Published on: June 2022
Record: HANSARD-1323879322-125346
Stolen Generations Reparation
Ms FELICITY WILSON (North Shore) (15:09:54):
My question is addressed to the Premier. Will the Premier update the House on what the Government is doing to continue to work towards reconciliation?
Mr DOMINIC PERROTTET (EppingPremier) (15:10:03):
— I thank the member for North Shore for her question. Like the Speaker, I congratulate her on her fortieth birthday and wish her a happy birthday.
Mr Alister Henskens:
It's the new thirty.
Mr DOMINIC PERROTTET:
It is the new thirty. As we know, today marks 25 years since this Parliament issued an apology to the Stolen Generation. It was an important step for this Parliament to show its enduring sorrow for the hurt, harm and trauma inflicted on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families by past government policies of forced removal. A public acknowledgement and apology on behalf of the State of New South Wales is a significant act of respect. I acknowledge the leadership of the New South Wales Premier at the time, Bob Carr, in offering the moving apology on behalf of this Parliament. As the Leader of the Opposition did today, as Premier on behalf of the State of New South Wales I too apologise unreservedly to the Aboriginal people of Australia for the systemic separation of generations of Aboriginal children from their parents, families and communities.
When I became Premier, one of my core priorities was to focus the entirety of government on improving outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. I have asked every Minister in this Government to make closing the gap real. We are delivering on commitments in response to the 2016 Unfinished Business report into reparations for the Stolen Generations in New South Wales. In 2017 New South Wales was the first State to establish a reparations scheme for Stolen Generation survivors. The Stolen Generations Funeral Assistance Fund was established in the same year. The budget will also include funding for an extension of the Stolen Generations Reparations Scheme.
In 2018 the Stolen Generations Healing Fund commenced, supporting collective healing initiatives, including healing centres and memorials. The budget includes funding to continue the important work of establishing memorials and keeping places on the sites of former children's homes. We have also delivered funding to improve access to archival records for Stolen Generation survivors and their descendants. Our Government continues to develop and implement a range of new initiatives and investments. We are investing $23 million in the First Steps strategy, which aims to ensure that more Aboriginal children benefit from early childhood education and includes a focus on Aboriginal language education.
Extension of time
We have moved to fly the Aboriginal flag on the Sydney Harbour Bridge permanently. We are creating a First Nations cultural centre. We are also handing back Me‑Mel and have allocated $43 million in this budget to support that transfer. I thank the infrastructure Minister for the work that he has done in relation to that initiative. We are implementing the National Agreement on Closing the Gap in close partnership with Aboriginal communities. Those symbols represent real action. They have one thing in common: They were not devised by Government and they are survivor‑led. []
There is much more to be done to reconcile with Stolen Generations survivors and their families. We are committed to seeing that through. I thank former Premier Bob Carr and former Opposition leader Peter Collins for their leadership on this issue 25 years ago—well before any other jurisdiction. As a Parliament, we should be incredibly proud of that. We had many survivors here today. Uncle Michael spoke about his own traumatic past and experience. The speakers acknowledged how important the apology 25 years ago was for them and their communities in their healing and dealing with the immense trauma that many have felt. We cannot undo the past; what we can do, as a Parliament, is continue to work together across the political aisle to ensure that situation never occurs again and the trauma that has been suffered by many of our First Nations people was not in vain but, importantly, takes us step by step forward to reconciliation across our country.