On the 13th of February 2008, then Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, presented an apology in parliament to First Nations Peoples and the Stolen Generations.
Knowmore’s Elder in Residence, Aunty Glendra Stubbs was instrumental in leading the advocacy that led to the apology. While she didn’t expect a National Apology to happen in her lifetime, she reminds us that the removal of Aboriginal children from their families is still happening today.
“We apologise for the hurt, the pain and suffering we, the parliament, have caused you by the laws that previous parliaments have enacted. We apologise for the indignity, the degradation and the humiliation these laws embodied. We offer this apology to the mothers, the fathers, the brother, the sisters, the families and the communities whose lives were ripped apart by the actions of successive governments under successive parliaments… There is nothing I can say today that will take away the pain that you have suffered personally. Whatever words I speak today, I cannot undo that. Words alone are not that powerful. Grief is a very personal thing.” Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, 2008
“Reconciliation is an expression of a core value of our nation. And that value is ‘a fair go for all’. There is a deep and abiding view in the Australian community, that for the Stolen Generations, there was know fair go at all…”
Today, The Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme offers financial and wellbeing support to some Stolen Generations survivors. Call us on 1800 566 966 to learn more.