SPEECH BY COUNCILLOR ROY AH SEE
THE NATIONAL SORRY DAY, OURAHRIMBAH UNIVERSITY

MONDAY 26th MAY 2008

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I first want to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet.

I pay respect to their elders, their culture and their law.

This always was, and always will be, Aboriginal land.

Eleven years ago, on 27 May 1997, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission released its report Bringing them home.

The report was the result of a national inquiry established by the Keating government in August 1995.

The inquiry visited every state and territory and most regions of Australia.

Sir Ronald Wilson and Mick Dodson conducted most of the hearings.

We are indebted to these two great Australians.

In each major region throughout Australia an Aboriginal commissioner was appointed to assist with the hearings.

An Aboriginal advisory council with representatives from all the regions also assisted the inquiry.

A total of 770 people and organisations provided evidence or a submission.

Some 535 Aboriginal people provided fist hand experiences to the panel.

Most had been removed as children; others were parents, siblings or children of removed children.

We learned from them of the depth of racial discrimination, the loss of liberty, the pain and suffering, the abuse, the disruption to family life, the loss of cultural rights and fulfillment, the exploitation and the loss of opportunities.

The report found that many of the children taken from their families fell victim to physical and sexual abuse.

These children are now adults and some of them have passed on.

But the unresolved hurt continues in them, in their families and in their communities.

It never really goes away.

I look back in horror at the fact that thousands of other little girls and boys were taken from their mothers and their fathers-not by strangers but by Australian governments.

Thousands of mothers and fathers-because they were Aboriginal; because they were black,-had their little boys and girls, many just babies, taken from them in the name of our nation.

It does not matter what the reason was, personal or official.

The Governments not only allowed but directed this racist separation of the innocent Aboriginal infants from their powerless parents.

One of the key recommendations of the report, called for a national apology to the stolen generations.

It said that this would help them with their healing process.

Since that time, every State and Territory Government throughout Australia has expressed their apology to the stolen generations.

Words of apology have been said in churches, in public meetings and in private conversations.

But until now no apology has been offered by the Australian government.

The then Prime Minister, John Howard stated that the Government did not believe that Australians should accept guilt and blame for past actions and policies over which they had no control.

However, on 13^th February this year, the newly elected Rudd Government delivered on his pre-election commitment.

He took that one small step, the important and historical step of saying sorry to the stolen generation for the pain and suffering they endured as a result of being forcibly separated from their families.

I had the privilege of representing NSWALC at the official opening of Mr Rudd's 42^nd Parliament.

From the very beginning of the Parliament I could sense that there had been a significant change in the political landscape of Australia.

My heart swelled as Aboriginal Elder Matilda House delivered her deeply moving words of welcome to country.

Aboriginal dancers and musicians entertained the gallery and I thought to myself that we had finally been given our rightful respect by becoming a part of the ceremony of the opening of parliament.

I felt that the Prime Minister delivered a sincere and heartfelt apology on behalf of the Nation and a genuine desire to move forward together towards the future.

The apology was an acknowledgement of a past wrong.

It also represented a clear statement of his desire as a nation to move forward as one people.

However, the Rudd Labor government acknowledged that this event was only the first step of many steps that need to be taken to mend the past injustices suffered by Aboriginal people.

Much more needs to be done to bridge the gap that has been allowed to develop over a number of years between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians.

As the Prime Minister stated, in this country we are about a fair go for all, and up until now this sentiment has failed to be applied when it comes to Aboriginal Australians.

The facts speak for themselves in lower life expectancy and poorer health and education outcomes.

My people have done it tough.

I do not want to dwell on our appalling statistics too much.

We all know them too well - and many of people today continue to experience and suffer from the lack of basic services such as water and sewerage.

I really want to look to the future.

The Prime Minister also stated today that his government was committed to improving outcomes for Aboriginal communities from this point on.

He said that most of the old approaches were not working and that there was a need for a new beginning based on consultative, tailored and local approaches to improving outcomes in areas such as health and education in Aboriginal communities.

Just recently, I and my fellow Councillors of NSWALC agreed to enter into a multi-million dollar long-term partnership with the New South Wales Government to deliver better water and sewerage services in the State's Aboriginal communities.

We are adopting new approaches to solve some of the underlying issues that affect our people.

Finally let me say, I was extremely proud to be in the parliament when they took that important step of acknowledging the wrongs suffered by members of the stolen generation and set a positive agenda in working towards closing the gap between Aboriginal and non- Aboriginal Australians.

I congratulate the new Rudd Labor government for giving my people that day when 'sorry' was truly said to all of us.

I now believe there is room for hope: hope for the future; hope for a better life for the kids; hope for a united Australia.

We understand that the dispossession and cruelty of the past cannot just go away but that this simple act of heartfelt sorrow was an essential step to heal our nation's history and therefore to help ensure that Australia's future will be safer, securer, fairer and happier for all of us.

I hope that they can see this commitment through in a bipartisan, well-meaning and well-spirited manner, because that is what my people need.

In the Great Hall of parliament, after the official apology was given, I had the good fortune to meet more than 100 members of the Stolen Generations.

They were special guests of the Government and in some cases, the family representatives of those of the Stolen Generations who have since died had been asked to attend in memory of their relatives.
 
Others among the invited guests include Mick Dodson, Marcia Langton, Evonne Goolagong-Cawley and Professor Fiona Stanley
 
Pat Anderson co-author of the Little Children are Sacred report was also there.

Faith Bandler and Evelyn Scott who campaigned for voting rights for Aboriginal Australians in the 1967 referendum were there along with representatives of the Stolen Generations Alliance, the National Sorry Day Committee and the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.
 
Leading Rugby League and AFL players Matt Bowen, Greg Inglis, David Peachey, Dean Widders and Michael Long attended the ceremony.

It was a very emotional time for all of us.

They were tears of joy, tears of pain, tears of relief and tears of happiness falling down the cheeks of our faces.

I was proud to be representing my people at this special occasion.

It was extraordinary.

I pray that this day will rest in the minds of all Australians as one of hope.

Thank you.