Stolen Generations - Historic Apology
On 13 February 2008 the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, and opposition leader Brendon Nelson addressed Parliament with an official apology on behalf of the Government and Parliament to the Indigenous People of Australia for the previous policies of forced removal of Aboriginal children from their families.
Prime Minister of Australia - Apology to Australia's Indigenous Peoples
"—I move:
That today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.
We reflect on their past mistreatment.
We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations—this blemished chapter in our nation’s history.
The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia’s history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.
We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians. ... "
Read transcript of the Prime Minister's full address
The Hon Dr Brendan Nelson MP, Leader of the Opposition: We Are Sorry
"Mr Speaker, members of this 42nd Parliament of Australia, visitors and all Australians.
In rising to speak in support of this motion, I recognise the Ngunnawal, first peoples of this Canberra land.
Today our nation crosses a threshold.
We formally offer an apology to those Aboriginal people forcibly removed from their families through the first seven decades of the twentieth century.
In doing so, we reach from within ourselves to our past, those whose lives connect us to it and in deep understanding of its importance to our future.
We will be at our best today - and every day - if we pause to place ourselves in the shoes of others, imbued with the imaginative capacity to see this issue through their eyes with decency and respect. ... "
Read transcript of the Brendan Nelson's full address