A truly great day
Our Prime Minister said:
I move:
That today we honour the indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.
We reflect on their past mistreatment.
We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were stolen generations - this blemished chapter in our nation's history.
The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia's history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.
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.
We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.
For the pain, suffering and hurt of these stolen generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.
To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.
And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.
We the Parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation.
For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written.
We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.
A future where this parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.
A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, indigenous and non-indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity.
A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed.
A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia.
I just watched the full speech and I am too wrecked to do anything but sit in awe and let the tears of pride flow freely.
The night that Anna Bligh stood before a jubilant crowd in Brisbane and introduced "the Prime Minister of Australia... Kevin Rudd, I felt hope for the future of our country for the first time in many years. Like everyone, I hoped our new leader could live up to the weight of our hopes, our dreams, our dearest wishes and our highest of expectations.
A few short months later, on the first day of this new Parliament, my expectations have been exceeded in ways I never though possible. I have never, never been so proud of our country as I am now.
To all my indigenous brothers and sisters, I proudly join our Prime Minister in saying just how sorry I am. And to anyone who ever reads this, I say let us always keep the faith, for this, more than anything that has come before, was a great victory for the true believers.
I move:
That today we honour the indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.
We reflect on their past mistreatment.
We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were stolen generations - this blemished chapter in our nation's history.
The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia's history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.
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.
We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.
For the pain, suffering and hurt of these stolen generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.
To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.
And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.
We the Parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation.
For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written.
We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.
A future where this parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.
A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, indigenous and non-indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity.
A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed.
A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia.
I just watched the full speech and I am too wrecked to do anything but sit in awe and let the tears of pride flow freely.
The night that Anna Bligh stood before a jubilant crowd in Brisbane and introduced "the Prime Minister of Australia... Kevin Rudd, I felt hope for the future of our country for the first time in many years. Like everyone, I hoped our new leader could live up to the weight of our hopes, our dreams, our dearest wishes and our highest of expectations.
A few short months later, on the first day of this new Parliament, my expectations have been exceeded in ways I never though possible. I have never, never been so proud of our country as I am now.
To all my indigenous brothers and sisters, I proudly join our Prime Minister in saying just how sorry I am. And to anyone who ever reads this, I say let us always keep the faith, for this, more than anything that has come before, was a great victory for the true believers.
posted by I'm not Craig at 8:48 PM
11 Comments:
it was a beautiful thing wasn't it? I cried during the telecast, and I cried both times I read the transcript. I'm now dehydrated but happy.
And that's despite Brendan Nelson's efforts.
cried and cried, had to leave room so Grizzlewick wouldn't see me getting upset.
On another matter, did you SEE Gerard Henderson? And how he banged on about the fact that the apology didn't mention genocide or murder and what a vast "improvement" on the Redfern speech that made it?
Femikneesm - I think that's possibly generous.
Some true believers give the rest a bad name.
The Age:
Lachlan Harris, press secretary, and Tim Gleason, media adviser, were forced to make written apologies to Dr Nelson.
The two were among those watching the Coalition leader's speech on a screen in the Great Hall of Parliament House when they joined the crowd in turning around. Mr Harris was also seen slow clapping with the crowd.
Their actions flouted the Prime Minister's bipartisan theme for the day, and an angry Mr Rudd later told Parliament that both men had been counselled. "The two individuals … will be corresponding with the Leader of the Opposition to extend an appropriate apology," he said.
Anonymous, I agree that their actions were foolish, if only because it caused unnecessary distraction. But hearing Nelson bang on about there being "no place for such extreme rudeness from professional Australians" did make me wonder if Mr Tuckey will be spending any time on the Liberal party naughty step, or were his comments, and subsequent walk out OK with Liberal etiquette?
it was a great series of moments through the day. cried during the original telecast. cried again that night watching our taped version with princess. cried over several articles in the age yesterday. and teared up again today over the age.
i can only imagine how cleansing it must feel to aboriginal people who are directly affected.
Anon,
I'm not excusing their behaviour.
But I do think it wryly amusing that they only had to be asked ONCE to offer an apology.
Just sayin'.
Miz
What femik & giggles said
Anon
I think that may be my first anonymous negative comment on this blog ever. Somewhat tragic that it was in response to my support for the best thing our Parliament has done in my lifetime.
Also, what giggles and miz said.
MG
I couldn't imagine just how cleansing this would be for those directly affected but I hope it was awesome.
nothing against you mate, just that the behaviour of these two and the others on the liberal side just shows that some people are bad winners and some are bad losers. It irks me a plenty.
- charlie.
It is a proud day for your country. But I suppose his next step needs to be to change the bizarre questions in the Australian immigration test
Anon Charlie
Thanks for the clarification, mate, but can;t we focus on the big picture here?
Also, I've read Nelson's speech in full and the only think that stopped me turning my back on the computer was the obvious risk of neck injury if I then wanted to read the rest.
Emma
Always lovely to see you. Thanks for providing that link, as now I know that our national flower is a wattle or something. This is news to me.
I'm lucky that they didn't have that test when I moved here, I'm certain that I would have failed it (in fairness, I was only four years old).
If you're thinking of moving here, I will lobby for the test to be changed and also send you a complete history of cricket immediately.
It was a fabulous day and a fabulous speech. I was very proud of my government. A pride and hope that I hadn't felt since Keating's Redfern speech.
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