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. We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.
Interpretation
This quote expresses a formal apology for the historical injustices faced by Indigenous Australians, particularly focusing on the removal of children from their families.
Kevin Rudd's quote serves as a powerful acknowledgment of the immense pain and suffering caused by government policies that led to the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families. The apology highlights the need for recognition of past wrongs and the impact of these actions on communities, emphasizing a commitment to healing and reconciliation for a better future.
In practice
Opening a conference on reconciliation and acknowledgment of historical injustices.
As nations we should also commit afresh to righting past wrongs. In Australia we began this recently with the first Australians - the oldest continuing culture in human history. On behalf of the Australian Parliament, this year I offered an apology to indigenous Australians for the wrongs they had suffered in the past.
We are so fortunate, as Australians, to have among us the oldest continuing cultures in human history. Cultures that link our nation with deepest antiquity. We have Aboriginal rock art in the Kimberley that is as ancient as the great Palaeolithic cave paintings at Altamira and Lascaux in Europe.
I have found it easier to identify with the characters who verge upon hysteria, who were frightened of life, who were desperate to reach out to another person. But these seemingly fragile people are the strong people really.
It feels like a punch. Tears fill my eyes, and I wonder how I could be upset over losing something I never had.
What I do remember about first grade and that year was that it was very lonely. I didn't have any friends, and I wasn't allowed to go to the cafeteria or play on the playground. What bothered me most was the loneliness in school every day.
You know how funerals are not for the dead, they’re for the living? Bachelor parties are not for the groom, they’re for the uncommitted.
We love those who know the worst of us and don't turn their faces away.
We don't want to promote any system that treats the fact that an individual is LGBT as a personality disorder. And anything that perpetuates that perception is harmful - not only to that member of the community but the entire community.
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