Aborigines:
"It makes a big difference whether they live in the suburbs of Sydney or in the remote desert areas in the north. You can't regard the Aborigines as one large group. The problems for the Aborigines differ, and require different approaches."
But despite their happiness at the apologies from the Australian government, many Aborigines are at the same time disappointed that nothing has been mentioned about compensation. They would like to have seen the victims of the "stolen generations" receive money for the distress that they suffered.
The Federal Government has ruled out a billion-dollar compensation fund for members of the Stolen Generations.
Indigenous leaders have renewed calls for compensation as the Government prepares to apologise for the forced removal of thousands of people from their families.
An inquiry into the Stolen Generations recommended reparations be made but Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin has ruled out compensation as part of an apology.
"What we will be doing is putting the funding in to health and education services, and providing additional support for services needed for counselling, to enable people to find their relatives," she said.
"We think the best way to give force to the apology is to provide funding to close the gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians."
"So we won't be creating a compensation fund."
Chair of Stolen Generations Victoria, Lyn Austin says a fund is needed.
"People get paid crimes compensation for victims of crime," she said.
"You are looking at the gross violation and the act of genocide and all the inhumane things that have happened to our people."
Ms Austin says members of the Stolen Generations should consider suing the Government over their treatment.
"We are actually thinking that ourselves, myself and another five siblings that were adopted into a family, are considering a class action," she said.
The lawyer who ran the original Stolen Generation compensation case in 2000 says its failure is no barrier to a fresh case succeeding.
Lorna Cubillo and Peter Gunner failed in their quest for compensation when the High Court found the Commonwealth would not receive a fair trial because of the time that had elapsed since their removal.
But their lawyer, Michael Schaeffer, says that was partly because of a law unique to the Northern Territory and interstate claimants may have greater success.
"I would urge any prospective litigant who feels that they have a complaint to make in relation to removal as a child to seek legal advice," he said.
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