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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-05-31 Daily Xml
Contents
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Motions

National Sorry Day

Ms SAVVAS (Newland) (10:59): I move:

That this house—

(a) recognises that 26 May 2023 is National Sorry Day;

(b) acknowledges the day being one to acknowledge the strength of the stolen generation survivors and reflect on how we all play a part in the healing process for our people and nation; and

(c) recognises the Malinauskas Labor government’s commitment to strengthening relationships with Aboriginal and First Nations peoples through a number of initiatives, including implementing a state-based version of the Uluru Statement from the Heart—Voice, Treaty and Truth.

I would like to start today by acknowledging of course that we stand in this chamber with our feet proudly on Kaurna land, and I pay my respects not just to elders past and present but to those Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, activists and allies who have fought for the advancement of Aboriginal affairs in this country and in this state. It is not lost on me, ever, the significance of actions when walking side by side with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. I note that saying sorry was not just a word but a powerful action and one that holds great importance for all Australians.

National Sorry Day is a significant day in Australia's history. This annual observance holds great importance, as it acknowledges and remembers the mistreatment and abject injustice endured by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. National Sorry Day is commemorated on 26 May each year, and it is a day when Australians come together to express their remorse, offer apologies and reflect upon the historical injustices inflicted upon the stolen generation.

The stolen generation of course refers to Aboriginal children who were forcibly removed from their families, communities, cultures and relationships with the land as well, as a result of government policies between the late 1800s and the 1970s. The first National Sorry Day was held on 26 May 1998, one year after the Bringing Them Home report was tabled in parliament. The Bringing Them Home report is a result of a government inquiry into past policies which caused those children to be removed from their families and communities in the 20th century.

It is crucial to understand the historical context in which National Sorry Day originated. For over a century, the Australian government implemented so-called assimilation policies aimed at eradicating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, language and heritage. These policies impacted countless families and communities, leading to profound intergenerational trauma. It would be remiss not to mention the impact that those policies still have on communities today and the way that those policies have displaced people from their communities for many years and will continue to do so for years to come.

The stolen generation endured significant pain and suffering. They were stripped of their cultural identity and deprived of their connection to their ancestral lands, and we know how important that connection to land is for so many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Many also suffered physical, emotional and psychological abuse while growing up in institutions or foster care.

National Sorry Day serves as a platform for acknowledging and validating the pain and trauma that was and continues to be experienced by the stolen generation. It provides an opportunity for all Australians to empathise with the ongoing impact of past government policies on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Through recognition and understanding, we can foster healing, reconciliation and a shared commitment to create a more inclusive and equitable future.

Again, I think it is important to acknowledge actions here, and actions are so important when moving forward but also when walking hand in hand with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as they move forward with their healing and their connection with non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. In 2008, there was a significant milestone, when the Prime Minister at the time, Kevin Rudd, delivered a formal apology to the stolen generation on behalf of the Australian government and its people.

I am sure many people in this place went along to a state-based—or whether it be the actual Sorry event on the day. I remember going with my aunty down into the city to listen to the speech and to march with people to acknowledge the significant impact that that Sorry event was having for Aboriginal people, and it was one that was of course long overdue.

This historic apology acknowledged the past wrongs, expressed deep regret and symbolised a commitment to rectifying the injustices inflicted upon Aboriginal Australians. As well as remembering the words of the speech, I also remember the emotions that came from that, words that hit home not just for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians but also for those of us Australians trying to understand our place in that, our role in that, and the importance of moving forward together as Australians.

We in the state and federal Labor parties value actions, and we know how significant they are and have continued to show that in successive governments, both state and federal. We have taken action with our State Voice. We are taking action with the federal Voice and we are proactively seeking better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. We are doing that because we know that it is important, we know that it matters, but also because we are taking guidance from the people it affects.

The reason that we are moving forward with the State Voice and the reason that federal Labor are supporting the yes campaign for the Federal Voice is that we were asked to. When we are making decisions about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, here on our side of the house we know that it is important to take our guidance from those people, to listen to what they have asked for and of course to implement here in South Australia our version and our response to the Uluru Statement from the Heart is just one step towards achieving that.

We know that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people still have significantly lesser outcomes in terms of education, in terms of domestic violence, in terms of incarceration. We know that in order to move forward, and to better have policies that assist those people but also to support those people, we need to listen directly to communities and be able to incorporate the suggestions from those communities and those people about the best way to move forward and also to acknowledge culture, language and tradition as we do so.

National Sorry Day is not just a day of reflection. It also highlights the importance of reconciliation and healing and it calls upon all Australians to actively engage in building respectful relationships with communities, promoting equality and working towards addressing the ongoing disparities, as I mentioned before, in areas such as education, health care and social justice.

I think it is really important to know that this is an effort to walk side by side, and I would like to mention elder Uncle Tamaru, my dearest Nyuck Un Talya, my dearest uncle, who is assisting with teaching me and a number of my colleagues Kaurna language. He says it really well when he welcomes us to country. He says that the role of using language is not to separate anyone but it is to help Australians as a whole move forward together, side by side.

I know that for so many of us we are already walking side by side and wanting to move side by side forward with our relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, but for a lot of Australians there is still a way to go. Actions like the State Voice and actions like the Federal Voice play a really significant role in ensuring that we are able to do that, not separating us but moving together hand in hand towards the future.

National Sorry Day is a significant and solemn occasion that reminds us of the past injustices suffered by the stolen generation. It urges us to acknowledge their pain, promote understanding and walk towards genuine reconciliation. Genuine recognition is not achieved until all Australians are walking hand in hand, as I mentioned before. By recognising the mistakes of the past and committing to a better future, we can contribute to building a more inclusive, compassionate and just society for all Australians.

That is done by actions. That is done not just in our words, not just in discussing outcomes, not just in having those conversations, but in making meaningful change that assists Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to achieve better outcomes and have a greater voice here in South Australia and of course in the federal government. I am personally incredibly proud to be supporting those actions, knowing how important actions are for our continued advancement. I am very happy to be moving this motion today.

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen) (11:09): At the outset, I move an amendment to the motion of the member for Newland by substituting all the words in paragraph (c) to read as follows:

(c) encourages South Australians to celebrate our shared histories, cultures and achievements and further to explore how each of us can help to achieve reconciliation.

The 26th of May 2023 was indeed National Sorry Day, and this year there was the happy coincidence of the occasion of the Reconciliation Week Breakfast, held as it was last Friday morning, so those two occasions coincided. I recall, in addressing the motion in support of Reconciliation Week this time last year, that there were around 1,400 people who attended the breakfast then. I do not have an accurate number of attendees this year but, another year on, I think it was at least that and it might have been heading towards closer to 2,000 who jammed in. I think it was an occasion that was booked out within moments of the possibility to book to attend. It is one of those events that speaks very loudly on the national stage and is indeed well recognised as the most well-attended and largest such gathering in the nation. Once again, I was very proud to be among those in attendance.

This year marks 26 years since the Bringing Them Home report. As the member for Newland has observed, it marks also 15 years since the national apology. The completion and handing down of the Bringing Them Home report marked a most significant moment in our country's post-colonial history, and it is well that we reflect on that 26-year history on this occasion.

I think it is important to reflect, as we do in this house, on significant firsts, on steps that are taken in leading the way, as we are so proud to do, and to reflect upon in terms of our state's history. South Australia, and our parliament, was the first to apologise to those Aboriginal people who experienced forced separation and all the extraordinary suffering that resulted from those actions of government and public authorities prior to 1964. As is well known to members here, the apology in this parliament—the first—occurred on 28 May 1997. Premier John Olsen, as he was, supported by the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, the Hon. Dean Brown, both spoke on that occasion. I repeat and emphasise the words of the Hon. John Olsen on that day when he said:

I apologise on behalf of South Australians for the effects—perhaps well intentioned, but fundamentally flawed—that then Government policy had on the families and children of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. With the benefit of our experience we acknowledge that what was done was wrong. We cannot hope to understand the pain, and we should never pretend otherwise. The decisions which led to this sad episode have caused a scar on the face of the nation. It does not matter that governments of the day believed their policies were right or just; we have moved on from that point.

By apologising, I hope that we can now move forward. We must be positive about the future for all Australians. My Government is committed to reconciliation.

The Hon. Dean Brown, in his remarks in support of the motion, emphasised at the outset—and we are well to do this on every occasion that we as a parliament reflect upon the apology and the challenge going forward towards conciliation—that:

Reconciliation has nothing to do with Party politics: it is about the future of Australia.

I say, 'Hear, hear!' to those observations, made as they were 26 years ago. The challenge is ongoing, the work continues, and it is with those sentiments and that profound responsibility that I move to adopt the words that we as a parliament encourage South Australians to celebrate our shared histories, cultures and achievements and, further, to explore how each of us can help to achieve reconciliation.

The apology in response to the Bringing Them Home report was not the only significant first to follow that significant event in 1997. It is not so often reflected upon in this house, but not quite 10 years after that event South Australia was the place in which a court first found the state liable for the removal of a member of the stolen generations and assessed damages by way of reparation in the case of Trevorrow v State of South Australia.

I note that Justice Gray's 2007 decision still stands as a sentinel moment in terms of the law's capacity to grapple with those circumstances of removal. So we have demonstrated in this state, at least since that important report and in the circumstances of the capacity of the common law, that parliaments and courts can recognise past wrongdoing. We need to ensure that in our day-to-day lives, both public and private, that we do all we can to recognise that history and to work together towards conciliation.

I mention in this regard the now Minister for Aboriginal Affairs in Western Australia, Dr Tony Buti, who wrote a book called A Stolen Life. I commend that book to all who would seek to better understand the case of Trevorrow.

I will conclude, as I did this time last year, with the words of Dr Lynn Arnold AO when he quoted Ursula Le Guin saying:

'You can go home…so long as you understand that home is a place you have never been.'

So it is that we need to understand that a reconciling home-coming would bring us to a different place from that where we had departed.

Let this work continue.

Ms SAVVAS (Newland) (11:20): We will not be supporting the amendment from the other side today. I would like to again echo the words that were mentioned by the member for Heysen from the Hon. John Olsen. I well and truly agree with the statement, though I do not have the exact quote in front of me, that this is not about party politics, it is about reconciliation and the advancement of our country, I believe, or words to that effect.

I do find it very interesting that that quote, in particular, was put forward by the other side, when both the state and federal Liberal Party are doing exactly that. They are playing party politics and putting party politics above the advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our country, when it has been specifically requested by those people that we move forward at both the state and federal level towards a Voice. So I did find that a particularly interesting point, to say that we do not want to be playing party politics when that is, of course, what the state Liberals and federal Liberals continue to do in the space of Aboriginal affairs.

On our side of the house we care about actual actions, about real change towards the advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It is important to acknowledge what those actions are and to acknowledge the work that has been done to get to this place—not just actions by the government but actions by activists, by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people themselves, actions by people like Dale Agius and others who were involved in the move toward the State Voice here and, of course, those calling for a federal Voice at the federal level. Actions make a difference, so I do think it is really important to commend the work of those who are bothering to do so.

I agree that it is not about party politics. I do just wish that the other side, at both levels, actually took that statement into their own actions when they were thinking about the best way to advance the interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. We will not be accepting the amendment today.

Amendment negatived; motion carried.

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