On 13 February 2008, the Parliament of Australia issued a formal apology to Indigenous Australians for forced removals of Australian Indigenous children (often referred to as the Stolen Generations) from their families by Australian federal and state government agencies. The apology was delivered by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, and is also referred to as the National Apology, or simply The Apology.
The Bringing Them Home (1997) report commissioned by the Keating Labor Government recommended an official apology be offered by the Australian Government for past government welfare policies which had separated children from their parents on racial grounds. Keating's Liberal successor John Howard received the report, but eschewed use of the term "sorry", believing a Parliamentary "apology" would imply "intergenerational guilt". He instead moved to draft a Parliamentary "Motion of Reconciliation", in consultation with Democrat Senator Aden Ridgeway, the only Aboriginal person then sitting in the federal parliament. [1] [2]
On 26 August 1999, Howard moved the Motion of Reconciliation expressing "deep and sincere regret that indigenous Australians suffered injustices under the practices of past generations, and for the hurt and trauma that many indigenous people continue to feel as a consequence of those practices" and dedicating Parliament to the "cause of reconciliation" for historic mistreatment of Indigenous Australians as the "most blemished chapter" in Australian history. [3]
From the outset, the Labor opposition, led by Kim Beazley, argued the need for an "apology". Following Howard's Motion of Reconciliation, Beazley moved to replace the motion of regret with an unreserved apology, but was unsuccessful. [3] The Liberal-National Howard government maintained its opposition to an "apology" for the remainder of its term in office (1996-2007).
After the 2007 election of the Rudd government, Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced on 11 December 2007 that the government would make an apology to Indigenous Australians, the wording of which would be decided in consultation with Aboriginal leaders. [4]
The Liberal Party opposition was split on the issue. Its leader Brendan Nelson initially said that an apology would risk encouraging a "culture of guilt" in Australia. However, support for an apology was expressed by other senior Liberals, such as Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Costello, Bill Heffernan, and former Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. [5] Former Liberal minister Judi Moylan said: "I think as a nation we owe an apology. We shouldn't be thinking about it as an individual apology — it's an apology that is coming from the nation state because it was governments that did these things." [6] Nelson later said that he supported the government apology. [7] Following a party meeting, the Liberal Party as a whole expressed its support for an apology, and it achieved bipartisan consensus. Nelson stated, "I, on behalf of the Coalition, of the alternative government of Australia, are[ sic ] providing in-principle support for the offer of an apology to the forcibly removed generations of Aboriginal children." [8]
Lyn Austin, chairwoman of Stolen Generations Victoria, expressed why she believed an apology was necessary, recounting her experiences as a stolen child:
I thought I was being taken just for a few days. I can recall seeing my mother standing on the side of the road with her head in her hands, crying, and me in the black FJ Holden wondering why she was so upset. A few hundred words can't fix this all but it's an important start and it's a beginning[...] I see myself as that little girl, crying myself to sleep at night, crying and wishing I could go home to my family. Everything's gone, the loss of your culture, the loss of your family, all these things have a big impact. [9]
On 13 February 2008, Rudd presented the apology to Indigenous Australians as a motion to be voted on by the house. [10] It has since been referred to as the National Apology, [11] or simply The Apology. [12]
The apology read as follows: [10] [13]
I move:
That today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.
We reflect on their past mistreatment.
We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations—this blemished chapter in our nation's history.
The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia's history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.
We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.
We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.
For the pain, suffering, and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.
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.
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.
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 this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.
A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement, and economic opportunity.
A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed.
A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia.
— Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia, 13 February 2008, at a sitting of the Parliament of Australia.
The text of the apology did not refer to compensation to Aboriginal people as a whole, nor to members of the Stolen Generations specifically. Rudd followed the apology with a 20-minute speech to the house about the need for this action. [14] [15]
Liberal Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson rose to offer bi-partisan support for the Apology:
In rising to speak strongly in support of this motion I recognise the Ngunnawal, first peoples of this Canberra land. Today our nation crosses a threshold. We formally offer an apology. We say sorry to those Aboriginal people forcibly removed from their families through the first seven decades of the 20th century. In doing so, we reach from within ourselves to our past, those whose lives connect us to it, and in deep understanding of its importance to our future. We will be at our best today and every day if we pause to place ourselves in the shoes of others, imbued with the imaginative capacity to see this issue through their eyes with decency and respect.
— Brendon Nelson, Parliamentary Hansard, 13 Feb 2008
Nelson's speech also expressed empathy for how the often "good intentions" of the public servants who carried out the removal of children had led to unintended consequences [16] [17]
It is reasonably argued that removal from squalor led to better lives: children fed, housed and educated for an adult world which they could not have imagined. However, from my life as a family doctor and knowing the impact of my own father’s removal from his unmarried, teenage mother, I know that not knowing who you are is the source of deep, scarring sorrows, the real meaning of which can be known only to those who have endured it [...] Our generation does not own these actions, nor should it feel guilt for what was done in many, but certainly not all, cases with the best of intentions. But in saying we are sorry, and deeply so, we remind ourselves that each generation lives in ignorance of the long-term consequences of its decisions and actions. Even when motivated by inherent humanity and decency to reach out to the dispossessed in extreme adversity, our actions can have unintended outcomes. As such, many decent Australians are hurt by accusations of theft in relation to their good intentions.
— Brendon Nelson, Parliamentary Hansard, 13 Feb 2008
His speech also referred to the "under-policing" of child welfare in Aboriginal communities, as well as a host of social ills blighting the lives of Aboriginal people.
The Alice Springs Crown Prosecutor Nanette Rogers with great courage revealed to the nation in 2006 the case of a four-year-old girl drowned while being raped by a teenager who had been sniffing petrol. She told us of the two children – one a baby – sexually assaulted by two men while their mothers were off drinking alcohol. Another baby was stabbed by a man trying to kill her mother. [18]
After the ceremony, the House of Representatives unanimously adopted the proposed apology motion. Six members of Nelson's opposition caucus — Don Randall, Sophie Mirabella, Dennis Jensen, Wilson Tuckey, Luke Simpkins, and Alby Schultz — left the House in protest at the apology. [19] Peter Dutton was the only Opposition front bencher to abstain from the apology. [20] Dutton apologised for boycotting the apology in 2023, after becoming opposition leader. [21]
The conclusion of Nelson's speech was met with applause from Members and the public gallery and further bipartisan scenes as the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition met with representatives of Australia’s Indigenous peoples in the distinguished visitors gallery. [17] Former prime ministers Gough Whitlam, Malcolm Fraser and Paul Keating all expressed appreciation for Nelson's role. Whitlam called the speech "very good" and Keating said Nelson "picked up the spirit of the day". [16]
However, outside the chamber, reactions were less bi-partisan and Nelson's speech received mixed reactions and some criticism. In the Great Hall of Parliament, members of the audience (including Kevin Rudd's Press Secretary and Media Advisor) began a slow clap and turned their backs during Nelson's speech (Rudd later instructed his advisors to apologise to Nelson). [16] In Melbourne's Federation Square, Labor's Barry Jones joined others in turning their backs. [16] In Perth, people booed and jeered until the screen was switched off. There were similar reactions and walk-outs in Sydney and elsewhere. [19] Academic Lowitja O'Donoghue objected to Nelson's discussion of domestic violence and paedophilia, and said "I think Brendan Nelson actually spoilt it today", and Olympian (and future Labor Senator) Nova Peris-Kneebone also expressed disappointment. [16]
The government's apology and his speech were widely applauded among both Indigenous Australians and the non-indigenous general public. [22] [23] A Newspoll released the week after the apology found 69% of the country supported it. However, the poll also found that only 30% of the population supported government compensation to the victims. [24] This represented a significant shift in public opinion since 2000, with one poll finding 57% of Australians against an apology. [25]
Tom Calma, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner of the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, gave a speech formally responding to the government's apology. [26] Calma thanked the Parliament for acknowledging and paying respects to the Stolen Generations, stating "By acknowledging and paying respect, Parliament has now laid the foundations for healing to take place and for a reconciled Australia in which everyone belongs". [26] However, Calma did note that there were many recommendations in the Bringing Them Home report that, as of 2009, had not yet been implemented. [27]
Professor Alice MacLachlan has criticized this apology of the Australian government as it has apologised for a specific policy, "avoiding the broader question of apologizing for a much longer history of genocidal appropriation and displacement." [28]
Later that day, the Senate considered a motion for an identical apology. The Leader of the Greens, Senator Bob Brown, attempted to amend the motion to have it include words committing parliament to offering compensation to those who suffered loss under past indigenous policies, but was opposed by all the other parties. The original motion was passed unanimously. [29] [30]
The Stolen Generations were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church missions, under acts of their respective parliaments. The removals of those referred to as "half-caste" children were conducted in the period between approximately 1905 and 1967, although in some places mixed-race children were still being taken into the 1970s.
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian diplomat and former politician who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and June 2013 to September 2013. He held office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). Rudd has been the 23rd and current ambassador of Australia to the United States since 2023.
Sir Ronald Darling Wilson, was a distinguished Australian lawyer, judge and social activist serving on the High Court of Australia between 1979 and 1989 and as the President of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission between 1990 and 1997.
Anthony John Abbott is an Australian former politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia.
Brendan John Nelson is an Australian business leader and former politician. He served as the federal Leader of the Opposition from 2007 to 2008, going on to serve as Australia's senior diplomat to the European Union and NATO. He now has a global leadership role with Boeing, an aerospace company.
Donald James Randall was an Australian politician of the Liberal Party. He represented the Division of Swan, Western Australia in the Australian House of Representatives from 1996 to 1998, as well as the Division of Canning, Western Australia, from 2001 until his death in 2015. He was born in Merredin, Western Australia, and was educated at Graylands Teachers College, Perth. He was a teacher and marketing consultant before entering politics.
Albert John Schultz was an Australian politician. He was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from October 1998 to August 2013, representing the Division of Hume in New South Wales.
Charles Wilson Tuckey is an Australian former politician who was a member of the House of Representatives from 1980 to 2010, representing the seat of O'Connor in Western Australia for the Liberal Party. He was a minister in the Howard government.
Dennis Geoffrey Jensen is an Australian former politician. He was elected to the House of Representatives at the 2004 federal election, winning the Division of Tangney for the Liberal Party. Jensen lost Liberal preselection for the 2016 federal election, and subsequently resigned from the party to stand as an independent. In August 2017 he joined the fledgling Australian Conservatives party. Jensen has a PhD in materials science from Monash University, and before entering politics worked as a CSIRO researcher. He is known for questioning the anthropogenic causation of climate change.
National Sorry Day, officially the National Day of Healing, is an event held annually in Australia on 26 May commemorating the Stolen Generations. It is part of the ongoing efforts towards reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
The history wars is a term used in Australia to describe the public debate about the interpretation of the history of the European colonisation of Australia and the development of contemporary Australian society, particularly with regard to their impact on Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The term "history wars" emerged in the late 1990s during the term of the Howard government, and despite efforts by some of Howard's successors, the debate is ongoing, notably reignited in 2016 and 2020.
Noel Pearson is an Australian lawyer and founder of the Cape York Partnership, an organisation promoting the economic and social development of Cape York. He is also the Founder of Good to Great Schools Australia an organisation dedicated to lifting education outcomes for all Australian students.
Bringing Them Home is the 1997 Australian Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families. The report marked a pivotal moment in the controversy that has come to be known as the Stolen Generations.
The Redfern Park Speech, also known as the Redfern speech or Redfern address, was made on 10 December 1992 by the then Australian Prime Minister, Paul Keating, at Redfern Park, which is in Redfern, New South Wales, an inner city suburb of Sydney. The speech dealt with the challenges faced by Indigenous Australians, both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It is still remembered as one of the most powerful speeches in Australian history, both for its rhetorical eloquence and for its ground-breaking admission of the negative impact of white settlement in Australia on its Indigenous peoples, culture and society, in the first acknowledgement by the Australian Government of the dispossession of its First Peoples. It has been described as "a defining moment in the nation's reconciliation with its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people".
Michael Alexander Mansell is a Tasmanian Aboriginal (Palawa) activist and lawyer who has campaigned for social, political and legal changes.
The first Rudd government was the executive Government of Australia formed by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and led by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. The Rudd government commenced on 3 December 2007, when Rudd was sworn in along with his ministry. This took place just nine days after the defeat of the Howard government, which was a Coalition of members of the Liberal and National parties, at the 2007 federal election. The Rudd government concluded on 24 June 2010 when Rudd, under pressure from an impending leadership caucus ballot, stepped down from the leadership of the ALP and was succeeded by his deputy, Julia Gillard. Rudd was re-elected leader of the Labor Party in 2013 and served a second term as prime minister.
The Motion of Reconciliation was a motion to the Australian Parliament introduced and passed on 26 August 1999. Drafted by Prime Minister John Howard in consultation with Aboriginal Senator Aden Ridgeway, it dedicated the Parliament to the "cause of reconciliation" and recognised historic maltreatment of Indigenous Australians as the "most blemished chapter" in Australian history. While falling short of an apology, the motion included a statement of regret for past injustices suffered by Indigenous Australians.
Janine Pritchard is a justice with the Supreme Court of Western Australia. She is an alumnus of both Australian National University and the University of London.
Reconciliation in Australia is a process which officially began in 1991, focused on the improvement of relations between the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia and the rest of the population. The Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation (CAR), created by the government for a term of ten years, laid the foundations for the process, and created the peak body for implementation of reconciliation as a government policy, Reconciliation Australia, in 2001.
Melissa Brickell is an Indigenous Australian welfare worker based in Melbourne, Australia. She served as Director of Reconciliation Victoria and was the Chairperson for the Stolen Generations Sorry Day Committee and the Stolen Generations Alliance. She also served on the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ecumenical Commission.
First published in The Age on August 27, 1999.