We apologise for the laws and policies of successive parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians. We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.
Interpretation
This quote expresses a formal apology for the historical injustices faced by Indigenous Australians, particularly focusing on the removal of children from their families.
Kevin Rudd's quote serves as a powerful acknowledgment of the immense pain and suffering caused by government policies that led to the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families. The apology highlights the need for recognition of past wrongs and the impact of these actions on communities, emphasizing a commitment to healing and reconciliation for a better future.
In practice
Opening a conference on reconciliation and acknowledgment of historical injustices.
As nations we should also commit afresh to righting past wrongs. In Australia we began this recently with the first Australians - the oldest continuing culture in human history. On behalf of the Australian Parliament, this year I offered an apology to indigenous Australians for the wrongs they had suffered in the past.
We are so fortunate, as Australians, to have among us the oldest continuing cultures in human history. Cultures that link our nation with deepest antiquity. We have Aboriginal rock art in the Kimberley that is as ancient as the great Palaeolithic cave paintings at Altamira and Lascaux in Europe.
Those who say they will forgive but can't forget, simply bury the hatchet but leave the handle out for immediate use.
But it will be said that the husband provides for the wife, or in other words, he feeds, clothes and shelters her! I wish I had the power to make every one before me fully realize the degradation contained in that idea.
Psychologists call this habituation, economists call it declining marginal utility, and the rest of us call it marriage.
Acquaintance. A person whom we know well enough to borrow from, but not well enough to lend to.
Having a loving relationship with our spouse or with our children is what leads to the long-term happiness we all seek.
Some people seem to fade away but then when they are truly gone, it's like they didn't fade away at all.
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