Pay compensation, Australia
Debate continues as to whether a national apology to the Stolen Generations will expose the government to compensation claims by survivors. Or whether wording the apology in a certain way can limit that exposure (as the government claims). Surely, this is to miss the point. If compensation is owed, it should be paid. Justice demands it. Australians should not be seeking to weasel out of it.
Even then, compensation is not enough. Harm was done to more than individuals, and reparations ought to be made to communities traumatised, repair made to cultures oppressed. Redress for violations is itself a human right.
Let us not forget either, that stealing children was but one of the gross violations perpetrated against the first peoples of this land since white settlement. Most present-day Australians were not direct perpetrators, but many were bystanders and virtually all are beneficiaries of indigenous dispossession. Acknowledging and responding to these truths will be a longer, more complex journey for Australia.
But for the time being, let us join together in tomorrow’s apology. May we be moved to want to find the best means of fairly, efficiently and adequately compensating survivors and descendants of the Stolen Generations. And let’s get on with realising all human rights for indigenous Australians.
