Today marks 17 years since Kevin Rudd apologised to members of the Stolen Generations for discriminatory policies that forcibly removed thousands of first nations children from their families. To mark the anniversary, events have been taking place in Canberra. Indigenous affairs reporter, Tahnee Jash has more.
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00:00There's been mixed emotions from stolen generation survivors as to what the national apology
00:08means to them.
00:09Now, we're marking 17 years since former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologised on behalf of
00:15the nation for harmful and discriminatory policies that tore Aboriginal children from
00:20their parents, some returning home never to see them again.
00:24One of those people was Aunty Leonie Ebbsworth, who was taken at the tender age of two years
00:29old and sent 600 kilometres away to Kootamundra Girls' Home, where she remained in the institution
00:35until 16 years old.
00:38Now when she returned home to Bourke, she found out that her mother had passed away.
00:43Now many survivors are reflecting on the anniversary today and some are saying that they're starting
00:48to lose hope.
00:49Uncle Michael Whitty Welsh, who is a survivor of the Kinchella Boys' Home, remembers the
00:55apology and the landmark inquiry that investigated the forced removal of Aboriginal and Torres
01:01Strait Islander children and said he had a lot of hope at that moment, but as he starts
01:06to age, he said he's slowly starting to lose that hope.
01:09And we know from reports that stolen generation survivors are dying at a rapid rate, so they're
01:14really calling on the government to help them rebuild their family structures and help them
01:19and their families to heal.
01:21Now the Prime Minister spoke in the Great Hall in Parliament House behind me and he
01:25addressed a crowd of around more than 400 people.
01:29There were survivors, politicians, advocates and corporates that have really come together
01:35to reflect on what this day means.
01:38And he opened up the event by saying that it's the greatest honour to attend the National
01:46Apology as the Prime Minister over the last couple of years.
01:49And he also marked another significant anniversary that happened this week, which was the 60th
01:55anniversary of the Freedom Rides led by Charles Perkins.
01:59And that was a tour around regional New South Wales that really tried to highlight the racism
02:05and segregation that First Nations people were experiencing at the time.
02:10And he likened the pushback and the opposition that the Freedom Riders faced to the pushback
02:15and the opposition that Kevin Rudd faced when he put forward the idea to apologise to stolen
02:21generation survivors, but said it was a really big turning moment in Australia's history
02:27and unified the nation.
02:29Let's take a quick listen to what he had to say.
02:31It was Kevin Rudd who had the courage and the conviction to utter the words that we
02:42were told for so many years beforehand would be divisive.
02:50At that moment, the nation said sorry.
02:56So while it's offered healing for some, many are looking for practical change within their lifetime.