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Release on the Aborigines of Australia.
BBC NEWS
Australia
Apology to Aborigines
Kevin
Rudd's apology represents a break from previous policies |
The
Australian government has made a formal apology for the past wrongs caused by
successive governments on the indigenous Aboriginal population.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologised in parliament to all Aborigines for laws and policies that "inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss".
He singled out the "Stolen Generations" of thousands of children forcibly removed from their families.
The apology, beamed live around the country on TV, was met with cheers.
But some Aborigines say it should have been accompanied with compensation for their suffering.
'Indignity and degradation'
In a motion passed unanimously by Australian MPs on Wednesday morning, Mr Rudd acknowledged the "past mistreatment" of all of his country's Aboriginal population.
For
the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud
culture, we say sorry |
"We apologise for the laws and policies of successive parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians," the motion said.
Mr Rudd said he apologised "especially" to the Stolen Generations of young Aboriginal children who were taken from their parents in a policy of assimilation which lasted from the 19th Century to the late 1960s.
"For the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry."
Australia has no Aboriginal members in parliament, but 100 leaders of the community and members of the Stolen Generations were present for the historic apology.
The leader of the Liberal opposition, Brendan Nelson, said he "strongly" welcomed the apology.
He decided to take a different position on the issue than his predecessor, former Prime Minister John Howard, who refused for over a decade to apologise to the Stolen Generations - a stance supported, polls suggest, by about 30% of Australians.
Mixed response
The government hopes the apology will repair the breach between white and black Australia and usher in a new era of recognition and reconciliation.
The parliamentary session was shown live on television as well as on public screens erected in cities across the country.
Mr Rudd received a standing ovation from MPs and onlookers in parliament, and cheers from the thousands of Australians watching outside.
Michael
Mansell, a spokesman for the rights group the National Aboriginal Alliance,
said the word "sorry" was one that "Stolen Generation members
will be very relieved is finally being used", reported Associated Press
news agency.
But the refusal to accompany the apology with any compensation has angered many Aboriginal leaders, who have called it a "cut-price sorry".
"Blackfellas will get the words, the whitefellas keep the money," summed up Noel Pearson, a respected Aboriginal leader, in The Australian newspaper.
Mr Rudd has also outlined a new agenda on Aboriginal issues, including a commitment to close the 17-year life expectancy gap between Aborigines and other Australians within a generation, was well as halving Aboriginal infant mortality rates within a decade.
Australia's 460,000 Aborigines make up 2% of the population and are the most disadvantaged group.
They have higher rates of infant mortality, drug abuse, alcoholism and unemployment than the rest of the population.
_______________________________________________________________
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=33317
AUSTRALIA: Ignoring Abuse of Aboriginal Women, Children
By Neena Bhandari
SYDNEY, May 22 (IPS) - Revelations of horrific levels of sexual
abuse and violence suffered by women and children in Australia's aboriginal
communities have surfaced, even as the fifth session of the United Nations
Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) is underway in New York.
A leaked confidential briefing paper by Nanette Rogers,
government prosecutor in the Northern Territory, exposes how indigenous culture
and close-knit kinship ties have helped create a blanket of silence over
rampant violence against women and children.
But activists and people in authority are also blaming
government inaction and neglect for a tragedy that has its roots in racist
subjugation by European colonisers. Disruptive policies have included forcible
separation of tens of thousands of children from their families between 1900
and 1970 to 'breed out' aborigine blood.
An extreme case of abuse recorded by Rogers was that of a
six-year-old girl getting drowned while being raped by an 18-year-old male who
had been sniffing petrol. Another was that of two infants requiring surgery
after being sexually assaulted by men while the mothers were away drinking
alcohol.
Indigenous people make up barely two percent of Australia's
population of 20 million but they suffer far higher rates of alcoholism,
unemployment, imprisonment and domestic abuse.
The aborigines and Torres Strait islanders of Australia are
among the most marginalised populations in the developed world. Homicide is the
leading cause of premature death for indigenous women and they are 45 times
more likely to be victims of domestic violence than other Australians.
However, many of these crimes go unreported as victims are
afraid to speak out or give evidence for fear of reprisals, harassment and
intimidation from within their own communities.
Rogers, who has experience working as a defence attorney in
a 15-year legal career, says in her report, entitled 'Child Sexual Assault and
Some Cultural Issues in the Northern Territory', that aboriginal people in
central Australia must take more responsibility for reporting crime but also
following through and giving correct evidence in court.
She notes that in the case of the six-year-old victim there
was a committal hearing before a magistrate and the children who were playing
with the girl gave graphic evidence. But the case, like others, was soon
overtaken by fresh tragedies -- suicides, fatal accidents and other premature
deaths.
Rogers points out that children who grow up witnessing
violence, or being victims themselves, become brutalised and go on to commit
acts of violence as adults.
She cites a particularly dreadful case on an outstation
where a man raped his own young daughter while threatening his wife and other
children with a knife. Later, it was discovered that she was pregnant by her
father.
Indigenous women and girls are 28 times more likely than
other Australian females to be admitted to hospital for assault injuries,
according to a 2003 report compiled by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and
the Australian Institute for Health and Welfare.
Boys fare no better. Last week, researchers from the
Queensland University of Technology revealed that aboriginal boys were ten
times more likely to be raped than other Australian males.
In the last 12 months, in Alice Springs in the Northern
Territory, there have been several cases of young women in their late teens
stabbing their boyfriends, with fatal consequences.
Australian Labour Party national president Warren Mundine
has said that by turning a blind eye to violence authorities are making the
problem endemic. He was quoted saying: ''The police don't want to get involved
because it looks like they're just picking on black fellas. Governments are
scared because they don't want to be labelled racist.''
Violence is so entrenched in some communities that they are
simply labelled 'dysfunctional' communities or 'outback ghettos'. Rogers blames
indigenous culture for the problems, where men often feel they can disregard
the law and act with impunity.
But aboriginal and Torres Strait islander social justice
commissioner Tom Calma says governments need to work with communities and
families to address socio-economic factors that impact on violence. These could
be improved housing and living conditions, creation of meaningful employment,
recreation facilities and general community health education programmes.
Oxfam, the aid agency, predicts that widespread abuse in
indigenous communities will continue unless government acts. James Ensor,
acting executive director of Oxfam Australia, said: ‘'Chronic under-funding of
basic services, ordinary Australians take for granted, have contributed to this
crisis.''
In the 2006-2007 federal budget only about 90 million US
dollars has been allocated for indigenous health even as the Australian Medical
Association identified a 345 million dollar annual shortfall in indigenous
primary health care spending.
''Top down and Canberra-determined policies have not and
will not work,'' Ensor said, adding that indigenous leaders needed to be at the
centre of decision-making at all levels.
While Australia's minister for indigenous affairs Mal Brough
wants to call an emergency summit of state and territory leaders to discuss the
issue, Northern Territory chief minister Clare Martin says a national summit
will achieve little as aboriginal people are demanding action.
After indicating that the federal government was prepared to
intervene to remove children from abusive situations and to force parents with
drug and alcohol problems to seek treatment, Brough has ignited fresh debate
about the 'stolen generations'.
At the two-week session of the UNPFII, that ends on May 26,
representatives of 370 million indigenous people from 70 countries, are
campaigning for full participation in decisions that affect them, among other
pressing issues. (END/2006)
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