AUSTRALIA

THE STOLEN GENERATIONS:




First of all The Stolen Generations refers to those children who were removed from their families by the Australian government agencies and church missioners, under several acts of their respective parliaments. On February 13 2008, Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd presented the apology to Indigenous Australians:

"Today we honor 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 apologize for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians. We apologize especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country................................. We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians. A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again. A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity......A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility. A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia"

FROM YOU OWN POINT OF VIEW IS IT USEFUL TO SAY "SORRY" AFTER YEARS OF WRONG POLICIES TOWARDS A MINORITY?WHY? WHAT ELSE IS NEEDED?



To say sorry is one of the hardest thing to say, because If you say you are sorry for something, you are implicitly taking responsibility for whatever has happened, so I think it is useful to say sorry when things are not done in the right way by a government or by anyone else, because an excuse at least means that you recognized you acted wrong, but an excuse is not the only thing to emend a mistake, because for example ,in this case, how useful is to a minority that that the government say he is sorry when he is not really feeling it?, when he doesn’t really regret his acts? or when he is going to do the same thing afterwards keeping the wrong policies?,i think people have to say sorry when they really mean this word and when they are willing to do something to emend their mistakes and make things change, in this case a correction on the wrong policies is also needed, the government needs to recognize that we are all equals ,and treat them as equals, do not violate their rights and ensure they are protected ,not the other way. Just as Kevin Rutt said on the speech governments have to learn from their past bad experiences and look at the future with hope and determination to change, they have to work in order to not commit the same mistakes and injusticies, they have to look for a future with opportunities for everyone, a future with new solutions to the problems of the past.