Mr BURKE - 2001-10-24
Chief Minister, you owe it to the special people who will gather in the galleries today to explain what happened yesterday. Why were you adamant your original motion, without any mention of an apology or the word ‘sorry’, was good enough right up until 6pm? Why did you tell the media - and I seek leave to table the article from The Australian today - that an apology was not necessary, and I quote the article:
Ms Martin said she didn’t have to apologise because there was not a Territory parliament during the time when the
Aboriginals Ordinance allowed the removal of mixed raced children from their families.
Leave granted.
ANSWER
I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. Madam Speaker, I have made it very clear all along that we will be offering our apologies in this House, from this new government, and I am very hopeful that we will be joined in a bipartisan way by all members in this parliament.
My government is a government that listens. When we put the initial motion …
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: I think coming from a government that did not listen, that is most inappropriate.
My government is a government that listens. When we put the initial motion on notice yesterday, we provided an opportunity for Territorians to express their views on the motion. We drafted that motion in good faith, and with the advice of caucus members whose family members are members of the Stolen Generation.
We felt the initial form of the words captured the spirit and intent of an apology, and many members of the Stolen Generation concurred. What we did was, we listened through the day and we decided, towards the end of the day, that we needed to change eight words in that motion. We needed to make our intention more clear. It had to be clearly spelt out in that motion, and we clearly put the word apology in. I make no apologies about that, we clearly put the word apology in. We listened to the feedback and we responded. That is the reason why we were voted in as a government, because our style of government is inclusive, and this new Labor government’s style of government is responsive.
Our motion significantly calls on the Commonwealth government to make a specific and formal apology to the Stolen Generation. Our motion - the one we will have debated in here in one hour’s time - acknowledges the belief of Aboriginal people that removal of children represented the implementation of a government policy of assimilation, without regard to individual welfare circumstances. This motion is about acknowledging our shared humanity, it is about empathy and it is about sympathy. It is a motion designed - and I hope this House shares this view - to bring Territorians together.
The matter of the Stolen Generation is a complex and disturbing history of colonial intervention in indigenous family arrangements and practices. I very firmly believe it is a matter that the opposition in this House should not politicise, and that this opposition should find it in their collective or individual hearts, to join us in this motion and say they are also sorry about what happened.
This is an issue that calls for leadership, and my government is demonstrating not only our leadership on this issue, but our ability to listen and to learn. We believe that today is an historic day for the Territory and in this parliament. If the opposition does not support us in this motion, it will be a very sad day for the Territory.
Mr Burke: How can you support a sham?
Ms MARTIN: If the opposition does not support this motion, it will be a very sad day for the Territory, and it will expose the Leader of the Opposition’s question just now as very, very cynical.
The opposition should vote for this motion because it will help redress the wrongs that were perpetrated against many Territorians. They should vote for this motion because apologising for what happened to those children and their families is the right thing to do. They should vote for this motion because then, and only then, will they really demonstrate, along with this side of the House, true leadership for the Territory.
Ms Martin said she didn’t have to apologise because there was not a Territory parliament during the time when the
Aboriginals Ordinance allowed the removal of mixed raced children from their families.
Leave granted.
ANSWER
I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. Madam Speaker, I have made it very clear all along that we will be offering our apologies in this House, from this new government, and I am very hopeful that we will be joined in a bipartisan way by all members in this parliament.
My government is a government that listens. When we put the initial motion …
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: I think coming from a government that did not listen, that is most inappropriate.
My government is a government that listens. When we put the initial motion on notice yesterday, we provided an opportunity for Territorians to express their views on the motion. We drafted that motion in good faith, and with the advice of caucus members whose family members are members of the Stolen Generation.
We felt the initial form of the words captured the spirit and intent of an apology, and many members of the Stolen Generation concurred. What we did was, we listened through the day and we decided, towards the end of the day, that we needed to change eight words in that motion. We needed to make our intention more clear. It had to be clearly spelt out in that motion, and we clearly put the word apology in. I make no apologies about that, we clearly put the word apology in. We listened to the feedback and we responded. That is the reason why we were voted in as a government, because our style of government is inclusive, and this new Labor government’s style of government is responsive.
Our motion significantly calls on the Commonwealth government to make a specific and formal apology to the Stolen Generation. Our motion - the one we will have debated in here in one hour’s time - acknowledges the belief of Aboriginal people that removal of children represented the implementation of a government policy of assimilation, without regard to individual welfare circumstances. This motion is about acknowledging our shared humanity, it is about empathy and it is about sympathy. It is a motion designed - and I hope this House shares this view - to bring Territorians together.
The matter of the Stolen Generation is a complex and disturbing history of colonial intervention in indigenous family arrangements and practices. I very firmly believe it is a matter that the opposition in this House should not politicise, and that this opposition should find it in their collective or individual hearts, to join us in this motion and say they are also sorry about what happened.
This is an issue that calls for leadership, and my government is demonstrating not only our leadership on this issue, but our ability to listen and to learn. We believe that today is an historic day for the Territory and in this parliament. If the opposition does not support us in this motion, it will be a very sad day for the Territory.
Mr Burke: How can you support a sham?
Ms MARTIN: If the opposition does not support this motion, it will be a very sad day for the Territory, and it will expose the Leader of the Opposition’s question just now as very, very cynical.
The opposition should vote for this motion because it will help redress the wrongs that were perpetrated against many Territorians. They should vote for this motion because apologising for what happened to those children and their families is the right thing to do. They should vote for this motion because then, and only then, will they really demonstrate, along with this side of the House, true leadership for the Territory.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016