Eurekastreet/UCA - Rudd’s Apology

Rudd faces ugly story of abused innocence

John Honner - nov 17 - Eurekastret

“At 11.00am yesterday, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, on behalf of the Commonwealth of Australia, formally apologised to generations of Australians who were subjected to harm in children’s homes through the twentieth century. ……

…Kevin Rudd said ‘great evil has been done, therefore hard things must be said’. He drew prolonged (and unselfish) applause when he declared that such systematic abuse should never happen again. He hoped that the apology would become a turning point, and he promised several steps to assist a healing process: ….

……Perhaps. We may still have a long way to go to protect the ever-expanding generation of children and young people in the care of the state today, particularly in helping them find a sense of identity and belonging. Christian communities are in a particularly critical position. Past failures in church-run homes have had far-reaching consequences. On the one hand, the government has now become a fastidious regulator of care, and principles of social work set the parameters for the provision of care. On the other hand, the self-sacrificing love that once inspired members of religious communities to welcome ‘the orphan and the widow’ appears now either to have burnt itself out or to be seeking new directions.”

Read it in full here

Great to see another apology from our government but it is hard seeing the church as part of the abuse again. And yes I know the UCA apologies years back and works to change stuff  (see below)  I think John Honner has raised an interesting question for Christians and people of good will “Will we welcome the orphan and the widow?

Personally, I can’t understand how and why compassion becomes abuse?

UCA Press Release on Apology

The Uniting Church in Australia has today welcomed the Federal Government’s formal apology to the Forgotten Australians.

President of the Uniting Church, Rev Alistair Macrae, said that the church had also acknowledged and apologised for its role in any harmful institutional care practices.

“Following the 2004 Forgotten Australians report, the Uniting Church apologised for any physical, psychological or social harm that may have occurred to individuals in the care of institutions of the Uniting Church and its predecessor churches,” Mr Macrae said.

“We congratulate the Australian Government on taking this step today.

“Symbolic gestures such as an apology can ease the hurt experienced and recognise the impact of the neglect and abuse suffered at the hands of caregivers.”

National Director of UnitingCare Australia, Lin Hatfield Dodds, said that the apology must now be supported by action.

“We urge all governments to take the next step of implementing constructive measures to continue the healing process begun today by this apology,” Ms Hatfield Dodds said.

“The Uniting Church, through UnitingCare, is committed to ensuring that children and families receive the best facilities and care possible and we are constantly working to improve them.

“Today’s apology is a reminder that we need to work together to ensure the mistakes of the past are never repeated.”

UnitingCare Australia is an agency of the Uniting Church in Australia. It represents the Uniting Church’s network of community service providers, of which there are over 1300 service delivery sites nationwide.

Rev Macrae and Ms Hatfield Dodds are available for comment. Phone 9251 5222

Lest we forget a cruel act of dispossession

Peter Lewis (many of us know through AboutFace and other places) and Richard Franklin have a remembering article in the Age about the Aborigines Protection Act 1869

It is an odd coincidence of history that the 11th day of the 11th month is a day of several anniversaries of great significance for Australian identity. The first anniversary that comes to mind is Armistice Day, marking the end of the First World War - a war where too many young Australian men met their deaths and the legend of the digger was born.

The next most remembered anniversary is the dismissal of the Whitlam government, which brought to an end a dramatic period of progressive government in Australia (if we ignore East Timor and the economy).

It is also the anniversary of the execution - in 1880 - of the legendary bushranger Ned Kelly. Kelly was either a villain or an imperfect embodiment of the Irish-Australian radical tradition, possibly both.

But an anniversary that has been forgotten is one that has even more relevance for understanding the ironies of Australian identity.

Eleven years before the hanging of Ned Kelly and 140 years ago this year, the Victorian colonial government passed an act ”To Provide for the Protection and Management of the Aboriginal Natives of Victoria”, more commonly known as the Aborigines Protection Act 1869.

This gave government control of where Aboriginal people could live, of how they would relate to Europeans, of their labour and earnings and of the ”care, custody and education” of all Aboriginal children.

It was this act that created the conditions for Aboriginal containment and assimilation, and its legal platform enabled policies that led to the stolen generations and stolen wages.

For us it raises an interesting question - why have we so rarely included this anniversary in our remembering?

keep reading here

Feature Clip - Radiohead MTVEXIT

MTV EXIT wins Asia-Pacific Child Rights Award 2009

HONG KONG, 4 November 2009 – MTV EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking) has won this year’s Asia-Pacific Child Rights Award for producing the music video for Radiohead’s “All I Need” Continue reading more …. http://www.unicef.org/media/media_51645.html