Every nation finds it hard to face the ugly side of its past. Last month both Houses of the Australian Parliament approved the text and design of a memorial to the ‘stolen generations’ – the tens of thousands of Aboriginal children removed from their families, up to the 1970s, in an attempt to assimilate them into white culture.
This issue has been deeply divisive. In 1998 a million white Australians apologised to the Aboriginal people for this practice, and many took part in a national Sorry Day. But the Australian Government refused to be involved. Their attempts to belittle the suffering caused by the policies hurt and angered the stolen generations.
We of the National Sorry Day Committee are committed to healing the wounds resulting from these policies. Political bickering does not help.
We concluded that a memorial was needed which honoured both the stolen generations and those people, Aboriginal and white, whose genuine care lessened the tragic impact of the policies. We proposed to the Government that we consult all those involved – the stolen generations and the people who staffed the institutions to which they were taken, or who fostered them.
Our proposal offered the Government a way out of a difficult situation, and they agreed.
In the following months we consulted hundreds of people all over the country. Emotions ran high, but when they came to trust that our aim was truth and healing, they responded wholeheartedly.
Out of this process emerged a wording for the memorial which all sides agreed was a true expression of the story. It is titled ‘They took the children away’, and describes the policies as ‘cruel and misguided’. The Government had never before accepted such a description. But because we had reached consensus, they approved it.
The memorial will be built near the National Library in Canberra, on a site visited by hundreds of thousands of people each year, and will be unveiled in May.
Secretary, National Sorry Day Committee
English