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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 6 Hansard (17 June) . . Page.. 1603 ..

MRS CARNELL (continuing):

When the first European settlers arrived in the Canberra area in 1824 a number of Aboriginal communities occupied the south-east area of New South Wales, including the land which is now the Australian Capital Territory. These communities included the Ngun(n)awal people who lived on the Limestone Plains, including Canberra, and extending north to Boorowa and Goulburn; the Wiradjuri people who lived to the north and to the west of Canberra; the Ngarigo people who occupied the Monaro tablelands south of Canberra; and the Wandandian people who occupied the area east of Canberra to the coast, including Jervis Bay.

Based on European settlers' recollections, at the time the estimated Aboriginal population within the local region ranged from 400 to 1,000. As was the case throughout most of Australia, European settlement of the Canberra region had a devastating impact on local Aboriginal communities. In 1853 an estimated 200 Aboriginal people remained, and by 1891 the New South Wales census for the Queanbeyan and Canberra district recorded a total of 21 Aboriginal people, mostly living on European pastoral stations. In 1911, following proclamation of the Federal Capital Territory on 1 January, the New South Wales Aboriginal Protection Board compulsorily relocated most of the Aboriginal people remaining in the Territory - estimated by that stage, Mr Speaker, at around 10 - to the Edgerton Mission Station near Yass.

Today, I am pleased to say, the situation is significantly different. Today, only 86 years after proclamation, the Australian Capital Territory is fortunate to have an active and vibrant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, made up from indigenous communities and people from across Australia. This population is growing at a rate significantly higher than that of any other Australian State or Territory. In 1991 the Australian Bureau of Statistics census recorded approximately 1,700 people in the ACT who identified as being Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. This represented an increase of approximately 52 per cent over the 1986 figures. In 1971, when the national census first counted indigenous Australians, there were only 156 identified Aboriginal people within the ACT and Jervis Bay, and no Torres Strait Islanders. Many of these people were thought to have been living in Jervis Bay. Reading the Bringing them home report reinforces the need for all members of the ACT community, including members of the ACT Legislative Assembly, to remember the past and to continue to move forward through the reconciliation process. I believe that this motion is a key part of this process.

The inquiry into the separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families was established in 1995 in response to increasing concern among key indigenous agencies and communities that the general public's ignorance of the history of forced separation was hindering the recognition of the needs of indigenous Australians and their families. The terms of reference of the inquiry required the commission, amongst other things, to consult widely among the Australian community. Accordingly, the inquiry undertook an extensive program of hearings across Australia, and public evidence was taken from a wide range of government and non-government agencies and individuals. The ACT Government provided an interim submission to the inquiry in June 1996, evidence at hearings in Canberra in July 1996, and follow-up information as requested by commissioners. Bringing them home contains 54 recommendations, including a number which cover reparation, acknowledgment and apology to indigenous peoples who have suffered because of forcible removal from their families.

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