Aboriginal+History+A+step+forward+to+bring+our+country+together

=A step forward to bringing our country together =

A step forward to bringing our country together can start with a simple apology, it was thanks to the Bringing Them Home report that there were changes made to the way we view the removal of children. In 1997, the premiers of the states of Australia each came forward to officially apologise to the Stolen Generations. “They can’t give me back my mother, my lost childhood...but when Bob Carr gave his apology it was a removal of all my mother’s guilt, the secret she bore alone...his apology set her free.” Aunty Nancy de Vries, Bringing Them Home report. On the 26th of May, history was made with the first official Sorry Day. In November 2001, Pope John Paul II issues a formal apology to the Stolen Generations on behalf of the Vatican.

Another major movement forward in history was when the first member of the Stolen Generations was awarded compensation. Some may ask why, but the answer is clear. It was when the Aborigines came just that bit closer to being equals. Valerie Linow suffered from sexual assaults and violence when she was only 16 and working as a servant. She received $35,000 compensation, but what mattered most was what she stated: “It’s not the money that’s important to me. It is the knowledge and recognition that this has happened to Aboriginal people. No one could pay any amount for what happened to us because we lost a lot.”

Now, in 2010, the first aboriginal member of parliament has been voted in. Although the rights of Aboriginal and Indigenous people are still not equal to the majority of the population, we have already come a long way. If we could continue to improve the way we act, think and speak to each other, a lot could be gained. Maybe one day the Aborigines will have equal rights to every other Australian; that’s the way Australia should have been and what it should be like.

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