'Sorry' apology to Stolen Generations

On February 13th, 2008, Aboriginal people across all Australia were deeply moved and in tears: The Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, had finally apologised to the Stolen Generations and said 'sorry'.

This page chronicles the 'Sorry' apology in the media, discusses polls and offers quotes of Aboriginal and non-Indigenous people on how they received the apology.

White Australia's responsibility, like its shame, is monstrous.—The Sydney Morning Herald [34]

Sorry Day in the print media

Below are the headlines of newspapers across Australia about Sorry Day, 13 February 2008. Most of them feature the famous word 'Sorry' in their headlines, a word many Aboriginal people came to Canberra to hear on that historic day.

Poll results

I reproduce some 'sorry' apology poll results in this section. When you read or use these statistics be careful how you interpret them and remember:

Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital. —Aaron Levenstein, associate professor of business administration, Baruch College, New York

Pre-apology polls (1997)

The following set of three polls is cited wildly throughout 'sorry' apology articles, but few mention the second question of the Morgan poll which reveals an interesting result.

The 1997 apology polls were conducted before the Bringing Them Home report was tabled in government and show mixed results.

One reason might be because they had varying numbers of respondents. The McNair poll had almost four times as many people voting as the Morgan poll. In polling, as with every work based on statistics, you need a certain number of answers to reach a statistically representative amount of data.

The other problem lies in the question of the polls which varied greatly between polls.

The McNair poll informed readers about the HREOC submission and asked if "all Australian parliaments acknowledge the responsibility" for "the forcible removal of Aboriginal children from their families".

The Newspoll asked simply whether the government should apologise to the Aboriginal people because of "the events revealed."

The Morgan poll explained at length that the then Prime Minster John Howard had decided against giving an apology and that the government was not responsible "for errors, wrongs and misdeeds of earlier generations".

Interestingly, the Morgan poll had a second question immediately after this one, asking "whether or not there should be a federal government apology", not mentioning the Prime Minster at all and providing four instead of just two possible answers.

In that question the results are turned upside down. 50% agree that an apology should be made while 47% disagree. This is a good example how a different question can, in the same poll, skew the responses.

The The Australian poll is interesting as it also offers four questions for respondents to scale their opinion. The large number of votes helps achieve a statistically significant cross-section.

The poll shows again that the Australian nation was still divided in half. 48% thought that an apology helped very much or moderately while 52% thought the apology did not help very much or not at all.

These results are roughly consistent with the other polls we've discussed so far.

Post-apology polls (2008)

After Kevin Rudd had made his historic 'sorry' apology many Australians shifted their opinion and voted differently in polls.

The Sydney Morning Herald poll is the most significant of these two because the sheer amount of votes makes it almost representative.

78% of the respondents thought that Kevin Rudd's 'sorry' apology was excellent or good. Only 6% disapproved of the apology while 16% disagreed with it.

The Canberra Times poll with well below 1,000 votes is far less significant but confirms a strong shift towards support of the apology.

The fairly high percentage of disagreeing respondents might be due to the paper's 'left wing thinking' readership who are possibly more in favour of the Liberal party which, for 11 years, opposed an apology to Australia's Stolen Generations.

Responses to the 'Sorry' apology

I encourage you to make up your own mind about Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's 'sorry' apology. The following quotes give you food for thought. I have separated them into Indigenous and non-Indigenous so you can easily find trends and common thoughts.

Indigenous responses

I feel great. I'm on top of the world, I'm floating on air. It's a big weight off my shoulders... It's the closure I need. —Archie Roach, 52, Aboriginal singer and songwriter and member of the Stolen Generations [1]

The apology will help to heal the scars but it will never heal my pain and hurt. —Mary Farrell-Hooker, 50, member of the Stolen Generations [3]

I fully welcome the apology to the Stolen Generation as a lot of people will now know what took place. —Alec Kruger, 83, member of the Stolen Generations [3]

I'm really encouraged and buoyed by the chance that has been taken here to really open the door to the process of healing. —Dr Alex Brown, Aboriginal doctor [8]

The word 'sorry' doesn't come near what [my father] went through. They can apologise in a thousand different ways without saying sorry. Actions speak louder than words. —Norman Stewart, son of a Stolen Generations member [10]

To me, our Prime Minister's apology is saying to my granny and the thousands like her, their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, that we understand your pain and we acknowledge this long-ignored chapter in our history. —Che Cockatoo-Collins, head of the Indigenous Sports Academy, Port Adelaide [11]

I am inspired by this apology as an act of true reconciliation towards Indigenous Australia. —Mick Dodson, co-chairman of Reconciliation Australia [12]

It is a very emotional time and I'm so pleased that he has said sorry. —Muriel Bablett, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Care Agency [12]

Sorry may just be a word, but it should help the history of our past come back into our curriculum for the current generation to learn... An apology will mean a monumental weight has been lifted from people's shoulders. —Sudye Jackson, retired Aboriginal footballer [14]

[It's] an apology not just for me, but for my mother and for my father and for my children who carry the burden and carry the weight of what happened to us stolen kids. —Archie Roach, Aboriginal singer and song-writer [15]

The wording of Mr Rudd's apology goes a long, long way to end the distrust of the white man by generations of my people. —Lloyd McDermott, member of the NSW Bar Association [17]

No matter what our colour or our creed, at heart, from this day forward, we are all fundamentally Australian. —Noel Tovey, Aboriginal dancer and member of the Stolen Generations [18]

Australians of goodwill will be hoping that the apology on this day will be a real beginning for the brown-skin baby's spiritual journey home. —Kirstie Parker, Koori Mail Editor [20]

In my heart I feel there is a real need for [the apology]... For my family, it allows some kind of healing and forgiveness to take place where there is less anger and bitterness in the hearts of people. —Cathy Freeman, Aboriginal athlete [21]

An apology will mean that people believe us, that this has happened and that we are not liars. —Cahill McCarthy, Stolen Generation member [22]

See, [the apology] was like a great weight dropped away and we can go on in a positive aspect together and get out of the kindergarten stage we've been in for too flamin' long. —Kev Carmody, Aboriginal singer and songwriter [27]

For the first time in my sister's life she wept in front of the TV while she was watching Kevin say sorry. All these years she and I had held the pain.—Aunty Rhonda Collard, Aboriginal artist [32]

Blackfellas will get the words, the whitefellas will keep the money.—Noel Pearson, Aboriginal elder [27]

Non-Indigenous responses

The overwhelming majority of non-Indigenous Australians received the apology to the Stolen Generations positively. A minority did not agree with the apology or even denied that the Stolen Generations exist.

When Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the words 'I am sorry' a wave of emotion and a process of healing began across the nation. —Brett Solomon, executive director of community advocacy organisation GetUp [28]

The whole sorry thing is really to satisfy the white population, not the black population. Until whites give back to black their nationhood, they can never claim their own, no matter how many flags they fly. —John Pilger, expat Australian journalist [19]

The PM's apology expresses my concern, empathy and desire that this will begin some psychological and spiritual healing. —Joanne Gardiner, General Practitioner [6]

I was very encouraged to hear on the news about the apology [Mr Rudd] made in parliament to all Aborigines for laws and policies that 'inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss' upon them. —Dalai Lama [2]

If someone can prove to me that there were stolen generations, I could change my mind... The children in most cases were given up by parents or guardians who were unable to look after them. —Barbara Witte [9]

Now I realise that [the apology] is not about black people or white people, it's really about families. —Man talking to Gary Highland (National Director, ANTaR) [26]

It was a mistake for us not to apologise to Aboriginal people. —Tony Abbott, opposition spokesperson on Indigenous Affairs, about the Howard government [36].

Kevin Rudd's apology and Australian schools

In NSW, government schools were told to fly the Aboriginal flag and stop lessons during the apology so that students could watch the apology live on television. Many parents were upset about this.

A majority of over 70% agreed that students should not swap classes with the apology.

The parent's reaction reminds us of parents in 1883 which also threatened to withdraw their children from school if 15 Aboriginal students would not leave. In those times the Aboriginal children were ordered out of school.

Let the brainwashing begin... This is school, not a politburo meeting. The Education Department and teachers are there to teach children how to think, not what to think. I consider pulling any child of mine out of school for the day. —Damien Holland, newspaper reader [4]

This is a disgrace. There are plenty of people out there who do not agree with the apology, who have kids going to public schools... Mr Rudd does not speak for me, my children or my ancestors. —Nicky, newspaper reader [4]

If my kids' school does this, they're staying home! I'm disgusted! —Tony, newspaper reader [5]

It's not enough that students simply know of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's sorry to these 'generations' of 'stolen' children no one can actually find. To children we actually saved. —Andrew Bolt, editor Herald Sun [7]

Schoolchildren will be watching history, and I wish I was still at school to witness such an occasion with fellow new-generation Australians. —Peter Ellis, newspaper reader [4]

Get that nigger band off. —School teacher responding to an Aboriginal student wearing a coloured wrist band [24]

The white people's concerns are starkly opposed by the response of a young Aboriginal boy who, until the apology, was a "quiet, almost sullen, boy who kept to himself" because Aboriginal people were often criticised for no reason [24].

Watching the apology on television transformed the boy. He is now proud of his Nyoongar heritage, started to learn to play the didgeridoo and lead the music on the day of the school celebrations.

Should Aboriginal people be compensated?

The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission's Bringing Them Home report made 54 recommendations. 34 out of these addressed reparations, 11 specifically the issue of monetary compensation.

Many non-Indigenous people seem not to be able to relate to the horror and trauma associated with the experiences of being stolen from one's family, hence the large percentage of nay-sayers in the polls.

Money, it seems, is viewed as something Aboriginal people get plenty of and ask for too much. But if you read about stories of members of the Stolen Generations you'll think differently.

Indigenous opinions

[Compensation is] not what everyone wants—we need healing centres across Australia so people can move on and heal their incessant pain. —Brenda McDonnell, 64, member of the Stolen Generations [3]

Those people stolen from their families who feel entitled to compensation will never be able to move on. Blackfellas will get the words, the whitefellas will keep the money. —Noel Pearson, Aboriginal elder [12]

People win cases after being wrongly put in jail and are given compensation, while we've had the same thing for generations. —Syd Jackson, retired Aboriginal footballer and member of the Stolen Generations [14]

Symbolism can be a cop out. It needs to be linked with something very very positive. If the government is ruling out compensation they will have an argument on their hands. —John Moriarty, Stolen Generations member and former member of the NIC [21]

Compensation... is about people having the opportunity for the first time in their lives to buy a home. —Bin Bakar, Chairman, Kimberley Stolen Generations Aboriginal Corporation [23]

Monetary compensation for the Stolen Generations is inevitable and essential to the fair and just resolution of the trauma and damage resulting from the forced removal of children from their families. —Helen Moran, Indigenous co-chair National Sorry Day Committee [25]

For [my father], and many of the older ones that I've talked to, compensation wasn't an issue. But he always wanted someone to acknowledge that what had happened to him was wrong. —Marion Scrymgour, Deputy Chief Minister of the NT [31]

Reparations and compensation is different: This [reparation] is about justice. —Lyn Austin, Chairperson, Stolen Generations Victoria [35]

The fact remains that many Aboriginal people can be and have been traumatised by filling out claim forms because they have to relive terrible past experiences [30].

Non-Indigenous opinions

They need to prove there is a stolen generation first. —Paul Gould, newspaper reader [6]

[The apology is] just another easy way for [Aboriginal people] to continue getting easy money. God help Australia now. —Kerryn Robinson, newspaper reader [6]

Five months after Kevin Rudd's historic apology (and seven months after his election) a Senate committee rejected a suggestion of compensation of Australia's Stolen Generations, instead recommending a National Indigenous Healing Fund [29].

A legal perspective on compensation

The apology to the Stolen Generations did not admit any act of illegality or negligence. Hence the apology does not expose any liability, say senior lawyers [16].

In their removal being a lawful act at the time it happened, Aboriginal people would have to sue today's governments for compensation. Courts would only award compensation if Aboriginal people "could prove their removal was unlawful or tainted by negligence".

Bruce Trevorrow's claim for compensation in 2007 was successful because he could supply this evidence with the help of records he had found.

But even if such a case was strong, many claims could still be rejected because they simply come too late. "Statutory limitations" regulate the period within which claims for compensation must be lodged. They vary from state to state. Victoria, for example, has a three year period.

Apologies made in other countries

New Zealand

New Zealand apologised in 1995 to a Maori tribe for stealing 500,000 hectares of land 130 years earlier. That apology became law [13].

Canada

Canada apologised in 1998 to its Indigenous peoples for its past actions that eroded 'the political, economic and social systems of Aboriginal people and nations'. The government acted on a report which had been tabled two years earlier.

There were an estimated 130 Residential Schools across Canada where Aboriginal children were institutionalised with the purpose of 'killing the indian in the child' [33]. An estimated 80,000 survivors fight to have their stories recorded.

In 2006 the Canadian government announced a CDN$4-billion settlement to compensate survivors.

Apology resources

• Stolen Generations guide
• Stolen Generations timeline

Documentary The Apology

Reconciliation Australia has released a special documentary "to remind and refresh Australians about how it feels to heal and to see things can be better between us."

The documentary, titled 'The Apology', is narrated by Jack Thompson with music from Powderfinger, Silverchair, Missy Higgins, John Butler and the Stiff Gins. It features behind-the-scenes footage from the two days leading up to the apology, and the event itself. The Apology runs for 30 minutes.

You can order a free copy at www.reconciliationaustralia.org.

More resources at AIATSIS

The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) has a long list of resources about the apology along with videos and links to news articles.

Check out www1.aiatsis.gov.au

Out of respect for Aboriginal culture I use Indigenous sources as much as possible.
[1] 'I'm just one of those stolen kids who came good', MX 13 February 2008, p.4 [2] 'Dalai Lama praises Kevin Rudd for apology', Perth Now, 15 February 2008, http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,23219939-5008620,00.html [3] 'First step the hardest', The Daily Telegraph, 13 February 2008, p.25 [4] Your Say, The Daily Telegraph, 13 February 2008, p.26 [5] 'Lesson 1: How to say sorry', Herald Sun, 13 February 2008, p.15 [6] Your Say, Herald Sun, 13 February 2008, p.16 [7] 'Rudd's great leap forward', Herald Sun, 13 February 2008, p.19 [8] 'This will never happen again', Illawara Mercury, 13 February 2008, p.4 [9] Opinion, Illawara Mercury, 13 February 2008, p.47 [10] 'Family saddened by apology that comes too late for some', Sydney Morning Herald, 13 February 2008, p.7 [11] 'It's time to heal my granny's suffering', The Advertiser, 13 February 2008, p.6 [12] 'We'll never let it happen again', The Age, 13 February 2008, p.1 [13] 'The hour has come. A nation says sorry.', The Age, 13 February 2008, p.20 [14] 'The lucky country?', The Age Sport supplement, 13 February 2008, p.6 [15] 'Strong voices, separate songlines', The Australian, 13 February 2008, p.1 [16] 'PM's words will not expose the commonwealth to liability', The Australian, 13 February 2008, p.4 [17] 'Praise for Rudd on choice of wording', The Australian, 13 February 2008, p.4 [18] 'A day that will be in history texts by week's end', The Australian, 13 February 2008, p.4 [19] Cut & Paste section in The Australian, Opinion, 13 February 2008, p.15 [20] 'Nation to stop as the PM says sorry', Koori Mail 419, p.7 [21] 'Stolen Gens hopeful', Koori Mail 419, p.8 [22] 'Sorry 'the first battle'', Koori Mail 419, p.9 [23] 'Legal threat over WA Redress Fund', Koori Mail 419, p.10 [24] 'Apology reaction - good and bad', Koori Mail 422, p.18 [25] 'Stolen 'must have a say'', Koori Mail 422, p.33 [26] ANTaR newsletter May 2008 [27] Time Out magazine (Sydney), Issue 28, 21 - 27 May 2008 [28] 'Get Up's 'Sorry song' a digital hit', NIT 1/5/2008, p.12 [29] 'Senators say no to payouts', Koori Mail 429 p.6 [30] 'People told of compo', Koori Mail 429 p.13 [31] 'A triumph against the odds', NIT 12/6/2008 p.29 [32] 'Art a path to her healing', Koori Mail 439 p.51 [33] 'Canada's Stolen Gen frustrated over delays', NIT 27/11/2008 p.14 [34] 'Weasel words won't hide monstrous shame', SMH 2/2/2008 [35] 'Stolen Gen Bill gains support', Koori Mail 436 p.35 [36] 'Govt wins praise, but also warned', Koori Mail 448 p.7 [37] 'Private Property', Sarah Burnside, www.newmatilda.com (accessed 1/8/2009)