Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Housing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On 13 February this year, parliament apologised to the stolen generations of Indigenous Australians. On this morning speeches were made, yet for all of the words said, none resonated more closely with me than those from a constituent who came to visit me shortly after the official proceedings ended. Jonathan Cox from Deniliquin made the journey to Canberra to witness the apology. It has been 43 years since Jonathan was taken away from his birth mother and family. In the letter and documents Jonathan sent me following our meeting here in Parliament House, he writes of how he feels about his removal from his natural mother:

I was taken away from my birth mother/family. I never knew my birth father. I only have a name. It was awful to be taken and then just signed away to be a ward of the state while still a baby.

Jonathan goes on to say that his records state, ‘Find parents for this child’:

I already had a parent, but they did not care about that. They just did it. I had no say in the matter.

Records handed to me from Jonathan and his adoptive mother raise the question of his natural mother’s consent to adoption. Much of the documentation surrounding his adoption appear, and I use the words of his adoptive parents, ‘confused and clouded’. Jonathan and his adoptive parents believe that his natural mother was misinformed by health professionals as to the status of his health as a baby. They believe she was told that he would be crippled throughout his life and signed adoption papers without knowledge that this is what the papers were. It is most likely that Jonathan was removed simply because his mother was poor and of Aboriginal descent. His mother’s attempt to seek information about the health of her child after he was hospitalised as a small baby demonstrates that Jonathan was not unwanted or unloved.

I also find it alarming that on 12 April 1965 Jonathan’s medical record stated that ‘on admission, he was a bright-eyed, happy little boy with no obvious traces of aboriginal blood’. This clear reference to his race, and other references that suggest his mother was unreliable, indicate the problematic and very serious nature of the reason why he became a ward of the state. It is through descriptions such as these that we see, for the stolen generations, the issue was less to do with possible abuse and neglect and more to do with the colour of skin.

Since Jonathan was removed from his mother, he has only seen her on two occasions. He poignantly says:

She never put her arms around me the first time and not the second time ... the love between us was destroyed when they took me away (from her).

After Jonathan’s visit to Parliament House, his adoptive mother wrote to me. In her letter, dated 22 March 2008, Mrs Marie Cox notes:

It is remarkable that Jon has come to some understanding. His removal from his family devastated him for a long time, I don’t think he will ever recover.

In reference to the apology, Jonathan says:

I felt like a huge weight was taken off my shoulders. As to compensation, if it happens, it happens. No amount of money will make up for all the pain and loss that I, and so many others have suffered.

I also cannot imagine the pain and betrayal that Jonathan’s adoptive parents felt when learning that his natural mother did in fact want her baby to return home to her from hospital. On behalf of Jonathan, I would like the House to join me in honouring the work that Marie and Ron Cox did not just for Jonathan but for all the Aboriginal families they helped to look after.

It is unfortunate that while Jonathan’s experience is unique his story is not. Closing the gap of Aboriginal disadvantage is a crucial issue for this parliament right now. I believe that the apology is an important part of working towards this and so is the sharing of Jonathan’s story here today. I hope that in 10 years time the expression ‘closing the gap’ will not be spoken of so much in this place, nor will it be used as a by-line for attractive or sensational media stories. Jonathan and his adoptive parent have both thanked me on different occasions for listening to their story. Today I want to thank them. I want to thank Jonathan for sharing his story with me and put on record that I have the utmost admiration for him and the courage he has shown in coping with such difficult circumstances. Jonathan’s story is a powerful and timely reminder that debate surrounding Indigenous issues must transcend politics. So let us, as Jonathan wrote to me:

... move forward into a better future and never, ever, let such a thing happen again.