Thomson Reuters Foundation is a charity registered in England and Wales (registration number: 1082139). (Reporting by Jill Gralow in Sydney; Writing by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell and Clarence Fernandez). SYDNEY, Australia Prime Minister Kevin Rudd opened a new chapter in Australia’s tortured relations with its indigenous peoples on Wednesday with a … Under the heading Treatment of Indigenous People, the guide proposes: "In the 1940s and 1950s the Australian Government policy on Aboriginal people changed to one of assimilation.This meant that the Indigenous people were told to live as the non-Indigenous population lived. Protests in Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, Perth and other cities the previous day drew smaller crowds. 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July 5 (Reuters) - Thousands gathered in Sydney and other Australian cities over the weekend in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and an increased focus of the mistreatment of indigenous people. In some states it was part of a policy to “breed out the color,” in the words of Cecil Cook, who held the title of chief protector of Aborigines in the Northern Territory in the 1930s. “To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry. She said that it was not just the apology that was important: Mr. Rudd recounted stories of the victims, Ms. Parker noted, bringing the reality of the misdeeds to light and publicly confronting those who deny what happened. Aboriginal life expectancy is 17 years shorter than for other Australians, indigenous unemployment runs three times the rate of the country as a whole and the incidence of crime and alcoholism is significantly higher in indigenous communities. “I thought it was fantastic,” said Kirstie Parker, the managing editor of the influential Aboriginal newspaper The Koori Mail. Torsten Blackwood/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images. This unfair treatment includes assault, general mistreatment, disrespect and limitation of their rights and freedoms. Mr. Howard’s government had been criticized for an intervention in the Northern Territory that curtailed the rights of many indigenous communities, including quarantining half of welfare payments to ensure they were spent on food. But for Indigenous peoples, such commitments have been made for thirty plus years. “We apologize especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country,” Mr. Rudd said as hundreds of members of the Stolen Generations listened in the gallery, some with tears in their eyes. The Howard government had refused to apologize, partially because it did not feel responsible for the misdeeds of past administrations, but also because it feared that the move could lead to sizable compensation claims. Generally Indigenous Australians are characterized by two groupings: Indigenous, or Aboriginal, Australians who lived across the territory of what is today Australia. “The Parliament is today here assembled to deal with this unfinished business of the nation, to remove a great stain from the nation’s soul, and in a true spirit of reconciliation to open a new chapter in the history of this great land, Australia,” Mr. Rudd told Parliament. From women to migrants: What does a Biden win mean for Africa? Our global editorial team of about 55 journalists and more than 350 freelancers covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd pledged to Australian lawmakers on Wednesday “to remove a great stain from the nation’s soul” by addressing past mistreatment of Aborigines. Many indigenous Australians live on the margins of society. SYDNEY, Australia — Prime Minister Kevin Rudd opened a new chapter in Australia’s tortured relations with its indigenous peoples on Wednesday with a comprehensive and moving apology for past wrongs and a call for bipartisan action to improve the lives of Australia’s Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. A crowd outside Parliament listened to the apology read by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to the Aborgines of Australia. Mr. Rudd’s apology was particularly addressed to the so-called Stolen Generations, the tens of thousands of indigenous children who were removed, sometimes forcibly, from their families in a policy of assimilation that only ended in the 1970s. We shine a light on how land and property rights can empower communities worldwide. “There are many people who are saying that they must back this up with compensation,” Ms. Parker said. Indigenous people, for example, are continually blamed and subject to community anger for the lack of improvement in our social and economic conditions. The greater global awareness over the treatment of minorities as a result of Black Lives Matter comes as Australia holds an inquiry into mining giant Rio Tinto's destruction of two ancient and sacred Aboriginal caves. The headline of the Sunday Times, shortly after the the Roth Report was published, doesn't mince its words and openly calls out slavery. At the Sydney protest, masks and hand sanitiser were given out and organisers pleaded with people to maintain social distance. Mr. Nelson agreed. 1,” the first act of Mr. Rudd’s Labor government, which was sworn in Tuesday after a convincing electoral win over the 11-year administration of John Howard, who had for years refused to apologize for the misdeeds of past governments. “For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry. An ancient Aboriginal smoking ceremony took place, as the families of those who died in police custody circled it. Mr. Rudd suggested a “war cabinet” on indigenous policy led by himself and the opposition leader, Brendan Nelson of the Liberal Party. Copyright © 2020 Thomson Reuters Foundation. '180-degree turn': How Joe Biden could revamp U.S. climate policy, OPINION: It is time public development banks put their money where our future lies. The Torres Strait Islanders people who primarily lived in the Torres Strait Islands in between Australia and Papua New Guinea. A month since Australia's first such rallies, the crowds were smaller amid health warnings about the spread of the coronavirus, as infections grow in the state of Victoria, home to Melbourne, the second-largest city. Mr. Rudd recognized that the apology itself was symbolic, and he asked the opposition to move beyond partisan politics. And there are deep challenges. Last year, a court in South Australia awarded 525,000 Australian dollars to Bruce Trevorrow, who was taken from his mother when he was a baby, for unlawful treatment and false imprisonment. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Some Aborigines protested government policies in the capital, Canberra. REUTERS/Loren Elliott. The reality is that Indigenous people still suffer at the hands of such good will. This was “Government business, motion No. Mr. Rudd’s government has promised to review the intervention. Black Lives Matter protests focus on mistreatment of indigenous people. The latest government data shows Australia's indigenous people make up just over 3% of a population of about 25 million. But for some people, Mr. Rudd’s apology will not have gone far enough because he has ruled out setting up a government fund to compensate the victims of the policies that led to the Stolen Generations. The 4-minute apology, and the 20-minute speech that followed, received a standing ovation both inside the chamber and from the hundreds gathered on the grounds of Parliament House in the capital, Canberra. And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.”.

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