Natasha Stott Despoja (SA, Australian Democrats) Share this | Hansard source

It is with great pride that I speak to and support the motion before us today and of course acknowledge on this day of history the traditional owners of this land. My colleagues and I support this motion in its entirety. As you would be aware, Mr Acting Deputy President Barnett, we did not support amendments because today is not a day for quibbling; today is not a day for political point-scoring. Today is an occasion that must not be marred.

I am so proud to stand in this chamber today, I support the eloquence of the words chosen by the Prime Minister and I support the way he spoke those words. It is a very rare occasion indeed when I can say that he spoke for me today. I do not know that I have often been able to say that of a Prime Minister in this place and I am only sad that I feel that I am leaving this place just as the government seems to be getting it right on these matters of history and of such great importance.

That is not to say that neither the Democrats nor I feel strongly about the issue of compensation. Of course we do. I feel it is quite right that these issues of compensation and an apology be dealt with separately. But, as a matter of principle and fairness, I cannot reconcile how any government can acknowledge the error of the policies—that is, of the stolen generation and the pain and suffering that these policies have inflicted—yet rule out any form of reparation. So, yes, that debate will come, but today is an important day for an apology just as yesterday’s welcome to country ceremony was a remarkable and historic event.

I found it a wonderfully moving ceremony yesterday. It felt like we were moving as a country in the right direction. The Prime Minister was talking about carpe diem. Today it is about ex unitate vires—a time to be united as a parliament and hopefully united as a people in moving ahead and healing wounds. It is an honour to speak as a South Australian representing, of course, the South Australian descendants of those who have walked this land for many thousands of generations before us, members of an ancient and proud culture, unique in its longevity and its character. Of course, many people would be aware of the many different Indigenous Australians who are represented in South Australia, my home state.

But it is one generation in particular to whom today I direct my thoughts, my sorrow, my empathy and my words. It is to a generation who suffered unspeakable wrong, a generation who were torn from that which they held most dear and thus were doomed to confront a life without the healing and guiding that a family love can provide.

As a senator for the state of South Australia, I echo and endorse the words of the motion without detraction: I am sorry. I am sorry that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were removed from their families, their cultures and their clans. I am sorry for the suffering and the hurt of those stolen generations, their descendants and their families left behind. I am sorry for the pain, sorrow and degradation that were inflicted on these generations and their families by successive government policies. I am sorry this pain was inflicted by policies determined by former members of governments that we now represent.

To those who have campaigned relentlessly for many years, for decades, to reach this moment I offer my congratulations, my solidarity and my admiration. I know many thought that this day would never come and may well it not have but for the tireless efforts of many individuals and organisations. Reconciliation Australia is one example. Then there is the Sorry Day Committee and, of course, so many individual Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, who have worked so hard. I wear a scarf today given to me by Lowitja O’Donoghue many years ago as we debated this issue and worked together on it. I think there are many, many people who are enjoying this particular occasion and who feel that their efforts have not been totally in vain.

I offer my encouragement for, although the magnitude of this occasion cannot be understated, as is made clear by the words of this apology, it is but a first step towards a shared future built on mutual recognition and empowerment. Of course, there remains much work to be done, as has been acknowledged by all in this place. It is true that the divide between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians represents a blight on this nation still. Indigenous Australians live 17 years fewer, are 17.5 times more likely to be in jail, and are three to four times more likely to fail basic numeracy and literacy tests than non-Indigenous Australians. But much has been made of the symbolism of this act in the face of such figures. And symbolism is important; it does matter. As Reconciliation Australia has said: ‘The divide between so-called symbolic and practical aspects of reconciliation is a false and dangerous construction,’ and one which fails to recognise that the apology is ‘fundamentally about building mutually respectful relationships as the foundation for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians moving forward together—acknowledging our shared history and looking to a shared future’.

I do congratulate this government on the initiative it has shown and for imbuing this apology with the priority that it deserves by making it one of the foremost acts of the 42nd Parliament. This should not be, and I do not believe it has been, about blame. I think this has always been about healing and about moving forward—hence the Democrats’ strong belief, as indeed the Bringing them home report acknowledges, that compensation and reparation are an important part of that. It is about ensuring that we acknowledge that pain and suffering. It does not do justice to the Bringing them home report and it does not bring an end to this unfinished business if we just have the apology. But, for today, it is a fundamental and important first step.

I urge the government and my opposition colleagues, those of us on the crossbench and all elected members in this place—especially the new ones, through whom I think some of us will live vicariously over the coming years—to seize this cooperative spirit and to use the spirit of this movement to move forward hopefully. Often in circumstances such as these the collective goodwill of the movement can be lost in semantics and cynicism. I hope not. Let us declare here and now that such a fate will not befall this parliament and that the generations of the future will look back on this moment as the birth of a united and mature nation that has been big enough to recognise the mistakes of the past while simultaneously moving forward to a better future. I wholeheartedly support the motion and I commend my Senate colleagues to do likewise.