What did Kevin Rudd say in the sorry speech?

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.

Why did Rudd say sorry?

On 13 February 2008, then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd moved a motion of Apology to Indigenous Australians. His apology was a formal apology on behalf of the successive parliaments and governments whose policies and laws “inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians”.

What was the apology to the stolen generation?

On 13 February 2008 Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made a formal apology to Australia’s Indigenous peoples, particularly to the Stolen Generations whose lives had been blighted by past government policies of forced child removal and Indigenous assimilation.

Who said the sorry speech?

But on 13 February 2008, newly elected Prime Minister Kevin Rudd gave a formal apology to Indigenous Australians. His historic speech was televised before crowds who congregated at key sites around the nation.

Why did the stolen generation happen?

The forcible removal of First Nations children from their families was part of the policy of Assimilation, which was based on the misguided assumption that the lives of First Nations people would be improved if they became part of white society.

Who started the Stolen Generation?

The Stolen Generations refers to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were removed from their families between 1910 and 1970. This was done by Australian federal and state government agencies and church missions, through a policy of assimilation.

Why is sorry day on the 26th of May?

National Sorry Day has been held in Australia on May 26 since 1998 to remember and acknowledge the mistreatment of our country’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who were forcibly removed from their families and communities, those which we now know as ‘The Stolen Generations’.

Why is the apology significant in Australian history?

It is an important time to reflect on how generations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples have been affected, and will continue to be affected, by the past policies of the Australian Government and the ongoing impacts of this on the mental health and wellbeing of Indigenous Australians.

Who was involved in the Kevin Rudd apology?

On 13 February 2008, then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made a formal apology on behalf of the Australian Parliament to Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In particular to the Stolen Generations.

Why was the Stolen Generation significant?

The Stolen Generations have had devastating impacts for the people who were forcibly removed as children, their parents and families, and their descendants. All these groups of people experience high rates of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress and suicide, and poor health and socioeconomic outcomes.

Who ended the Stolen Generation?

The NSW Aborigines Protection Board loses its power to remove Indigenous children. The Board is renamed the Aborigines Welfare Board and is finally abolished in 1969. By 1969, all states have repealed the legislation allowing for the removal of Aboriginal children under the policy of ‘protection’.

How many children were Stolen Generations?

Estimates of numbers have been widely disputed. The Bringing Them Home report (produced by the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families in 1987), says that “at least 100,000” children were removed from their parents.