By Neena Bhandari, IANS
Sydney : Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd Wednesday offered an historic, unconditional apology to its vast indigenous population for the wrongs committed by the state in the past.
Amidst tears and cheers in the Federal Parliament in Canberra, Rudd said the long awaited “Sorry” three times to members of the `Stolen Generations’ comprising tens and thousands of children who were forcibly removed from their families between 1900 and 1970 under the Government Assimilation Policies to “breed out” their Aborigine blood and supposedly give them a better life.
Keeping to his pre-election promise, in a moving speech Rudd said: “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.”
Applauding the large number of members of the Stolen Generations seated in the public gallery in Parliament, Rudd called on the opposition to join in a “war cabinet” to deal with Aboriginal housing issues and matters of constitutional change.
The Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders of Australia are one of the most marginalized and disadvantaged populations in the developed world. On June 30, 2006, there were 517,200 Aborigines among 21 million Australians or 2.5 percent of the total population, according to the government’s Bureau of Statistics. Their life expectancy is 17 years less than other Australians.
Compared to White Australians, indigenous communities across the country are struggling with poverty, discrimination, lack of basic amenities like education and health, and continuing high levels of unemployment that has led to violence, substance abuse as well as high rates of murder and sexual assault. Homicide is the leading cause of premature death for indigenous women and they are 45 times more likely to be victims of domestic violence than other Australians.
Saying that the apology is being made to “remove a great stain on the soul of the nation”, Rudd said: “We, the Parliament of Australia, respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation.”
Relating a story of an eloquent 80-year-old woman from the Stolen Generations, whom he had recently met, Rudd spoke of the “sheer brutality” of separating a mother from her children, which he described as “a deep assault on our senses and our most elemental humanity”.
Rudd attacked the former Howard government, saying it had treated the Stolen Generations with a “stony, stubborn and deafening silence for more than a decade”. Today the parliament had come together to “right a great wrong”.
While there was thunderous applause for Rudd’s touching speech, Opposition leader and former Defence Minister in the John Howard Government Brendan Nelson’s address to the house was received with jeers.
Nelson said it was correct that no compensation was being offered, because he said no money could compensate for the hurt inflicted on those removed from their families.
Thousands of people across Australia gathered at city centres to watch the landmark event unfold on big screens and celebrate the 42nd prime minister’s apology to the Aboriginal people with breakfasts and barbecues.
At Martin Place in Sydney CBD, several thousands of people braved the rain to watch the speech on the giant TV screen, many waving Aboriginal and Australian flags.
Reconciliation Australia, one of the main groups pushing for an apology, said Rudd’s “sorry” to Aboriginal Australians is an important symbolic act that has the support of most Australians.
Today’s apology to Aborigines, whose history stretches over 60,000 years, turns a new leaf in the history of this continent.