10th Anniversary since the Apology to the Stolen Generations – Behind the News

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 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. JACK: 10 years ago on this day
the nation stopped to watch Kevin Rudd – Australia’s
Prime Minister at the time – apologise to Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people for the Stolen Generations. As Prime Minister of Australia,
I am sorry. On behalf of the government
of Australia, I am sorry. On behalf of the Parliament
of Australia, I am sorry. The Stolen Generation is the name
that has been given to a group of Indigenous children who were
forcibly removed from their homes. During the 1900s,
the Australian government took almost 50,000 Indigenous kids
from their families and their homes. They were put into missions,
orphanages, or with white foster families. At the time, the government
had policies in place that forced kids to reject their Indigenous
heritage and adopt white culture. Their names were often changed and they were forbidden to speak
their traditional languages. The removals caused a lot of pain
for Indigenous people. # Then they took the children # Took the children away… # The removals continued
up until the ’60s, when there were big protests
and people began campaigning for Aboriginal people
to be treated better. And, in 1969, the government stopped
taking away Indigenous kids, and Australians started learning
about the impact the Stolen Generations actually had. # Breaking their mother’s heart # Tearing us all apart # Took them away… # We were a family of eight. We lost everybody.
We lost each other. We lost our grandparents.
My aunts were looking for us. My aunts were knocking on doors
and ringing the welfare. We lost our whole family.
Um, they changed our names. They changed our whole heritage,
our identity. In the ’90s,
there was a big investigation into the forced removals. It became known as
the Bringing Them Home Report, and that report included
a recommendation that the current government apologise
for the laws and policies that were put in place
by previous governments. # You see it doesn’t take that much
to say you’re sorry… # But it wasn’t until 2008
when Kevin Rudd became prime minister that Indigenous people
heard these words. As prime minister of Australia,
I am sorry. After the speech,
there was a huge reaction. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) 10 years on, the impacts of the Stolen Generation
are still being felt. Indigenous kids still face
a lot of problems and inequality. There are families
still grieving for their losses and there are people
who still haven’t been able to reconnect with their parents. But despite that, most still look back on the apology
as the first step in a very long journey
of forgiveness. MAN: All these years,
we waited, you know, for someone to say sorry
from government… ..and I say this really makes me
feel different altogether. I’m really thankful about that. I love what’s happened today. It took a long time,
but it’s finally… Finally got what we wanted.