Linda Burney (Barton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Families and Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme (Facilitation) Bill 2021. This bill will facilitate the establishment of a stolen generations redress scheme for those areas in which the Commonwealth had responsibility when children were removed from their families: the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory and, of course, Jervis Bay.

In my opening comments I want to acknowledge the family story of Minister Wyatt, about his own mother, and I am sure other members of his family were part of the stolen generation—not in the territories but, nevertheless, part of this awful scheme that existed in one way or another, right across this country, for decades. There is not one Aboriginal family, that I'm aware of, that has not been touched by this shocking series of regimes that existed across the country. The effects of these schemes can still be very much felt today. Other members speaking in this debate will talk about the intergenerational effects.

This bill is long overdue, and Labor hopes to see a speedy and effective implementation of this scheme. For many decades, First Nations Australians were systemically and violently targeted by policies of elimination and assimilation. Culture and language were destroyed—in fact, forbidden. Lands and waters were taken away. And so were children. Sometimes they were taken from the arms of parents and relatives, but, more often, they were quietly and suddenly removed. Indeed, Senator Dodson, in the other place, tells his own story of when he was a child, of being hidden from the welfare and consequently not being removed himself. I'm sure that had my circumstances not been as they were when my great aunt and uncle took me and raised me, I could well have ended up—along with thousands of other children—as part of the stolen generations.

Many children never came home from school, never got off the train or the bus or never left the hospital with their mother. The anguish, the pain, the dislocation, the loss and the grief are all alive today. Even if many of the people who were taken are not with us, their stories go on. This is what intergenerational trauma is. It goes some way to explaining why many First Nations people are distrustful of institutions and authority.

Often, the people who had the shocking responsibility of removing children were, in fact, police. It goes some way to also explain why, in many communities, police are not seen in the trusted way that they are seen in other places. It goes to explain why many Aboriginal people feel that if there's anything they can do to avoid the government being involved in their lives, including being on the electoral roll, that is what they will do. It also goes to explain, very much, why there is still the enormous fear in communities of children being taken. Of course, times have changed, and children wouldn't be taken for many of the fears that are held, but the fears are so ingrained. This went on for so long. Whole families of children were taken and dispersed among institutions, never getting an education and forbidden even to know the truth of their families. They were forbidden even to know anything about their culture and were abused terribly in these institutions. You only have to talk to the old men now who call themselves the 'Kinchela boys', to understand the trauma and abuse that they experienced as young children at Kinchela Boys Home. It also goes to understanding history's cruel lesson that those who are important and powerful have a disproportionate ability to hurt, steal and destroy.

Acknowledging what was done in making reparations is part of healing, not just for individuals and families but for the fabric of our country. It is an act of truth-telling. In 1997, the Bringing them home report was a watershed moment in our country. It drew a line in the sand for this country, where no-one could say anymore, 'We did not know,' because it got such huge media attention. I was in the room on the day the late Sir Ronald Wilson and Professor Mick Dodson launched the report at the 1997 Reconciliation Convention in Melbourne. It was an absolute watershed moment. Among the 54 important recommendations of the report, reparations were acknowledged as critical for genuine reconciliation. The report contained harrowing testimonies. One woman, removed the age of eight to Cootamundra Girls Home with her three sisters in the 1940s, said:

Most of us girls were thinking white in the head but were feeling black inside. We weren't black or white. We were a very lonely, lost and sad displaced group of people. We were taught to think and act like a white person, but we didn't know how to think and act like an Aboriginal. We didn't know anything about our culture.

A submission from another survivor explained the devastation caused by the loss of language. It went like this:

My mother and brother could speak our language and my father could speak his. I can't speak my language. Aboriginal people weren't allowed to speak their language while white people were around. They had to go out into the bush or talk their lingoes on their own. Aboriginal customs like initiation were not allowed. We could not leave Cherbourg to go to Aboriginal traditional festivals. We could have a corroboree if the Protector issued a permit. It was completely up to him. I never had a chance to learn about my traditional and customary way of life when I was on the reserves.

Despite the findings of the report and the well-documented evidence pointing to the systemic disenfranchisement of First Nations people, governments of the day continued to ignore the voice of First Nations communities. In this country, this is one of the worst acts of social engineering that you could possibly think of. We rail against other countries with human rights records of abusing their populations, and it happened here. It happened here to people who are alive today. It happened in my lifetime.

The Bringing them home report also recommended a national apology from the Australian government. Of course, this apology was finally delivered by former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. I remember sitting just up there in the gallery as Prime Minister Rudd delivered the apology—a powerful acknowledgement of the past and a turning point for our nation.

I've said, although I can't remember whether I said it at the despatch box, but the years of the Howard government refusing to say sorry—350,000 people walked across Sydney Harbour Bridge calling for the Prime Minister to say sorry. That apology meant so much. It couldn't give people back the years and their families, but it meant so much. It was a powerful acknowledgement of the past and a turning point for our nation. It was a first step in formally recognising the extent of the pain and suffering inflicted upon the stolen generations. There are current members of this House, including the member for Lingiari, who were present for this apology. I was up in the gallery, and the member for Grayndler, the Leader of the Labor Party, cites it as one of his proudest moments as a parliamentarian in this country.

The experience of bearing witness to such a historic moment in Australia's history is something that will always stay with me. I remember the old people sitting around—were you here?

Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was here.

Linda Burney (Barton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Families and Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They were sitting around on chairs, and all the surviving Prime Ministers, bar one, of course, listening to that apology. I saw one of the most generous things I have ever seen in my life—I will never forget it—an old woman stood up and handed to Minister Macklin and to Prime Minister Rudd a glass coolamon. A coolamon is what we carried our babies in. It was just remarkable. It was gracious, and it was truly a healing moment.

The redress scheme is a result of the dedication and persistence of the stolen generations survivors, advocates and organisations. First Nations people in the territories have long been demanding justice—quietly, and sometimes not so quietly, seeking acknowledgement. To dismantle the systemic abuses of the past, we must recognise the pain experienced and its legacy. We must also look to the future and to reconciliation by taking material steps to address the inherent generational trauma caused by the loss of identity and the loss of connection to country and family, a trauma which is manifested in the economic and social inequality First Nations Australians face and, most worryingly, in the shocking rates of out-of-home care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children today. I'm sure some of the attendants here in the chamber will also remember that moment.

No amount of money can ever compensate people for what was done to the stolen generations and their families, and most worryingly, as I said, we are still seeing out-of-home-care rates climbing and climbing in this country. Members of the stolen generations and their families have waited long enough for redress. Before the last election, Labor made a solemn commitment to introduce a stolen generations redress scheme, very similar to what the government has announced. We are very pleased to see that the minister and the government have adopted a similar position. It is a significant step forward. However, the redress scheme must be implemented with the greatest of care, and those opposite must learn from the mistakes that have been made in the design and administration of the National Redress Scheme for people who experienced institutional child sexual abuse.

Redress should be about healing, not about re-traumatising. For this scheme to truly work, the government will need to listen to the stolen generations survivors and advocates and work with them so that people can access it. Governments must help, not hinder. Notably, this bill does not actually establish the stolen generations redress scheme. Instead, it deals with how payments made under the scheme will interact with the social security and tax systems, most importantly exempting payments from taxation and social security income tests, which we welcome, but also making them inalienable, so they cannot be claimed by creditors or accessed in bankruptcy proceedings. The rest of the scheme will be implemented administratively without the oversight of the parliament.

The scheme is expected to benefit around 3,600 people, and it will have three parts: a one-off $75,000 payment in recognition of the harm caused by forced removal; a one-off $7,000 healing assistance payment; and an opportunity for each survivor to confidentially tell their story to a senior official, have their story acknowledged, and receive a face-to-face or written apology. The scheme will be available to survivors of the stolen generations who were removed as children from their families while living in the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory, prior to self-government, or the Jervis Bay Territory. It will be open to applications from 1 March 2022 to 28 February 2026. To apply, people must have been under 18 when they were removed from their families by government bodies, including the police, church missions and/or welfare bodies, and the removal must have been in circumstances where their Indigeneity was a factor. The scheme will allow families to make an application on behalf of a member of the stolen generation who passes between 5 August 2021, the date of the scheme's announcement, and 1 March 2022, the date the scheme opens to applications—and this is welcome.

The Senate inquiry into this bill identified several important issues which I encourage the government to consider. They include the prospect of payments to the families of those who have died, the treatment of payments under the social security assets test and the availability of culturally appropriate support, advice and counselling. We have seen during the pandemic and so often when government programs are rolled out that communication with communities is poor. I implore the minister, whom I know understands: make sure you work with stolen generations organisations, make sure information about the scheme is available in language, make sure community organisations and health services are informed, make sure First Nations media is used, make sure that face-to-face help is available and make sure those who are making claims cannot be misled or ripped off. Accessing the scheme will be painful for many people, and we do not need to make it any harder than it already is.

Labor is pleased to support the establishment of this scheme, and I am very proud to be here with the member for McMahon, the member for Solomon and others that were here on that day in February 2008. I commend the minister for getting it done. It is a policy Labor has been committed to for years, and we support it with a great sense of urgency. I have outlined several issues that we would like to see the government address. Perhaps an advantage of implementing this scheme administratively is that these issues could be quickly and easily addressed by the minister. People have been waiting long enough and many are in poor health and many are very old. There should be no further delay.

To those state governments that still have not put in place stolen generations schemes, there are no more excuses. History will not look at all kindly on those who do not do everything they can to acknowledge this dark and violent part of our past. We support this scheme. We will not be dividing, but we will be watching carefully.

(Quorum formed)

Katie Allen (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme (Facilitation) Bill 2021 and the Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2021. I'd like to start by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land on which we stand, the Ngunawal people, and pay my respects to the elders past, present and emerging and, in particular, to note the moving comments made by the previous speaker, the member for Barton, and acknowledge the work that she has done in supporting Indigenous Australians.

The bills before us today are incredibly significant. They address the topic that for so long was ignored many years ago, and then for so long not acted upon genuinely but which this government seeks to address, with a commitment that is practical and works to address measures in this issue. That topic is reconciliation, one of the darkest chapters of our country's history, and we cannot turn a blind eye out of shame. We must face this issue and work towards a future that addresses and assists with the healing of the trauma caused.

The Redress Scheme is just one step in healing and acknowledgement of the harm caused by forced removal from family that was experienced by victims of the stolen generation and the financial and wellbeing focused reimbursement that addresses this.

These bills before us today will support intergenerational healing and hope to positively impact the lives of survivors. They allow for the facilitation of the Redress Scheme for stolen generations survivors. They will ensure that participants of the Redress Scheme will not be adversely affected by decreased access to other Commonwealth funds. This is only logical, as we cannot punish those who our country has already caused so much pain to in the past. Moreover, the bills will ensure that there is crosschecking of identity information, so that these reconciliation efforts are directed towards those who truly deserve it and cannot be exploited in any way by others. These bills stand as an important step in the Morrison government's commitment to reconciliation. The gravity of the bills before us cannot be understated, for they stand to solidify the Redress Scheme to protect Indigenous Australians as we, as a nation, pursue reconciliation.

The Morrison government will be investing nearly $400 million over the next five years in the redress effort. It will encompass a focus on both financial security and wellbeing for affected individuals, as I'm sure all of us in this place are keen on. These bills affect those who were forcibly taken from their homes in the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory or the Jarvis Bay territory. I'm proud to be a member of the national redress committee. The Redress Scheme itself encompasses a one-off payment of $75,000 in recognition of the harm caused by forced removal, combined with a $7,000 healing assistance payment in recognition of the variety of manners in which an individual undergoes their own healing journey.

On top of these financial reimbursements, survivors will be given the opportunity to confidentially tell their story and to receive a face-to-face or a written personal response. As a paediatrician, I know how important it is for people to be able to share their story. In fact, as a doctor, there is much to be said about the healing power of the telling of a story. Bedside manner is incredibly important, but the narrative of a shared story has an important therapeutic component. In circumstances where the stolen generation survivor has recently passed, an application on behalf of their family or estate can be submitted—an acknowledgement that the trauma experienced by survivors transcends the generations. Of course, not all problems can be solved with this government effort, but it does stand as one small crucial step in acknowledging the economic imbalance Indigenous Australians do face.

The Redress Scheme is by no means the only action the Morrison government is taking to address the conversation of reconciliation. Indeed, in the 2021-22 budget the government committed over $50 million to fund over 100 organisations supporting members of the stolen generation and their families. This support includes important activities such as family tracing, so that stolen generation survivors can understand their ancestry and learn of their families. It is harrowing to think that they have been disconnected and discombobulated from their inheritance, and the ability to be able to find and trace that lineage and pattern is incredibly important for people who are seeking to understand where they've come from. Reunion services are also being funded, so that these Australians can again meet their families and share a crucial connection that no redress payment itself can offer. Not only this but various counselling and healing support services will be made available to provide emotional support to help mend the lasting pain caused by family separation.

The Morrison government is not limiting government support to stolen generations survivors. Instead, all Indigenous Australians are privy to support. This builds on the work this government is doing to close the gap. That is why last year's budget commitment to deliver support to Indigenous Australians to build skills and find employment is so important. This comes alongside efforts towards education, with a focus particularly on the young. On top of this, the Morrison government has committed hundreds of millions of dollars towards women's safety and economic security, mental health, aged care, as well as the environment and management. As we all know, the gap between Indigenous Australians and nonindigenous Australians has been broad and wide, and has not closed at the speed we would all like. The gap is in education, health, life expectancy, employment, housing and youth in detention. In fact, the rates of incarceration of Indigenous Australians in this country remain a national disgrace.

The Redress Scheme will be survivor focused and trauma informed, to ensure that there is no further harm done to survivors. Stolen generation organisations will be consulted as the scheme is refined to ensure that it is culturally appropriate and gives Indigenous Australians the best opportunity to reconcile with the past and move into the future with stronger financial and wellbeing foundations. There is not only this; the National Indigenous Australians Agency has consulted broadly across the various departments of the Commonwealth government to ensure that the bills will have their intended effect.

The Morrison government has sought, and will continue to seek, the very best advice on how to implement reconciliation efforts in this country. It cannot be a matter for government to decide all policy regarding issues of this nature; we must consult with Indigenous Australian agencies and groups to understand the suffering of these Australians. That is why the government has done so much preparation for this scheme in the bills that are presented to us today. At this point I'd like to note, as the Minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Wyatt—himself an Indigenous Australian—has said, that we need to codesign all that we do. Indigenous Australians have had enough things done to them; we now need to work to make sure that we do things with them, like the Indigenous concept of yarning. That's why I support the Voice and am very proud to be on a working group on Indigenous recognition in this parliament.

These bills and the redress scheme they represent are never going to be enough to truly say sorry to the Indigenous Australians affected by the stolen generations and their families, but it's certainly a step in the right direction. As Australians, we cannot forget our past. The way forward is not to feel shame, but optimism and hope in the future of our country—optimism that we can, someday, reach a point where Indigenous Australians are on a level playing field and aren't brought down by the continuing effects of past policy. As I said in my first speech, a strong country is a country at peace with its past. This bill is one more step on the path to atonement and reconciliation, and for this reason I commend these bills to the House.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a genuine privilege to rise in this chamber this evening to speak on the Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme (Facilitation) Bill 2021 and the related bills. These bills will go some way to addressing a grave, grave injustice for stolen generations in the Northern Territory and the ACT.

The removal of children from their families, now almost a centuries-long—plural—practice by governments across Australia, has created the most enormous trauma that has also transcended generations. At the outset, I want to pay tribute to those who spoke earlier in this debate: the member for Barton and, indeed, the Minister for Indigenous Australians, Mr Ken Wyatt. They had very personal stories. Clearly, extremely, they're so grounded in this history of the stolen generations and the centuries-long practice of forced removal of children. I could distinctly hear the pain in their voices before me, and I just want to put on the record that I acknowledge that pain and that it is felt by so many thousands of First Nations people in Australia.

The separation of families and the destruction of communities on a massive scale cannot simply be forgotten. The fear of pain remains, not only with members of the stolen generations but with their children, their cousins and their grandchildren. That is a very deep, genuine fear that remains for so many people. No amount of money is going to undo that. It cannot adequately compensate individuals, families or communities for the extent of damage that has been done nor for the long shadow that the trauma has now cast, as I said, over multiple generations. That's on their relationships, their health, their mental health, their economic prospects and their capacity to live their culture—to feel strong in language and identity. It is such a tribute that there is a strong generation of First Nations people coming through, very proudly identifying and grounded in their identity. But that does not mask the fact that there is a great deal of trauma for many people who have direct experience of either themselves or someone in their family being forcibly removed.

That horror and that systemic pain, which is felt, very literally, within people's bodies, goes a long way to help explain the profound distrust of authority—schools, police and policies of governments and parliaments like our own—that many First Nations people have. That is something we all need to really wrestle with as well: how best to make amends. So today, I think, is a very timely reminder of how much work we still have to do as a country, as a parliament and as a community to help rebuild that trust. The most important thing about the scheme that is now being proposed and finally being established is that it gives the stolen generations people recognition: recognition of what was done to them, recognition that it was wrong and racist, and recognition of each and every person 's story.

Sadly, thousands of people who would have been eligible to claim this compensation are no longer with us. It's too late for this scheme to be of benefit to many in the stolen generations, who have passed. They passed without having any justice. That makes me profoundly sad, but it should also make us very determined not to allow this to drag on another moment longer. As a parliament and a country, we failed in one of the most important and basic duties we have, and that is never to harm children.

I know there have been many references here to Kevin Rudd's Apology to the Stolen Generations, which took place in this House on behalf of the parliament and this nation. It was a very powerful recognition. But, of course, the hard work is yet to happen. Apologies are never the full-stop moment in the process; they are really just the very start. I spoke earlier, in the other chamber, on the anniversary of the National Apology to Victims and Survivors of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse, and I made the same point: these apologies are really just the beginning of a very long journey that we have in order to make amends for those gross injustices.

The purpose of these bills before us tonight is really to put in place a policy for stolen generations reparations, and Labor welcomes this with open arms. We do so because, frankly, this is an adoption of Labor policy, and I say that with a generous heart. I think it is fantastic that the government has taken a Labor policy, seen the worth of it and known that it was a good idea. It's been too long in the making, to be sure, but they decided to take on that proposal to ensure that stolen generations people do receive reparations: in this case, $75,000 in compensation plus a $7,000 ancillary payments option. We genuinely welcome the government picking up this Labor policy and trying to implement that. That is a good thing. Whether they just recognised a good policy when they saw it or whether the launch of the class action by 800 members of the stolen generations in the Northern Territory earlier this year might have prodded some action on this matter and had something to do with the timing is a matter that only the Morrison government can speak to. Regardless of how you got here, I welcome the fact that you have taken what is a fundamentally good and just policy. The hard work will now be in the implementation.

Whilst we welcome the funding for the Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme, this package is only for surviving members of the stolen generations—so it is not for family members who we know have already passed. I think that needs to be made very clear. There are shortcomings in this scheme. Also, there are many people reflecting today that there are members in this parliament today who walked out on the apology to the stolen generations when it was conducted in this House over 13 years ago. Let's hope there has been much more goodwill coming to the table to ensure the success of this package before the House. We will be watching the scheme's design and implementation very, very closely. The government must get this right.

I have sat here for the last two terms watching over the implementation of the National Redress Scheme, and the government has been found wanting on a number of occasions. It is critically important that we have a forensic approach to the implementation of this scheme. These bills don't actually establish the scheme itself, because the government's going to make those more detailed announcements in terms of policy commitments rather than legal entitlements, it would seem. Instead, what the government really must do now is ensure these payments will not count as income for the purposes of social security or the veterans' entitlements means test; that is important. They must be exempt from taxation. They must be protected from creditors in any case of bankruptcy; that is another very important matter. And we must allow information to be cross-checked with the Department of Social Services to verify identity—if a person can't verify their identify by providing a Centrelink customer reference number, for example.

In setting the scheme up, it is critically important the government learns from the mistakes and the issues that have become so apparent in the National Redress Scheme for institutional child sexual abuse. These are the flags that Labor is putting in the ground for the government now. We are warning the government: you must work closely with stolen generations survivor groups at every single stage of the design process. That includes the Healing Foundation, the Northern Territory Stolen Generations Aboriginal Corporation and the other groups in the NT, the ACT and Jervis Bay. If those people are not involved each and every step of the way, this scheme will not live up to expectations. It will not deliver the justice that stolen generations people deserve and are seeking, and they will hold each and every one of us to account if it's not delivered.

We will be making sure that, locally, culturally appropriate support is also available at every step. These are critically important components of any scheme. We'll be making sure the government protects people's privacy and believes them. We'll be making sure that the process for a personal apology and acknowledgement is meaningful and sincere. Of course, I am very mindful of the fact that today there are shocking numbers of First Nations children who are in out-of-home care. It is very sobering to think about that matter and to wonder if there will in fact be another stolen generation under our own watch if that trajectory of removing kids and placing them in out-of-home care at the rates that are currently being pursued is to continue. I am deeply worried about that. Even if the government's current out-of-home care closing the gap goal was met—a 45 per cent reduction by 2031—the rate of First Nations kids in out-of-home care is still going to be five times higher than the non-Indigenous population. We cannot accept a situation that has the makings of another apology or another future redress scheme. That is a diabolical scenario, and it should not be beyond us to ensure that never happens again. Australia's past policies of systemic child removal destroyed families, decimated cultures in many parts of this country and hurt all of us. Our entire nation is stained by those deplorable practices. Hopefully this scheme and the recognition of wrong it will afford goes some way to making amends to those who were betrayed enormously.

Andrew Laming (Bowman, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

[by video link] I'm coming in virtually from Queensland. This is a very important companion bill, the Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme (Facilitation) Bill 2021, and I recognise the previous speaker, the member for Newcastle, is passionate about this area. It's an area where both major parties can be proud of what they've done, and in particular, the Prime Minister, who will be remembered for achievements like this—and also the national redress scheme for institutional care. They're really important steps and very compassionate ones, campaigned for for a long time and delivered under the Morrison government, which I'm particularly proud of.

I have no hesitation in recognising the large number of people who worked to this destination. The Commonwealth takes its role very seriously for the Commonwealth territories. We have a focus today, obviously, on the Northern Territory, and I think there were reasonable summaries from the previous speakers—no disagreement from me. This is a companion bill that implements certain aspects of this scheme and ensures that recipients of these payments are not subject, for instance, to the Social Security Act or the Veterans' Entitlements Act, where they may potentially not be eligible for payments. It addresses situations of bankruptcy where these payments are quarantined, and these are important elements as well—that the payments are not subject to income tax assessment or income testing or capital gains tax.

That's what the bill is about, but the opportunity today is to say how important these redress schemes are: the national scheme and the stolen generations redress scheme. Clearly, many of the recipients are very, very senior and frail, and many of them have chronic disease. It's imperative to act quickly, and the government has done that—and I think with a trauma informed, culturally sensitive approach with a focus on survivors. That is what was needed, potentially, decades ago. My contribution to this debate, for those that are listening around the country, is to pick up on a point by the member for Newcastle— (Quorum formed)To think that an opposition Labor Party MP would call a quorum in the middle of a bill of the gravity of the stolen generations readdress scheme is absolutely unbelievable. Obviously, from my virtual position in the parliament, I'm unable to see who that MP was, but, if it was in fact the member for Lalor, it is a complete disgrace that she would call such a motion in the middle of such an important scheme being debated. With bipartisan support and having very supportive, considered, survivor focused commentary being made in this parliament, this is a moment for us to celebrate. If, indeed, the person who just called that quorum was an individual representing the seat of Lalor, that is absolutely disgraceful and Hansard will record that.

These matters may seem trivial to members like the member for Lalor, but her party takes a very different view to healing, truth telling and reconciliation. They understand that a payment like this took a long, dogged fight for many outside of this parliament. It has become a position supported by both sides of politics in what is, we all recognise, an important practical step but completely inadequate to heal in a symbolic sense the suffering of, and the loss of what was taken away from, these individuals. I am very glad to speak on behalf of this facilitation bill. I know that we have the support of both sides of politics.

A message to the broader Australian community is that this important amount is not to be counted in dollars; it's to be counted in the gesture and the goodwill that comes with the payment and the commitment to hear, to listen, to accept and to understand. Just as I was saying about the member for Newcastle's point of view about not allowing out-of-home care to ever get out of control in the way that it did in the past again, we may well be facing the need to apologise for other forms of policy and the way they've affected and injured people and possibly, but not necessarily, children. A whole range of policies around employment, education, school attendance, incarceration, rehabilitation—all of these matters need every member's attention to make sure that what we do during our time while incumbent is not something that our successors have to apologise for on our behalf.

While it's important to apologise as soon as possible and in good faith, let's all look within and not satisfy ourselves that apologising for the actions of others is sufficient to get ourselves through as caring and compassionate about the issues facing Indigenous Australians. It simply isn't. Things are not as they should be. I'm happy as a member of the government to take full responsibility for that, but I know that every member of this parliament in Canberra, as do the state parliaments, regard this as one of the great domestic challenges for Australia.

This redress scheme is something that is long overdue and very much welcomed. Let's make sure that nothing we do right now, while we are representing Indigenous Australians, leads to an apology in the future and let's make sure that the lessons of today's legislation are learnt by everyone.

Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to make a few short comments on the Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme (Facilitation) Bill 2021. When the bill proceeds to the Senate, this matter will be taken up further by our First Nations spokesperson, Senator Lydia Thorpe. In making these comments today I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the country on which we are meeting today here in Canberra, the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.

Across the country, wherever we are, we are on stolen land. As we debate this important bill that goes a step further to giving redress to members of the stolen generations, we need to pause and acknowledge that this country was founded on violence and dispossession. That is our history. Any rational, honest look at our history would see that it is one which began with conquest and began with violence and began with dispossession. Whether it is the frontier wars that turned into massacres in many, many instances, whether it is the continued refusal of even basic civil rights, not just voting but in being able to go where you want to—into shops and businesses and where you want to go—or whether it is the forced removal of children from their families, the stolen generations, which is the subject of the bill today, we haven't done a very good job in this country of being honest about our past. When you are not honest about your past, you then find yourself repeating it and continuing to inflict pain. And I want to talk a bit later on about the real risk that we are facing at the moment that we will continue to see future stolen generations.

This bill seeks to address the despicable practice where First Nations children were removed from their families—and, distressingly, it continues today at alarming and increasing rates and extremely disproportionately with First Nations children—that is, it is happening more among our First Nations children. The bill is welcome, and the Greens welcome it. The stolen generation survivors are finally getting some redress. Too many stolen generation members, though, have already passed and haven't seen any attempt at justice. It is beyond sad and tragic that they have not been around to see the parliament at least take some step towards redressing the massive, massive injustice that they suffered.

We have seen some piecemeal approaches to redress across different states, but one of the things that that has meant is that some people have fallen through the cracks and redress has been very different in its extent, which is not fair, given that the trauma that was inflicted was a deep, deep trauma that is still being suffered, because it is multigenerational. The Greens conducted extensive consultation with stolen generation members, and our spokesperson, Senator Lydia Thorpe, put forward a while ago the need for a national redress scheme and, after consultation, arrived at a proposal that members who are accessing that scheme should be entitled to $200,000 plus $7,000 for funeral expenses, as a starting point. Of course, like any scheme—and I expect there would be acknowledgement of this probably across the parliament—we recognise that no amount of money can ever compensate for the loss and for the pain that was experienced. That proposal, that sum, is fair, I think, when you look at the way other schemes across the country work, and it begins to go some way towards acknowledging the harm and the trauma and providing some redress.

This scheme only provides $75,000, plus $7,000 healing assistance, which we'd say is not enough. We'd say that is not enough. It is welcome that it has started, but that sum is not enough. We heard during the inquiry that we conducted that people think that this is inadequate, but they know it's better than nothing, and many of them are not going to wait any longer or even be able to wait any longer, and so they are going to accept it.

One of the issues that people need to understand about these bills is that, in many respects, they are quite basic and they leave a lot of the detail to regulations. So we're going to be watching closely to make sure that the government put forward details of the scheme in the regulations, as they've proposed, because we've seen in the past, in other areas, a gap between what gets announced and what actually turns up in the regulations. And, in forming the regulations, we want to urge the government to continue to consult with members and representatives of the stolen generations to make sure the government get it right, because it's too important for them to get wrong.

One of the limitations, though, in the scheme as put forward by the government, is that families—aside from those of stolen generation members who pass away between August this year and March next year—cannot seek redress. One of the things that Senator Thorpe has been at pains to point out is that it's critical for the government to understand that taking away children doesn't just affect those children; it affects whole families, and several generations of those families. It is multigenerational. Multigenerational trauma has been inflicted by the forced removal of children from their families. Sadly, at the moment, from what we know from the government, we don't have a situation where the families of all those stolen generation members who've already passed and those who might do so over the duration of the scheme would be eligible, which we'd welcome as a step towards the passage of this legislation. But, given that this legislation does give significant breadth to the minister to craft a scheme through regulations, we hope that that is something that the minister will consider—that he will understand the multigenerational nature and the descending nature of this trauma. That is something that could potentially be fixed if the minister was willing to design the scheme a bit more broadly and a bit differently.

It is good that the payments that are going to be made—and we welcome them—will certainly not be taxed and won't be treated as income in many respects. For example, they won't count towards bankruptcy and so on. But we have to make sure, likewise, that there are no flow-on impacts from treating any of the money as assets, for example. We have to get that absolutely right by considering its interaction with other forms of payment and other forms of support that people can get.

As I say, because of the nature of this legislation—because it leaves a lot of the design of the scheme to the government—we put those matters forward, on the table, in good faith, in the hope that the government will take them into account when actually designing the scheme. There are a number of other matters that we want to raise, and raise in a bit more detail, but Senator Thorpe will take those up when this legislation comes to the Senate.

To conclude, this is legislation passing through this parliament of which an outsider looking in would say, 'Of course there has to be some redress and of course there has to be some compensation for such a wrong and such an injustice that was perpetrated.'

It's one of those things that has taken this parliament far too long to get here, and we have to acknowledge the significant milestones along the way from within parliament, including former Prime Minister Rudd's apology, which was crucial and made a difference to so many people. But I particularly want to pay tribute, in closing, to the members of the stolen generations and also to their families and their descendants, and applaud them for continuing to fight and continuing to push for justice. I think that no-one in this place would say that there's any amount of money that's going to compensate, but we can acknowledge it was the wrong thing to do and we can start to provide redress. Does this bill go far enough? No, it doesn't. Is it a welcome step towards providing redress and some acknowledgement to those people who have suffered so much? Yes, it is.

Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for Melbourne and call the honourable member for Lingiari—sorry the honourable member for Grey!

Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy Speaker, we do both have the same haircut, it's true! I rise to speak on the Territories Stolen Generations Redress Schemes (Facilitation) Bill 2021 and the related bills.

I've been here since 2007—not as long as the member Lingiari, and as one of the crop of 2007—I was here for the apology in 2008. I was in both the chamber and the Great Hall when Prime Minister Rudd made his famous comments, and he is to be congratulated for those. But it has been a long road. As a result of that apology, each year we have a Closing the Gap statement, and that's a good thing. On some markers, we're doing pretty well; others are particularly stubborn and we're not doing well at all. It's not, I think, as I said in the debate yesterday when we were talking about Indigenous issues, a lack of will by governments of either side, it's just that some of these problems are devilishly difficult to fix. But we have to keep trying. I think the changes made this year around the arrangements for the stolen generations, which actually bring the state governments into the national reporting and the responsibility to address these problems, is a great step forward. I congratulate the minister for that outcome because, at the end of the day, it's the states that actually deliver a lot of the services on the ground. Previously it has just been falling back to the federal government, so it's time that we brought all that together and fixed it up as much as we possibly can at least.

This is of course an intergenerational issue, and not one just for those affected. I'm very mindful of the comments of the member for Melbourne, who spoke before me, that this is an intergenerational issue. For those who were taken away as children, their children can be affected and their children beyond that—we need to take account of that. But it's not just an intergenerational issue for those people, it's intergenerational for all Australians and, indeed, all of our parliaments. The 1997 Bringing them home report was brought down in 1997, obviously. But here we are, 23 years on, still dealing with issues that were highlighted in that report. It was a decade after the Bringing them home report that we had the apology, and here we are, 12 years later, at last delivering a redress system. But it has certainly taken longer than it should have when we look at that time frame. It should be not a celebration but at least a relief that we've got to that point now and that we can move on.

Undoubtedly, the policy of removal caused enormous duress and strain. I couldn't back the theory that every person who was removed had a bad outcome with their life. We know some people from the Aboriginal community who have been fabulously successful, either because of or despite of the fact that they were removed from their parents. In many cases, they were highly educated and very influential in the world of Indigenous politics and in trying to further the cause of Aboriginal Australians, and I congratulate them for that. But even though they are, I believe, in a minority, and even though they may have made a success of their lives, it's difficult to imagine that they did not deal with the trauma and grief of separation at the time and in subsequent years. They should probably be congratulated for being such strong individuals, actually. Either way, there is no doubt that the policy of removal did a lot of harm.

My home town is Kimba. I often talk about Kimba when I'm in this place, one way or another. I moved into the town off a farm when I was 10 years old. I'd been attending a very small primary school before that time where we only occasionally had Aboriginal students. When I got into Kimba I found out there was a bigger world, if you like. The school had about 300 students at the time and a significant number of them were Indigenous. I would be lying if I said we were without prejudice. Looking back, it was a more racist world than the one we're living in at the moment. Something we can all be grateful for is the work that's been done over the subsequent years, if not to eliminate racism, because we know it's not eliminated, then to reduce the public displays of it and the acceptance of Aboriginals in wider society.

Having said that, the families that we had in town were relatively cohesive. Their children attended school. I would have thought it was the pathway to success. Sadly, one way or another, no Aboriginal families live in Kimba any more. It's difficult to put your finger on just when that happened, but it was probably around 30 years ago that the last of them moved out, the ones who had been established families there. Most of us believe it was at the time, and I haven't substantiated this, when the rules for accepting Commonwealth support—the dole, if you like—changed and they actually had to report at an office to get the money. There was no office in town, so we tended to see those families move to places like Ceduna, Port Lincoln and Whyalla and out of the smaller communities like Kimba. I think in retrospect that has been a negative for our community, but probably a negative for them as well, because I think our community had been good at fostering good outcomes for individuals.

I wasn't aware in that period of time, from 10 years old on, that children were still being taken away from their parents at a very young age. I don't think it happened in Kimba, but I wouldn't swear by it. I wasn't aware of it at the time. A 10-year-old is not aware of everything anyhow, I'd have to say. It came as a shock to me later on, I reckon, to find that this was still going on while I was at school. I knew about children being taken away from their parents, but I thought it was something that happened a long time ago. Of course, when you're a kid, everything seems a long time ago. If you're 10 or 15 years old, something that happened 15 years ago is something that happened in ancient history, but I was surprised to find that it was still going on in the mid-sixties in some places, but not in Kimba, as far as I know. If some Aboriginal families contact me and say, 'You wouldn't know what you're talking about,' I will be corrected. I'm reminded of a family that lived there—the Reids. George Reid worked for the council. He drove the dozer, from memory, and was a very valued part of the community. I don't know how many children he had, but I'm going to say about eight. Some of them went on to be good community leaders in other places, because they moved away, but in another parallel of the things we're talking about today, and we're talking about a family where some of the individuals might have been seven or eight years older than me and the youngest were perhaps three years younger. There is only one left alive today. I reckon that's a pretty sad story. It's not that they had terrible lives. They were living in urban areas, and yet that death rate is obviously higher than it is for the wider community, and that of course is another issue that we're trying to address as we go along.

So this policy of removing children, not always at birth but at a young age, has obviously caused enormous damage. This national redress scheme is perhaps well overdue, but it's here, and with payments of $75,000. Importantly, in this context, the minister's gone to the effort of making sure that it won't be impinged on, in any way, by any other Commonwealth payment, including payments to the National Redress Scheme for institutionalised child abuse. Largely, these payments are fashioned on that. That's good, right and proper. If some unfortunate individuals have fallen into both of those camps—being taken away from their parents and then suffering institutionalised child care—statements to the 1997 Bringing them home report would suggest that it's far from isolated, that it happened on a fairly regular occurrence. That is shameful.

In finishing, I come to comments from the member for Lalor, and I'm glad she brought this up. I'm not going to pick any holes in what she had to say. She spoke about the tragedy, today, of the number of Indigenous kids in out-of-home care. I think that is a tragedy. But we also have to bear in mind the difficult decisions—the impossible and diabolical decisions—that state government officials are facing here. Do they leave a child in a dysfunctional, violent household or do they take them out? What a terrible decision they have to make.

We need to be mindful of the fact that we need to protect children. I'm certainly mindful of the fact that living out of home was far from ideal. There's a figure I used in the chamber, yesterday, on a bill on Indigenous issues. I recently saw a figure—and this is another tragedy—that so many Aboriginal people are in custody; 70 per cent of them are in custody for violent acts, predominantly on family. I think that points out why children are being removed from these dysfunctional households.

I wish I could wave a magic wand. It is one of the most diabolical choices. I don't know how we deal with it. We have to deal with the issue of trying to stop that kind of behaviour in the first place, but we are talking about a very long lead time. It's not as if people haven't tried before and there are any simple solutions. So this is tough work. It doesn't matter what you do in this area, it is tough work, meeting those national targets on closing the gap. It is tough work.

Collectively as a House we tend not to argue too much about these things. I was a bit disappointed about the way some of the debates went yesterday, but we are all committed, I think, to bringing a better result. Maybe we might debate the pathways we take, but this bill is put forward in good faith by a very good minister and, I believe, by a government that does have the best interests of Aboriginal people at heart. I commend the bills to the House.

Warren Snowdon (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for External Territories) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Firstly, I acknowledge the member for Hasluck and the member for Barton for their contributions to this debate. I recognise the unique perspectives they bring as Aboriginal people and as people who have been impacted by the stolen generations themselves.

My first real interaction with members of the stolen generation was four decades ago. I recall attending a conference, in 1992, at Kormilda College in Darwin of stolen generations members. These were people who wanted justice, and they wanted an understanding of their plight and their suffering and their hurt. Then we saw the then Labor government institute the 'bringing them home' inquiry and we saw its report to the parliament in 1997, where it made 54 recommendations. A key recommendation was reparations. It wanted an acknowledgement and an apology from the parliament, which, of course, took 10 years to come about; guarantees against repetition; restitution and rehabilitation; and monetary compensation.

Sadly, though, the then Prime Minister, John Howard—as the member for Barton pointed out in her contribution—steadfastly refused an apology or to recognise the importance of restitution. That was sad then and, on reflection, it's sadder now, because that was an opportunity not to deal with this issue once and for all but certainly to address the needs which were identified by the Bringing them home report and which have taken so long to properly address.

It's not my intention to go through the details of the legislation; others have properly done that. I do want to talk, though, about the stolen generations. The removal of children from their families was an almost century-long practice by governments across Australia, and we know it created trauma that has transcended generations and instigated intergenerational trauma. The separation of families and the destruction of communities on a systematic scale can't simply be forgotten. The fear and pain remain, not only with members of the stolen generations but with their children, their grandchildren and their extended families. There is no amount of money, despite the importance of this legislation, that will undo that or could adequately compensate individuals, families and communities for that hurt, for that damage and for the long shadow the trauma has cast on relationships, on health, including mental health, on people's economic prospects, and on culture, language and identity. For so many people today, the horror and trauma of systematic child removal policies goes a long way, as the member for Barton said, to explain the mistrust of authority—such as schools, policies of governments, health care and hospitals.

As the member for Barton pointed out, she was up there in the gallery on that wonderful day, 13 February 2008, when Prime Minister Kevin Rudd extended the Apology to the Stolen Generations and the then Leader of the Opposition responded in like terms. That was an important shift, because up until then the then opposition had refused to contemplate an apology to the stolen generations, and Brendan Nelson is to be congratulated for his leadership on that day. It was a very important thing to happen. It brought this parliament together—except, I note, that there are a number of people still in this parliament who absented themselves from the apology, and that was shameful.

I now want to speak about my many friends who are members of the stolen generations, some of whom have died in recent years and so have missed the opportunity for the recognition that this bill will provide. My dear friend the preselected Labor candidate for Lingiari, Marion Scrymgour, who I hope will replace me in this parliament, is a daughter of a stolen generations survivor. Marion recently shared this story on her Facebook page after visiting Ti Tree just north of Alice Springs, the area from which her father came but was taken from so long ago. Marion's father, Jack, was taken from his Aboriginal mother and non-Aboriginal father at Ti Tree and sent to Croker Island off the coast of northern Australia. During the Second World War, he took part in the so-called long walk home to avoid Japanese bombing. Jack, along with many other children and three teachers, initially walked hundreds of kilometres from a point on the mainland near Croker Island to Gunbalanya, and it was the beginning of a trip that took him all the way to the south-east corner of Australia.

Marion had the opportunities to sit with his family that he never had.

When talking about these tragic events, I am reminded of Archie Roach. When Archie sang his most famous song, Took the Children Away, at the bicentennial in 1988, two elderly people from the Northern Territory came up to him afterwards. 'What did you write that song about?' the old man asked. 'Me,' said Roach, who was taken as a child, sadly, from his parents. The old man said, 'No, you wrote it for me.'

A former long-term member of my staff, Jack Crosby, who sadly passed away a few years ago now, was married to Sue Roman, a very dear friend. Sue's mother, Lindy Roman, was taken away to the Kahlin Compound in Darwin Sue, her daughter, was put in the infamous Retta Dixon Home. Sue's mother was forced to work as a domestic for families in Darwin. Sue's mum, Lindy, was judged unfit to look after her own kids but was considered fit to look after the children of non-Aboriginal people.

Sue was the youngest child in a family of five children. She was removed when she was baby. She is now 72. Sue remained under the control of the Aborigines Inland Mission, which controlled Retta Dixon Home, until she was 18. Sue had one brother. He was sent to an institution in Alice Springs, 1,400km away. There were hundreds of kids in Retta Dixon over the time Sue was there, and she was one of the few or only children who was of Larrakia descent. Her mother was therefore in Darwin. Sue was sometimes, and illegally, able to talk to her mum over the side fence of Retta Dixon, where it shared a boundary with the Bagot community,

At 12, Sue was sent to school in Victoria, into the care of foster parents who turned out, sadly, to be abusive. While with those people, her mother wrote letters to her that were never given to her. They had been sent sometimes with a10 bob note. She never saw the money. Sue's mother was not even told she was sent to Victoria.

Sue's version of the impact is simple and powerful. In her words: 'They eff your life.' 'Fortunately', she says, 'I got to learn the truth.' A friendly school teacher she had as a teenager worked with her to go through what had happened. In the process, she says, 'I made a commitment not to be poor bugger me.' She says, 'At 15 I had a couple of years of truth telling.' The school teachers were Brett and Pat Wren. They were school teachers she met in Victoria, and they became her foster parents for 2½ years. When Sue was 17 she came back to Darwin. She then went on to work with other survivors to lead a claim for compensation for what had happened to them at Retta Dixon.

Estelle Ross is a stolen generations survivor. She is an Eastern Arrernte woman. Her daughter is Christine Ross. Christine's mum is 83 in January. Recently, Christine told me of Estelle's story, which Estelle is happy to share. In 1946, as a young child, she was taken from her home at Arltunga. Six were taken at the same time. They were also sent to Garden Point off the north coast of the Territory. The six children were put on the back of a ute. They were told they were going shopping. They never came back. Estelle was sent to Garden Point Mission on Melville Island, which was run by the Catholic Church. Their mothers were not told anything about what happened to them. Estelle only left Garden Point when she was 15 when she was sent to boarding school in Adelaide. She stayed there for three years, then she was released. Estelle only met her mother again many years later, when she was an adult. At Garden Point, Estelle grew up without her family at all. Initially she couldn't speak English. She was completely denied any access to her own language and culture. When she met her mother many years later it was very difficult for her to communicate, because Estelle's mother had very little English. Estelle suffered emotional abuse and mental abuse. She says she was raised by nuns who were not compassionate; in the process, she was constantly abused for minor things. She formed a strong bond with other survivors of Garden Point and she stayed in touch with them all her life. One of the people she was there with was Jack Scrymgour, Marion's dad.

Christine reminded us that what happened to her mother led to intergenerational trauma. For Christine, hearing her mother's story was a huge upset. Estelle says that talking about this is not for the sake of compensation; it's important to make all this part of Australian history. She says it's a story that has to be told. In the words of Christine, 'Stealing children has screwed up so many kids and led to a lot of suicide.' Christine notes there is only so much you can take of living with trauma. For her, the impact has been huge and ongoing. Christine also said it has taken too long for the survivors to get compensation.

This is very important legislation, and it's very important we have bipartisan support for it. I want to acknowledge the leadership of the member for Barton and, indeed, the member for Hasluck in making sure we see this legislation in the parliament today. But let there be no doubt: this is a story of national shame and disgrace. It's a part of our history that we need to constantly acknowledge and address. This compensation process is one part of it. Those stories, like the ones I've just told you, are stories we all need to hear, lest we become relaxed and comfortable in the knowledge we've done something. We're doing something, but we're never going to change intergenerational trauma or the loss, sadness or disgrace that was brought about as a result of this process of stealing children away from their families.

We have an obligation in this place. As members of parliament we are acutely charged with a great responsibility to look after the interests of the Australian community. This legislation does that in part, but it is just so sad that so many have died and will not see the justice that will be brought about as a result of this minor, minor piece of legislation for compensation. I commend the bills to the House.

Gladys Liu (Chisholm, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

[by video link] I rise to speak on the Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme (Facilitation) Bill 2021. In combination with the Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2021, this bill will facilitate the operation of a redress scheme for living stolen generations survivors who were removed as children from their families in the Northern Territory, the ACT and the Jervis Bay Territory. Funded through a $378 million package announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison in August this year, the scheme will make payments in recognition of the harm caused by forced removal from the families of stolen generations survivors to assist with the healing of this trauma for the stolen generations survivors who were forcibly removed, and to help survivors gain access to counselling and support services and a face-to-face or personal written response. It is another step taken by this government on the journey to providing redress for those forcefully removed as children in territories that were administered by the Commonwealth. The government is committed to a process of truth-telling as part of the nation's journey to reconciliation. The scheme will be survivor focused and trauma informed and will operate on the basis of doing no further harm to the survivor. Consultation with key stolen generations organisations will take place in the coming month, and internal and external advisory boards are being established to guide and monitor the scheme's establishment and to ensure the scheme is delivered in a culturally-sensitive manner.

The facilitation and consequential amendments bills meanwhile will ensure that a participant in the scheme will not be adversely affected by receiving a redress payment. Specifically, survivors receiving a payment can be assured their payments will not be used to repay any Commonwealth debts and that their eligibility or access to Commonwealth payments, pensions, benefits or services will not be effected. As my good friend, the Minister for Indigenous Australians, the Hon. Ken Wyatt has noted, with many stolen generations survivors being of an advanced age, the imperative to act now has been brought into sharp focus. The passage of these bills will ensure the scheme can start receiving applicants in the early months of 2022.

While it is, of course, solely a matter for stolen generations survivors if, when and how they choose to seek redress, pursuing it through the scheme has considerable advantages over doing so through the courts. Court matters take time. They can be complex and have a high level of evidentiary burden. The redress scheme will be largely administrative based with a minimum of complexity regarding the operation of the scheme. It recognises that there may be poor historical records regarding the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families and will establish evidentiary requirements to reflect this. As such, evidentiary requirements for redress through the scheme are likely to be lower than those required to successfully bring court proceedings. In addition to this, applicants will be able to access free application support, and legal and financial advice from independent scheme funded support services throughout the application process.

This government takes incredibly seriously its commitment to supporting the healing of stolen generations survivors. There has been great progress made under the leadership of the Prime Minister and the Minister for Indigenous Australians, and I commend their insights into and recognition of the urgency of establishing the scheme. It is a sad fact that it could easily, although not acceptably, have been pushed aside amidst the once-in-a-generation challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. That it didn't speaks to the priority accorded to this issue by the Morrison government. The scheme represents a major practical step forward towards healing, truth-telling and reconciliation following on from the 2008 apology to Australia's Indigenous peoples. I commend these facilitation bills to the House.

Angie Bell (Moncrieff, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In rising to speak on the Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme (Facilitation) Bill 2021 and related bill, I start by outlining the sadness and the empathy that I feel for anyone who has been subjected to wrongdoing on the level of the stolen generations and/or anyone who has been or continues to be subjected to child-sexual abuse of any sort, no matter what the type, no matter how severe or for how long or by whom. My heart goes out to those Australians who have been in that situation and who may, unfortunately, continue to be in that situation. I've spoken about this before in this place, and I'll continue to shine a light on this issue that stains our country, its history and, unfortunately, its future. I commend the Prime Minister on the creation of the National Centre for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse and strongly support more work in this particular policy area.

I'd like to pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging of the Kombumerri, of the Yugambeh language, on the Gold Coast, who form part of my constituency. I extend my best wishes to their organisations and their families and make special mention of Rory O'Connor, the CEO of the local Yugambeh Museum. The Yugambeh lands stretch from the Tweed to the Logan rivers—significantly larger than the Moncrieff electorate—taking in all of the boundaries.

I'd like to share a story about a local Indigenous elder, Patricia O'Connor, before I get into the nuts and bolts of the bill. The source of the story is from the Yugambeh Museum itself, so I'm confident that it is accurate. Her journey has been from a childhood in a tent home outside of Beaudesert all the way to Buckingham Palace for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. Mrs O'Connor was born in Beaudesert in 1928 and has been honoured for her role as the joint founder of the Kombumerri Aboriginal Corporation for Culture Centre in 1984. She was also part of a team which successfully negotiated Australia's largest repatriation of Aboriginal remains in 1987. She helped with the reburying ceremony of 200 Aboriginal people who had, sadly, been excavated from their original burial site at Merrimac in my electorate, by the University of Queensland in the 1960s. She also opened the Yugambeh Museum, Language and Heritage Research Centre in Beenleigh, in the member for Forde's electorate, which is one of Australia's largest language centres. Of course, the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games mascot Borobi, the big koala, which has statues all over Moncrieff and Broadbeach and at the Home of the Arts and other locations is tasked with keeping Indigenous languages alive in South-East Queensland schools. I hope that Borobi comes back as the mascot for the 2032 Olympics on the Gold Coast. Borobi certainly has my vote as a natural fit for that role.

Mrs O'Connor's community work extended to involvement in the unveiling of Australia's first memorial to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander service men and women in 1991. Before COVID hit, I joined her and the local Aboriginal community on Indigenous Diggers Remembrance Day to honour those who have fallen in the wars. We thank them for their service to our great country. The memorial stone is on a bora ground just outside Moncrieff, at Burleigh Heads.

I see that I am going to be wound up shortly, Mr Deputy Speaker, and I will probably go into continuance for tomorrow. So what I will do is just keep going for a few more minutes until we go to the adjournment debate. But I wanted to share with the House a good news story in terms of the attitude that Patricia has towards the future and the hope that she has for Indigenous Australians and, of course, the future of Aboriginal children in our country and how much she has given to our community, how much she has given to the Indigenous community and how very pleased I have been to hear some of the words from Patricia, which I will talk about in continuance, when she talks about her hope for reconciliation, her hope for the future of our country and her hope for the relationship between the rest of Australia and Indigenous Australians across our great country. I thank the House for listening to my speech thus far. Thanks so much to Patricia O'Connor, who has served our community for so many years. It is a great story that I will share with the House in the next section of my speech.