Page 3074 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 14 August 2012
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On behalf of the Canberra Liberals, I do acknowledge this and I will not equivocate. What happened is morally, ethically and legally wrong now and it was morally, ethically and legally wrong then.
I also acknowledge the requirement, also noted at some length in the report, that to be genuinely effective an apology must be widely spoken and it must be widely heard. That is why moments such as this morning, where all parties from across the political spectrum, can and do come together to speak one truth about one message. We are sorry.
The National Council of Single Mothers and their Children also said:
A further outcome of the national inquiry should include greater public awareness and an opportunity for women to finally have their voice heard by the government and their experience publicly validated.
I genuinely hope that this motion today provides some part of that validation.
I also recognise other key recommendations of the committee and we add our voices to those who have spoken on this matter before and will do so still. When they do, I trust they too identify the other key wrongs mentioned in the report—that vulnerable mothers were not given the care and respect they needed during this difficult period of their lives, that mothers were poorly advised, that they were stigmatised by professionals and institutions and that organisations and their staff in positions of authority stood in judgement of these women instead of respecting them.
Lastly, the report indicates that it is vital to provide better support for those who have suffered and take solid steps to make sure we never repeat the mistakes of the past. Part of that process is providing more support to those individually affected, and the Canberra Liberals will support steps to provide that support in the future.
Mr Speaker, while no apology is ever enough, it is right and just that victims of forced adoptions are recognised and that we as a community say sorry. We do so today, freely and fully. We are sorry.
MS HUNTER (Ginninderra—Parliamentary Leader, ACT Greens) (10.23): The ACT Greens welcome and support the motion moved by the Chief Minister this morning. Almost two years ago when the Assembly resolved that following the federal inquiry we would apologise for these wrongs, I told the story of Phyllis from Western Australia whose baby was forcibly removed. Since then I have often thought about her and the trauma she experienced. I have carried the haunting image of her being told that she would only have 30 minutes with her baby because a nurse was prepared to “break the rules”, and of her promising to her three-day-old baby boy that she would one day hold him again.
Since then the Senate inquiry has taken place and there are now hundreds of similar stories available to read on the committee website. I have read some, but I have to admit that there came a point where I just could not read any more. The sheer weight
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