Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

MITCHELL () (): The national apology came as a result of the five-year Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. This is something that was done by former prime minister Julia Gillard, and something that I still rate probably as the pinnacle of my career was being part of that and seeing that develop and grow to actually do something genuine that helped victims and survivors of child sexual abuse. It's up there with the NDIS as two of the great things that we have done in government. It's an absolute monument to Julia Gillard's integrity that she went and did that at a time when there were people in this place who thought it was wrong to do that. They thought it was a witch hunt against certain religious organisations. But, as the then Prime Minister said, this is about the victims.

So the royal commission was started, and it went through some of the most harrowing and terrible things that we can imagine. When we went through that process of putting it together, we, as government MPs and opposition MPs, went out into our communities and spoke about it. It's something you hear of; it's something that you might occasionally come across; but I was absolutely blown away by how many people came forward at that time and gave their stories in my community. It's something that just sticks with you when you sit down and you hear the stories—just how appalling they were. But the thing that really stuck in my craw was how the victims were never believed. It was always systematic abuse that was happening. It was always the child victims who were the ones left to carry the burden and, unfairly, to carry the pain for many, many decades.

I think about a couple of stories that come to mind whenever I talk about this. One was a friend of mine. When we spoke about this, we went to a meeting and we talked about why the government was putting together a royal commission and why it needed to be done. And he contacted me and said, 'I've never, ever told my story, but, after listening to what you're doing and what your government wants to do, I'm actually going to come out and talk about what happened to me.' I thought that was just so amazing—that what we were doing was giving people the opportunity to have their say.

Another story that I always remember is speaking to a bloke one day after the apology. I went outside to have a cigarette, and he was there, and we had a chat. This fellow had had a pretty rough life. In and out of institutions, he had really done it tough. I remember him sitting there holding a piece of paper, and he said: 'This is the most important document in my life, because finally someone believes me. All the years I've gone through and all the pain that I went through, and I was always the one that was never believed, but now, finally, it's been recognised.' Certainly, in the past 12 years, that rates to me as one of the high points in this place. There are many things that we do together and things that we do opposite that have impact, but it was, I think, finally standing up and saying, 'Yes, we do hear you, we do see you, we listen to you and we believe you.'

And then we moved on to going after the perpetrators. Some of these things, as I said, were just harrowing. I can remember sitting with a lady in my office. They were talking about one particular parish where offences had occurred. What did they do? They moved that priest out and put another one in, who continued to abuse children in his pastoral care. What's the chance that you would have two in a row? You'd think, 'Wow, that's a real problem,' but imagine the shock when we found out there were three—three priests in the one parish. They just rotated them through. I'm not going to repeat the stories of what happened with those kids because it just turns your stomach. How people could do that to children is just beyond me—absolutely beyond me.

We went through the royal commission, we went through all of that, we had the reports done and then a national apology was given. It was great that it happened. It should have happened a lot earlier—hindsight's a wonderful thing—but it did happen. And I think it happened because members of parliament actually put down their armour and said, 'We've got to fix this; we've got to do something.' It happened because we had a Prime Minister of courage, conviction and the only former Prime Minister in this country that I've worked with for whom I have absolute respect for the way she conducted herself in the parliament and after the parliament, and particularly around this issue which was so important and so close to home. It was an example of where we can get together and do good and address a situation that should never have happened.

So when the apology was given, it was an absolutely positive experience to be there and see that happen and to know that what we were doing was righting a wrong, a wrong that happened to so many vulnerable kids who had no say in it. They were treated badly; they were treated appallingly. And for many, many years they had to carry a burden of guilt.

We know there are over 600 non-government organisations—from charities and community groups to churches and schools and universities—that have signed up for the Redress Scheme, which was established following the royal commission. Some 70,000 sites are participating in the scheme, and to date the scheme has received over 20,000 applications and has delivered close to 11,000 outcomes. That's great, but it's still not enough.

The Victorian government, again to its credit—this is where you need to have good, progressive governments who want to do the right thing—has joined the National Redress Scheme for children abused in institutional care. These are the things that should matter to us: the way we want our nation to be, how we want our children to be treated and the values that we carry inside us. Sadly, there are organisations who don't want to participate in the Redress Scheme, who are holding out. They're not admitting they have done wrong and they're certainly not accepting their responsibilities. That is a national tragedy that we should continue working on. We should start forcing these people to accept their responsibilities and right the wrongs that they played a part in.

It was Prime Minister Morrison who gave a speech that addressed the situation. At the time it was something we all needed to do, to get together and have this apology happen and start on that path to fixing it up. But one thing that has been very strong is that, on our side of the chamber, it has been something that is very close to all our hearts. We want to make sure that our children are looked after properly. And those that have been—I will say tortured for want of a better word, but I don't know if it is because they've been tortured physically and mentally. We should look after them and we should give them the help and the support they deserve.

To the victims that have gone through these harrowing experiences: you've got a government that's on your side, that will continue to fight for survivors and will work to make sure that the culture that harboured these things ends and is destroyed. We want to see those who perpetrate these heinous crimes swiftly, quickly and harshly dealt with. We hear you and we believe you, and we are all sorry for what you have had to put up with.

James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd like to start by acknowledging all of the victims of institutional child sexual abuse and those who participated in the royal commission, because, on top of the unbelievable trauma that they endured as a result of the crimes committed against them, they were also very brave, being prepared to tell their stories, speak as part of that process and help propagate an understanding of what occurred in institutions in this country specific to the sexual abuse of children. I'd also like to acknowledge current members of this parliament and members of previous parliaments who have spoken on this topic over the years and shared stories personal to them and to family members, because that, indeed, is also very brave. On such a terrible topic to be addressing, I think the small solace we can take is that, while the stories are terrible, at least they have seen the light of day, because, by knowing the truth, we can acknowledge what occurred, address what occurred to the best of our ability here in the year 2022 and, most importantly, ensure that what happened in the past and the wrongs of the past don't happen in the present and into the future.

The royal commission that led to the national apology had three extremely disturbing elements as a result of all of the various people who participated by sharing their stories. It commenced with a common thread of, first, never even being listened to. It was an era in which children felt that they couldn't raise these horrible experiences and crimes that had been perpetrated against them. They felt that it would be wrong to raise these experiences with a trusted adult. Then, second, as the previous speaker mentioned, if they did feel the confidence and bravery to raise what had happened to them or was happening to them, they felt that they wouldn't be believed. Then, third, there was the awful, awful circumstance for the first victims of some of these perpetrators, who might have spoken up and tried to report their experience—and sometimes did—of the crimes committed against them, where these perpetrators went on to repeat offend not only against those victims who sought to tell their stories and couldn't but against subsequent victims who never would've been victims if we had lived at that time in a society that did listen to those victims and did take action.

Now, I've got the greatest confidence you can have that that circumstance doesn't exist now, in the year 2022, although, clearly, we can imagine there are still people in circumstances where they are too frightened to talk about the abuse that they are enduring or have endured. There's a lot more to be done—there's no question about that—and I, like everyone here, will look for every opportunity to improve where there are suggestions for legislative reform and other actions that government can take at a Commonwealth level on this terrible, awful, disgusting topic. There's nothing I can think of that matches the disgusting nature of the sexual abuse of children, but it's important that we acknowledge and talk about the nasty chapters of our history as much as the chapters that we're proud of. The royal commission that led to the national apology is a disgusting chapter in our history, but one we have to confront, be honest about, acknowledge—of course, the apology is that acknowledgement—and use as an opportunity to make sure that no little child in the future has to go through the awful horrors that so many little children had to in the past. We don't enjoy being confronted by the need to take action on this, but we are all joined in the absolute necessity of taking action. Once again, I pay tribute to so many brave people who, on top of everything they've endured as victims of sexual abuse in their childhood, have been part of telling those stories, leading to the point that we're at today, when, in the national parliament, we mark the anniversary of this apology. In doing so, all of us commit to our common purpose to make sure that we do everything into the future to ensure that the horrors of this chapter never occur again.

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was sitting in parliament on 22 October 2018 when the then Prime Minister delivered the national apology to victims and survivors of institutional child sexual abuse. The apology, similar to the National Apology to the Stolen Generations, which was actually delivered on my first day at work in this building, was a recognition by the government of the day of the appalling treatment of some of this nation's most vulnerable people. That day, I remember looking up at the faces in the gallery of some of the people who had lived and survived this abuse, some of whom had endured and thrived, but too many of whom were damaged irreparably. All those people there that day and every person who faced these abuses were in my thoughts as the apology was delivered in this parliament. It was delivered with humility and honesty, and with a hope for healing and a commitment to make sure this doesn't happen again, as stated by previous speakers.

The apology acknowledged the appalling abuse endured by vulnerable children by the very people who were supposed to care for them. This gross betrayal left immeasurable and lasting damage, and the apology, delivered in the people's house, was an admission that the victims and survivors were not at fault for this abuse. It was an apology for not providing protection from these abuses. It was an apology for not listening, not trusting their words and not believing them. It was an apology for allowing these perpetrators to be relocated and shielded rather than held to account for their vile actions, and an apology for the lifelong impacts on their physical health, mental health, relationships and the ability to live a life of full potential. For way too many, they missed out on the ability to live a life of freedom rather than enduring incarceration. It was an apology also to their children, to their parents, to their siblings, to their families, to their friends, to their spouses and to their allies. We know these people were there with them and helped them carry the lifelong burdens inflicted on them. The apology was also to those victims who were no longer with us—all too many of them—and to their family and friends who missed out on a life with them.

My wife used to work for knowmore, the Commonwealth legal service established in 2013 to help the victims of institutional child sexual abuse. My wife is a very tough woman to put up with me. I know the member for Hinkler is nodding.

I'll take that interjection. Yes, she is a tough woman. She's been dealing with child protection, child abuse and domestic violence for 32-plus years. She has seen and dealt with horrors over the years that made me weep, and that was only after I heard her curated details second-hand. However, my wife told me, in her time working for knowmore, that the historical horrors she heard during her time as a solicitor were the worst things she had ever heard in all those decades of fighting to make kids safe. I heard the echo of her stories about her clients when I looked up at the faces in the gallery gathered here for that apology.

It was an apology to all those who suffer in silence and are living with their abuse without the knowledge or the recognition from others, including those closest to them; to the people who have not yet reached out to knowmore or whatever law firm, and probably never ever will; and to those who will bear their cross alone and silently. I've met those people in my office, and I'm sure other MPs have. So I return to what I said earlier: this was not your fault. There is no shame you need to feel for the actions of those grubs who were assigned to care for you and look after you. The apology and the anniversary of the apology is an opportunity to draw attention to the lifelong effects that these abuses cause and to offer an opportunity for help and for healing.

One of the quotes from the royal commission into this abuse highlights the effects and the unacceptable conditions faced by victims and survivors:

… we were treated as slaves, beaten and abused, used for the Brothers perverted desires. … No love or kindness, no safety or warmth. Always hungry and always frightened.

That sort of horror can cause the wiring of a child's brain to be set for life in ways that are not like many of the people in this parliament or many of the people in society. They are always frightened. If you found yourself in an orphanage or foster care or were a First Nations child on a mission, the machinery of state was geared against you. If you were one of those children and were able to escape this abuse, the local police would find you and bring you back, sometimes placing you right back into the arms of the very perpetrators you were running away from. If you tried to speak up, you would cop more physical and emotional abuse and would then be told to keep quiet. First Nations children were silenced by isolation and discrimination, cut off from country and culture. Children who could not speak up for themselves, kids with profound or severe impairment, were abused every day when they were being dressed and bathed. Silence was coerced by beatings, by forced labour, by threats of starvation, by the punishment of perpetual fear.

Just imagine growing up with those life experiences. How would you have coped with that past? That affects and touches on your present and future. How could you sustain healthy relationships today, moving forward from that sort of abuse? How would you interact with government agencies and the police after having those lived experiences? How would you find a loved one after those experiences?

If the price of peace is eternal vigilance, this institution of parliament owes protection to all our children, and we must be eternally vigilant in ensuring that no generation ever endures such an horrific scourge again. We will remember. Six hundred institutions did eventually sign up to the redress scheme. I'm not going to thank them for that, but I will note it. But I won't forget the grubby institutions and their shonky leaders and shonky lawyers who refused to sign up for the reparation scheme or the ones who had to be dragged kicking and screaming to the negotiating table, denying justice, denying process, denying everything and causing more misery along the way—adding the misery of today to the horrors endured yesterday. To the children who were done wrong by, whatever your age today, I salute you. Your voices were heard by your parliament, and you have created change. I won't forget. We won't forget.

Keith Pitt (Hinkler, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to associate myself with the remarks of the member for Moreton and others. I wasn't scheduled to speak. The member for Moreton's wife, I've got to say, is all class and does a very difficult job in difficult circumstances. I was in the parliament when the apology was made, and I do want to acknowledge the work of Minister Ruston, particularly in dealing with those organisations that did not want to participate. I also want to acknowledge the contribution from the former member for Swan about himself and his sister. He was quite remarkable in his openness about what happened to them as a family. Quite simply, it is abhorrent and unacceptable, and I acknowledge the anniversary.

Debate adjourned.