Wednesday, 16 October 2024

Apology to stolen generations

Sheena WATT (Northern Metropolitan) (10:03): Members of the stolen generations have never received an apology in person from the Victorian government, until last Thursday. The apology, delivered in private according to the wishes of the stolen generations and their families, was an important reminder that people in this place make decisions about the lives, families and futures of Aboriginal people, and sometimes in the past that has been based on racism, lies and prejudice.

The Premier apologised to those children who were forcibly removed from their families, to the babies and the children who grew up without knowing who they were and the mums and dads who were left, sometimes for a lifetime, searching. The Premier delivered the apology with those words in a safe space centred on Aboriginal culture for connection and for healing. The apology is not just words; it is also a promise to do better, to learn from our history and to ensure that those mistakes are never repeated. It is time to move forward, and it sets that out. It is difficult to describe to others the generational trauma the stolen generations have had on my mob, my family and my communities, so apologies – they matter, they help heal our community and help us on the path forward for our collective futures. For me and my mum, I say that cannot be more true.

The PRESIDENT: Before I call Mr Davis for his notice of motion 617, can people contributing to this motion bear in mind that there could be an anticipation issue as far as notice of motion 619 goes. If people could contain their contributions to the documents and calling for the documents, that would be great.