Page 3076 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 14 August 2012
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This is not the end. As well as apologising today we are also committing to do all that we can possibly do to provide the services and assistance to those who need our help in our community, those who have suffered so much. This means providing the types of services recommended in the Senate inquiry report, services such as those provided by groups such as Relationships Australia and Adoption Mosaic, and promoting events like the forum that is being run on 10 September at St Ninian’s Uniting Church Social Action Group. It also means reflecting upon the current state of our Adoption Act to make sure that it provides the best possible support and processes.
In addition to saying sorry, it is also very important that we say thank you—a very sincere thank you to all of those who have worked so hard for so long, both to raise the issue and make sure that the community knows what happened and to provide the support networks and assistance services to those who suffered as a result of these forced adoptions.
I know that there have been many active groups in Canberra over the decades that have provided support both to mothers and adoptees. On behalf of the community, I think it is incredibly important that we recognise the role that you have played and say not just sorry but also thank you for everything you have done.
I was going to talk about a couple of individuals who I know have made an exceptional contribution but, as a sign, I think, of how strong this group of people are and how much they care for all who have been part of the effort to right the wrong, they declined and did not want any personal recognition, preferring instead that this day be about everyone. They know who they are, and I think that the Canberra community owes them a great debt of gratitude for their dedication and work.
It is very difficult for us to know what exactly happened here in the ACT last century when we were administered by the commonwealth. Of course that should not be a reason to delay or question the rightfulness of today’s apology. I have heard stories of women having their babies taken from them at hospital here in Canberra, and I have heard stories of women being sent from Canberra to institutions in New South Wales to give birth and return without their babies.
There is no doubt that these forcible removals occurred right here, and it is fitting that our community’s representatives should do all that we can in this Assembly to acknowledge and apologise for it. There are also women whose babies were taken from them elsewhere and now live in the ACT, and our apology extends to all those Canberrans affected, irrespective of whenever or wherever it occurred.
We apologise to the mothers and children, to the fathers, grandparents, siblings and many other family members who have suffered from this terrible, terrible wrong.
To finish where I began, today’s apology cannot put Phyllis’s baby back in her arms and it cannot give back the decades that have been lost. But I hope that at the very least it provides a chance to make things just a little better. It is by no means the end of the road; words can only do so much. I hope that they can ease the burden and you can take some comfort from what happens here today in the knowledge that your
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