Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 6 Hansard (17 June) . . Page.. 1604 ..

MRS CARNELL (continuing):

Prior to the release of the report, on 5 December 1996 the ACT Legislative Assembly reaffirmed its commitment to the goals and processes of reconciliation, and the importance of a genuine approach to reconciliation to the future of the ACT and Australia. The motion I have moved is important, Mr Speaker, and is commensurate with this commitment and the recommendations of the Bringing them home report. The motion apologises to the Ngun(n)awal people and other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the ACT for the hurt and distress inflicted upon any people as a result of the separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families. The motion also assures the indigenous and non-indigenous members of the ACT community that the ACT Legislative Assembly regards the past practices of forced separation as abhorrent, and that the Assembly expresses sincere determination that such practices will not happen in the ACT.

As I have already noted, the Bringing them home report presents 54 recommendations which cover a broad range of issues and responsibilities. The motion I have tabled affirms the Government's commitment to a just and proper outcome for both the grievances of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people adversely affected by these policies and the recommendations of the Bringing them home report. In doing so, the Government will take account of the special needs of the ACT indigenous communities in developing appropriate and responsive policies, programs and legislation to meet the needs of the ACT community. One such measure, as noted in the motion, is the Government's recent announcement that it is negotiating a regional agreement with the Ngun(n)awal people in relation to the Ngunnawal native title claim in the ACT.

In summary, I am honoured to present this motion to the Assembly, Mr Speaker. I believe that it marks an important and historic step in the healing and reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous members of the ACT community, and a step of which I hope all ACT residents will be proud.

MR WHITECROSS (Leader of the Opposition) (10.47): Mr Speaker, I rise to support this motion. It is a very important motion that the Assembly is considering and I am pleased that, after a period of public debate, we have got to a point where we can stand together and publicly acknowledge the wrong that has been done to Aboriginal people as reported in the Bringing them home report and our commitment to appropriate reparation for that wrong. The policies that are referred to in the report, so-called separation policies, were profoundly wrong policies. People affected by those policies had their families and their family life stolen from them. People affected by those policies had their childhood stolen from them. People affected by those policies had their past stolen from them, their future stolen from them, and their culture stolen from them.

Mr Speaker, the report talks in great detail about the impact on the lives of the people who were subject to these policies. I do not want to go into this in great detail, but I want to highlight some of the elements of the policy that existed at the time. Children were not taken from their families because they were victims of sexual abuse or neglect, or any other failure of their parents; they were taken from their families because white authorities believed that they could do better for them than allowing them to grow up in the care of their own parents. They were taken because we, the white community, made racist assumptions about the ability of Aboriginal parents to bring up their children.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .