My mother had to come with us. She had already lost her eldest daughter down to the Children’s Hospital because she had infantile paralysis, polio, and now there was the prospect of losing her three other children, all the children she had. I remember that she came in the truck with us curled up in the fetal position. Who can understand that, the trauma of knowing that you’re going to lose all your children? We talk about it from the point of view of our trauma but – our mother – to understand what she went through, I don’t think anyone can really understand that.
Evidence to the National Inquiry into the Forced Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families, from Fiona, Quorn, South Australia, published in Bringing Them Home, 1997
When the Bringing Them Home report was released nearly 30 years ago, it seemed like a landmark for the nation. What it revealed was no secret to Aboriginal communities, but many in the wider community were shocked and moved by the stories of families forcibly separated, and the terrible toll it took on the children – people who have become known as the stolen generations.
It took more than a decade for a national apology to be made to the victims of forced separation – even though it was a key recommendation of the report. The report remains important and makes heartbreaking reading. It is replete with pain and anguish. And yet, this suffering wasn’t met universally with compassion. It still isn’t.
How could so many in our nation look at the destruction of so many lives and respond with debating points about generational guilt? How could they look at the tears of broken families and say, without nuance: it was for your own good?
This hard-heartedness is all too common in our national discussions about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. With its deep roots in the sweeping aside of Aboriginal rights from the beginning of the colonial project in Australia, this stony response to profound disadvantage is one of the key impediments to reconciliation.
Next week, the Don Dunstan Foundation will host the 2025 Lowitja O’Donoghue Oration (Wednesday, May 28, at 6.30pm). This year’s orator, Romlie Mokak, has decided on an unusual topic: love. Romlie’s history is deep in policy-making and number-crunching – he has a better understanding of the challenge in Closing the Gap than most, given his time as the first Aboriginal commissioner at the federal Productivity Commission. In this post-referendum world, he wants to speak about love and connection and its impact on policy-making – particularly when it is absent.
It’s going to be a special night, and I encourage you all to get hold of a ticket as soon as you can. I hope to see you there.
Tickets
