Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Eleven years ago, Lorna 'Nanna Nungala' Fejo held her grandchild as then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd asked Lorna, with my friend the member for Jagajaga, for a message to send to the people of Australia. 'Families,' she said, 'keeping them together is important.' You see, more than 80 years ago, Lorna, as a very young child, was taken from her family, from a camp near Tennant Creek, by the welfare men. Today Lorna is listening from Darwin. So, g'day, Lorna.

Lorna's youngest son, Richie Fejo, is the chair of the Larrakia Nation Aboriginal Corporation, and I spoke with him just a little while ago. Richie said: 'We remember that day, the day of the apology, very clearly. The apology was genuine, sincere and meaningful. It offered all the First Nations people a fair go and the opportunity for reconciliation in the spirit of sincerity. In the tradition of sincerity today, we should remember to re-empower that genuine exchange and opportunity so that we can celebrate equally with other Australians.' Well done, Richie. There's still a lot of work to do.