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G4EBT > STOLEN 14.02.08 01:03l 132 Lines 5392 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 5F7919G4EBT
Read: GUEST
Subj: Kevin Rudd says "Sorry"
Path: DB0FHN<DB0MRW<DK0WUE<GB7FCR
Sent: 080213/2131Z @:GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU #:61487 [Blackpool] FBB-7.03a $:5F7919G4
From: G4EBT@GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU
To : STOLEN@WW
At the opening of Parliament Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has delivered the
long-awaited apology to Australia's Stolen Generations, beamed to the
world.
An apology sought after the findings of the Report of the National Inquiry
into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from
Their Families in April 1997.
An apology that a stubborn John Howard couldn't find it in his heart to
make for a decade when in office.
Addressing a packed House of Representatives Mr Rudd did not mince his
words - his apology was unequivocal. He said Parliament apologised for
laws and policies which had "inflicted profound grief, suffering and
loss on these our fellow Australians."
"For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their
descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry," he said.
"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."
As Mr Rudd was speaking hundreds of people had gathered outside
Parliament House to watch events unfold on big screens.
"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," Mr Rudd continued.
"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 all Australians - whatever their origins, are truly
equal partners, with equal opportunities and an equal stake in shaping
the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia."
Mr Rudd says the apology is being made to "remove a great stain on the
soul of the nation. He's right too. Few countries have done more in
principle if not in practice, to promote human rights and erase this blot
on Australia's character.
"The time has come, well and truly come, for all peoples of our great
country ... all Australians, those who are Indigenous and those who are
not, to come together, to reconcile, and build a future for our great
nation."
In an attack on the government of John Howard, he said it had treated the
Stolen Generations with a "stony, stubborn and deafening silence for more
than a decade".
He's right too - John Howard set back reconciliation by a decade. Rudd
must now pick up where Paul Keating's historic landmark Redfern Park
Statement in 1992 left off.
Saying "sorry" is just the start of it.
Hopefully, Rudd will bring this back up to speed and engage with the
Aboriginal people and Human Rights Framework in a way that Howard was
incapable of doing.
That will need long-term strategies to deal with inequities in access to
health, education and housing, as well as alcoholism, domestic violence,
child abuse, crime and welfare dependency.
It can't be right that Aboriginal people have a life expectancy 18 years
below the rest of the population. The reasons are well understood and
capable of being improved upon over time.
Mr Rudd continued:
"There was a view that we should look for any pretext to push this great
wrong to one side, - to leave it languishing with the...academics and
'cultural warriors', for who the Stolen Generations are little more
than an interesting sociological phenomenon.
"But as of today the time for denial is at last come to an end."
Mr Rudd says reconciliation is a reflection of a core tenet
of Australian society - "the concept of a fair go for all".
"For our nation, the course of action is clear ... and that is to deal now
with what has become one of the darkest chapters in our nation's history."
"In doing so, we are also wrestling with our own souls.
"As Prime Minister of Australia, I am sorry. On behalf of the Government
of Australia, I am sorry. On behalf of the Parliament of Australia, I am
sorry. And I offer you this apology without qualification."
Mr Rudd said he hoped today's apology would open a new era in Australian
history. "We have had sufficient audacity and faith to advance part way to
that future, with arms extended rather than with fists still clenched," he
said.
"Let us allow this day of national reconciliation to become one of those
rare moments in which we might just be able to transform the way in which
the nation thinks about itself.
"For the nation to bring the first two centuries of our settled history
to a close ... and embrace with awe these ancient cultures which we are
blessed, truly blessed to have among us."
Mr Rudd's speech was greeted with prolonged applause from
both sides of the House and from those gathered outside.
Stating that "It's taken us 41 parliaments to get here - we can be a but
slow at times, but we got here in the end", he stressed that the apology
(which has bi-partisan support from the Opposition) was not being made on
behalf of the Australian people but Parliament.
Nice to see a good news story going around the world about
Oz that's to do with something more substantial than sport.
Best wishes
David, G4EBT @ GB7FCR
Cottingham, East Yorkshire.
Message timed: 20:35 on 2008-Feb-13
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