National Sorry Day is commemorated in Australia each year on May 26 as an expression of solidarity with the justice and reconciliation agenda of the nation’s Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders, and in particular with the tens of thousands of Aboriginal children who were removed from their parents during Australia’s assimilation era. This May 26 was the sixth Sorry Day to be commemorated, and the seventh anniversary of the “Bringing Them Home Report”, which revealed the sorry truth about the ‘stolen generations’. Sorry Day patron Sir Ronald Wilson, in a speech to mark the occasion, described the policy that resulted in so much human suffering as genocidal, and the period of child removal as one of the most dreadful in Australian history.
Around the country, members of the stolen generations, their supporters, and members of the general public commemorated the Day in unique style. This year’s theme was “Healing the Past, Shaping the Future”. In Adelaide, eight tents representing the missions and ‘homes’ that housed members of the Stolen Generations, were erected in Victoria Square in the city center. Literature on Australia’s past policies with regards Aboriginal people was handed out and those gathered had an opportunity to hear the personal stories of people forcibly taken away from their families.
In Melbourne, hundreds of people gathered in Federation Square to remember the lost children. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags were lowered to half-mast and black roses were distributed to the crowd to be thrown on the steps of the Victorian Parliament. In Darwin, Sorry Day was commemorated with a morning walk to symbolize a journey of healing. Sarah Huppatz, from the childcare agency KARU, says the walk is designed to give people the strength for the journey that lies ahead, and to heal the wounds of the past. In Australia’s capital city of Canberra, there was also a walk to mark Sorry Day. The walk across the Commonwealth Avenue Bridge was intended as a symbolic gesture towards reconciliation.
According to Indigenous Affairs spokesperson Senator Aden Ridgeway, state and local reconciliation groups have played a magnificent role in promoting reconciliation, but the issue remains stalled at the federal level. Jackie Huggins, co-chair of Reconciliation Australia, agrees and says that the false divide between practical and symbolic reconciliation needs to be worked on as an issue before Australia can move forward. One of the main priorities of activists is an apology to the Stolen Generations. “This issue will never go away, and in terms of what we are trying to achieve for reconciliation, it goes hand in hand,” Ms. Huggins said.
