PM
apologises over Stolen Generations document
The Prime Minister has issued
an apology to anyone offended by the Government's submission to a Senate inquiry
which asserted there was no generation of stolen Aboriginal
children.
John Howard says some reaction to the document, including by
those who were removed from their families, has been understandable while other
reaction has been despicable.
He says the Government submission was not
designed with "malign intent".
"Let me say very directly
to anybody in the Australian community, who was in any way offended by that
document, I am sorry about that because the document was not designed to offend
anybody," he said.
"The document was designed in good faith by
the Minister and those who assisted him in preparing it," Mr Howard
said.
The Aboriginal Affairs Minister, John Herron, mirrored Mr Howard's
apology.
"I understand the feelings of the people in the gallery and
to anyone else that may be offended by the statement that I put to the
constitutional and legal affairs committee. It was not my intent to do
so."
Earlier members of the Stolen Generations had disrupted
question time in the Senate.
Several women watching proceedings in the
gallery began shouting at Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Herron as he was
answering a question about the term Stolen Generations.
Security staff
moved towards the women as the Speaker called for order, but did not remove them
from the chamber.
Plea
Earlier in the day members of
the Stolen Generations gathered outside Parliament House in Canberra to deliver
an impassioned plea for recognition by the Federal Government.
The
Aboriginal people say reconciliation cannot proceed until they receive an
apology.
Around 80 people gathered in Canberra to express their anger at
the Government's submission to a Senate inquiry, which denied there had been a
generation of stolen children.
"To me reconciliation has gone back
20 years. Why have they done this to us, we haven't done them any wrong? We grew
up, didn't even know who our families were," said one
protester.
Democrats Senator Aden Ridgeway and Opposition leader Kim
Beazley offered their support.
"You are the Stolen Generations and
this is about your story and no one should take that away," Senator
Ridgeway said.
"We're here dealing with some of the most damaged,
traumatised people in Australian society," said Mr
Beazley.
Reparation
Members of the Stolen Generations
have accused the Federal Government of setting up its $63 million reparation
program to fail.
Revelations that most the money is still unspent have
caused bitter recriminations.
Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Herron has
accused the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) - the peak
Indigenous organisation - of delays in spending the money set aside for the
Stolen Generations.
ATSIC received $11 million for family reunions,
although the largest share, worth $39 million, went to the Federal Health
Department for mental health services.
But Maurie Ryan from the Northern
Territory Stolen Generations Corporation says it is hard to find any services on
the ground.
He says part of the problem has been the lack of a proper
monitoring system, for which he blames the Federal Government.
© 2000 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
