National Sorry Day rally: STOP continuing Stolen Generations

Tuesday, May 26, 2015 - 12:00

Tuesday, May 26at 12:00pm

Forrest Chase, Murray Street, Perth CBD

STOP the forced removal of Aboriginal children
STOP the forced closure of Aboriginal communities
Self-determination NOW!

On “Sorry Day”, May 26, the national network Grandmothers Against Removals will lead a protest in Perth against continuing Stolen Generations. This date marks 18 years since the release of the ‘Bringing Them Home’ report. This report detailed the horrors of the Stolen Generation of the 20th Century and called for urgent action to stop the continued removal of Aboriginal children from their families by “child protection” agencies.

Since 1997 however, the number of Aboriginal children being forcibly removed has increased five times, with more than 15,000 kids in foster care today. In WA more than half of children in “care” are Aboriginal, despite being less than 5% of the population. This is an urgent national crises and affected families are fighting back. Grandmothers Against Removals stand as representatives of Sovereign Aboriginal Nations and fight for restoration of their sacred children to their people. The group is leading a convergence at Matagarup, the Perth Tent Embassy, to strategise for the future and to march on May 26.

Disgracefully, WA Premier Colin Barnett is now using “child protection” as an excuse to forcibly remove entire communities from their lands, recycling the same lies about child abuse used to justify the NT Intervention. These forced closures will be systematic child abuse on a massive scale, putting families into destitution, more kids into foster care, more adults into prison. We need to build on the inspiring wave of protest against forced community closures to win the right of children to live with their families and the right of all Aboriginal people to live on their lands and determine their own futures.

For more info contact:
Vanessa Culbong 0475 790 046
Albert Hartnett 0478 166 033

https://www.facebook.com/events/441152959386523/