Landmark ruling brings more calls for official apology over Aborigines

AUSTRALIA’S Aborigines renewed calls for official recognition of past injustices yesterday after a court awarded an Aboriginal man A$525,000 (€329,500) for being taken from his family 50 years ago.

In Wednesday’s landmark ruling, a court in South Australia awarded Bruce Trevorrow the money in compensation and damages for being taken from his mother as a baby and given to a white foster parent without their consent.

Reconciliation Australia, set up to help promote better relations between Aborigines and white Australians, said the case highlighted the need for proper recognition and compensation for the victims of the so-called stolen generation of Aborigines.

“It is preferable, both morally and financially, to face up to mistakes as a nation rather than watching from the sidelines as they’re tossed around in costly, adversarial court proceedings,” Reconciliation Australia chief executive Barbara Livesey said.

A major government report in 1997 detailed the suffering of the stolen generation, who were taken from their families to be brought up in white homes under policies which ran until the late 1960s. The report recommended compensation to those removed from their families and an official government apology. But Australia’s conservative government has refused to officially apologise for the policies of previous governments. Only the island state of Tasmania has set up a fund to compensate stolen generation members.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough ruled out a national compensation scheme, saying the issue was one for state governments and church groups which operated the policies.

Prime Minister John Howard said he was seeking advice on the judgment.