WA stolen generations members to receive $85,000 each under redress scheme
Stolen generations redress schemes were recommended in the 1997 Bringing Them Home report and all states and territories, but Western Australia and Queensland had announced their schemes.
WA's scheme is less than Victoria's $100,000 lump sum payment but more than the $75,000 offered in New South Wales and $30,000 in South Australia.
Stolen generations refers to the thousands of Aboriginal children taken from their parents across the country until 1972, which caused significant disadvantage and intergenerational trauma among Aboriginal families.
WA Premier Roger Cook announced the redress scheme at a Reconciliation breakfast on Tuesday to a lengthy applause.
'Decade after shameful decade in Western Australia, right up until 1972, children were taken from mothers and sent to missions,' Cook said.
'More than a third of Aboriginal kids born in WA before 1972 were forcibly removed from their parents, their land, their home.
'They were left with unanswered questions about their fate, their identity, their culture, their family, their connection to country, and the biggest question of all to the government responsible is, 'why?'
'Why did they do this? Why do they believe that there's not a place on earth for people who look different to them?
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
8 hours ago
- ABC News
Are most of the NT's landmark DV inquest recommendations already in place, as the government says?
Two years ago the Northern Territory coroner began an inquiry into the domestic violence deaths of four Aboriginal women, with her findings and recommendations handed down in November. At the last parliamentary sittings, the NT government provided its long-awaited formal response to the inquiry, with Prevention of Domestic Violence Minister Robyn Cahill stating the 35 recommendations were "uninspiring" and "failed so dismally to hit the mark". Ms Cahill's comments received significant backlash from the sector and legal associations, who labelled them "hurtful" and "undermining of the independence" of the coroner. As another series of coronial inquests into domestic violence deaths begins this month in Darwin and Alice Springs — which the NT coroner previously flagged as "an excellent opportunity" to review the government's response — the question remains: What has been the government's progress on implementing the recommendations? Of the coroner's 35 recommendations, the NT government has accepted 21 of them in full and 11 in principle. In the government's tabled response to the recommendations, it stated that for the majority of those accepted, funding for the programs was either already available under existing plans or had been recently assigned as part of the 2025-26 budget. For many of those it accepted in principle, the government said fully implementing them would be "subject to" finding the necessary funding and resourcing, or undertaking significant work to create a "whole new model of operation". During her speech to parliament, Ms Cahill claimed that "24 of the 35 recommendations related to programs or processes already in place". But that assertion is disputed by frontline sector workers, including the chief executive of the Women's Safety Services of Central Australia, Larissa Ellis, who has called such a claim "disingenuous at best". One of the recommendations in dispute is recommendation 7, which relates to an NT-wide rollout of the co-responder model, where police and Department of Children and Families staff work together to support victims and perpetrators of domestic violence. In her report, the coroner called for the co-responder model, which is already being trialled in Alice Springs, to be funded, evaluated and implemented across the NT. Ms Cahill claims that model is already "in place". However, less than two weeks before the last parliamentary sittings, a Department of Children and Families spokesperson told the ABC in a statement that the co-responder model had yet to be expanded across the NT. The full list of locations for the program's expansion was also only announced in parliament late last month. Ms Ellis also says the government has "skipped the monitoring and evaluation" of the Alice Springs co-responder pilot, which would have allowed the sector to consider "the lessons that we could learn [and] the challenges that we have experienced here in Alice Springs". Recommendation 11 is another the government claims is already in place, while sector workers disagree. The coroner called for the Prevent, Assist, Respond training (PARt) domestic violence program to be rolled out to "all current NT police officers, auxiliaries and new recruits, as well as [to emergency call centre] staff" and its specific funding. Ms Ellis says: "I would debate that that has been fully implemented". "The NT government has not funded that initiative, that is funded through philanthropic avenues. And it is temporary funding," she says. Multiple sector workers have also told the ABC that despite Ms Cahill stating recommendation 17— which calls for the replication of Alice Springs's specialist domestic, family and sexual violence court in other regions — is "in place", there is in fact no specialist court outside of Alice Springs. The government did not support three of the recommendations: The government's refusal to establish a peak DFSV body has been particularly contentious. Ms Cahill says there is no need for a peak body because that role is already fulfilled by a government-funded "domestic, family and sexual violence officer" position at the Northern Territory Council of Social Services. But Ms Ellis says this position doesn't equate to a peak body. "We're the only jurisdiction without a domestic and family violence peak, [and] we are the jurisdiction with the highest rates of domestic and family violence across the country," she says. "The domestic and family violence sector in the Northern Territory is in a terrible position, where we are advocating and arguing with our funders. "That places us in really precarious situation, because if we advocate too strongly we risk our funding."
West Australian
a day ago
- West Australian
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says WA is ‘front and centre' of future of Australia's economy
Anthony Albanese has declared WA's mining and resources sector is critical to the future of the national economy and achieving net zero during a visit of the Resources Technology Showcase in Perth. The PM attended the opening of the event at Perth Exhibition and Convention Centre on Sunday where he backed the industry and WA as the 'powerhouse' of the country. 'The resources sector are front and centre. They are so important,' he said. 'They've powered Australia in the 20th century, and as we transition, it's continuing to power Australia in the 21st century.' The PM was taken on a guided tour of Australia's largest STEM exhibition, joined by Resources Minister Madeleine King, and Seven West Media chairman Kerry Stokes. Mr Albanese met face-to-face with key players from the sector including Inpex managing director Tetsu Murayuma, BHP WA Iron Ore asset president Tim Day, Hancock Prospecting chief executive Gerhard Veldsman, Woodside executive vice president strategy Andy Drummond, Chevron Australia president Balaji Krishnamurthy, Rio Tinto Pilbara mines managing director Matthew Holcz and WestTrac chief executive Jarvas Croome. He also met with Mineral Resources director of strategy Tim Picton and Fortescue chief executive Dino Otranto. 'We want to see a more productive, a more vibrant, a more dynamic Australian economy, and WA is front and centre of that,' Mr Albanese said. 'It's one of the reasons why this is my 36th visit to Western Australia as Australia's Prime Minister. It's one of the reasons why I've taken my Cabinet after the election here in Perth, we went to Port Hedland during the last term, and we'll be back in Perth again before the end of the year for a full Cabinet meeting. 'Because we understand that the jobs and the economic activity that is created here in the west is so important.' Mr Albanese added, 'What we're also seeing with this showcase is the way that industries are being transformed by new technology, by artificial intelligence, but at the front and centre of all of it is, of course, our labour force.' 'And the fact that young West Australians will come to this showcase over the coming days, learn about the industry, have some hands on activities and experiences as well,' he said. 'Looking at where they might work in the future and what contribution they will make. This is such an important area for the west, but also important for Australia.' About 20,000 people were expected to attend the showcase on its opening day on Sunday. During the visit, the Prime Minister took time to stop for photos with some of the attendees. He tried out the virtual reality game at the Hancock Iron Ore exhibit and made some human energy at the Chevron booth. Resources Minister Madeleine King said the event was an opportunity for young West Australians to see and experience the jobs and careers that are on offer. 'Whether it be as a mining engineer, a geochemist, a geoscientist, an explorer, but also, there is every job you can imagine in this industry, from health professionals to caterers, chefs, you name it, you can do it in this industry,' she said. 'This industry is much more complex, and it's much more than some people think it is. 'There is an extraordinary amount of science logistics that sit at the highest level in the world to make sure that this is a very efficient business that employs many thousands of people.' The Resources Technology Showcase opens on Sunday afternoon and will run until Tuesday. It celebrates the intersection of innovation, education and WA's resources sector.
Sky News AU
2 days ago
- Sky News AU
Voice 2.0: Albanese sets his sights on peace in Gaza having tried and failed to find a solution to Aboriginal disadvantage
Anyone who has worked in a newsroom understands the hierarchy of suffering that determines the running order of a bulletin. A tragedy on our doorstep matters more than a larger tragedy on the other side of the world. So we shouldn't be surprised if most Australians care less about the conflict in Gaza than what it is doing to our country. The hatred on our streets breaks the unwritten rule that everyone who enters Australia leaves their troubles at the border. That's not to dismiss the distressing images emerging from Gaza, not all of which are faked. Nor are we downplaying the good fortune of living in the only permanently populated country untouched by civil war. We want to keep it that way. Much as we wish for global peace, our greatest desire is to enjoy harmony at home. Two years after his humiliating referendum defeat, the Prime Minister has once again been drawn into gesture politics with a promise that divides Australians and tests the strength of our social fabric. Belatedly, the PM has adjusted his rhetoric in deference to the discomfort we felt at the sight of an angry mob flying the banners of jihad while burning the Australian flag. 'Australians overwhelmingly want to see the killing stop,' he told a TV host Tuesday. 'They also, of course, don't want to see conflict brought here to our harmonious, multicultural society.' His acknowledgment is almost certainly too little and too late. He was the one who picked sides by recognising the non-existent state of Palestine. It was his announcement that terrorists praised and the US has condemned. The immediate consequence is that Anthony Albanese will be starved of the oxygen to talk about anything else, just as he would with the Voice. There's no obvious way to subdue the hornets now that the nest has been stirred. Every press conference spent on this issue will add to the remorse of Australians who voted, thinking they were electing a prime minister, not an activist-in-chief. Once again, he has failed to explain the point of the exercise, resorting to banal clichés. He wants to 'send a message' that he wants to see 'the world move forward'. He tells us he wants to make 'a practical contribution towards building momentum' and engage 'in detailed dialogue' with the international community, 'talking about what a peace looks like in the region'. He should have begun engaging in a detailed dialogue with the Australian people about what this gesture will achieve, beyond rewarding bad behaviour, getting Australia offside with our most important ally. Polling suggested Australians were sympathetic to the idea of a Voice. By referendum day, however, they'd worked out that its purpose was merely symbolic and that the PM was winging it, hoping to get through on the vibe. The hubris is astonishing. Having failed to find a solution to the problem of Aboriginal disadvantage, the PM has extended his ambition by promising to bring peace to the Middle East. He says Australia can help broker a peace deal that defied the best efforts of Anwar Sadat, Menachem Begin, Jimmy Carter, King Hussein, Yitzhak Rabin, Henry Kissinger, George H. W. Bush, Shimon Peres, Bill Clinton, and a host of others better versed in the art of statesmanship than he. The recognition of Palestine will be welcomed by many, just as millions of Australians were passionately in favour of the Voice. Yet if a plebiscite were held, it is not hard to guess the demographic profile that would vote in favour. They will be the same constituencies, more or less, that voted in favour of a Republic in 1999 and the Voice in 2023. They are the seats that recorded the most significant majorities in favour of same-sex marriage. There would be variations of course in seats with large Muslim populations that were strongly opposed to same-sex marriage. The hypothetical plebiscite would be less well received in "woke" seats with large Jewish populations, such as Wentworth. However, the people who marched over the bridge were, for the most part, the same inner-metropolitan elite who sign up to every fashionable cause. Some of them would have marched across the bridge a quarter of a century ago in the Walk for Reconciliation. Some may have even glued themselves to the tarmac during peak hour in April 2022 to raise awareness about the climate emergency. They are members of the activist class, the people who wear their compassion on their sleeve, heavily invested in the cause of humanity but less concerned about humans themselves, particularly their fellow citizens who have the humility not to advance an opinion about things they know little about. For those people, the behaviour of the radical alliance between progressives and terrorists is a frightening development. They are disturbed by the politics of identity that divides citizens according to race or religion. They find the assault on the Jewish community abhorrent, not just because it is anti-Semitic but because Australian multiculturalism is not meant to work like that. Our social fabric is held together by the twin instincts to live and let live and treat every citizen with equal respect. The implication that Palestinians in Australia deserve special status for inherited suffering, and Jewish Australians must carry the collective guilt for the imagined sins of Israelis, is anathema to Australians who grew up understanding that character is infinitely more important than race. The anti-colonial narrative that divided us between First Nation people and others, by implication, Second Nation people, was the deal breaker in the Voice referendum. Mr Albanese has made the same mistake over Palestine. He has embraced a decisive narrative that exacerbates the divide in Australia, incites hateful protests and leaves many of us wondering if we recognise the country in which we once lived. Nick Cater is a senior fellow at Menzies Research Centre and a regular contributor to Sky News Australia
