Stolen Generations

Tens of thousands of people joined Invasion Day protests around the country on January 26. 

Close Don Dale NOW! activist Natalie Hunter has denounced that “our kids are crying out for help and it is falling on apathetic ears”. Stephen W Enciso reports.

Fifty people marched to protest government policies that make it legal for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children to be stolen from their families, writes Rachel Evans.

US-based singer-songwriter David Rovics wrote this song on hearing of the arrest of long-time human rights activist Stephen Langford, who was charged with defacing the Governor Lachlan Macquarie statue in Sydney's Hyde Park.

Aboriginal children are currently being removed at five times the rate they were in 1997, the year when the Bringing Them Home report was brought down by the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families.

About 100 people joined a snap protest outside New South Wales Parliament on November 7 to oppose the state Coalition government’s attempt to allow for a new generation of forced adoptions.

A group of activists from Grandmothers Against Removals (GMAR) and the Socialist Alliance gathered in front of NSW Parliament on February 9 to protest on the 10th anniversary of the national apology from former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

The following is a statement issued by participants of the StandUp2017 conference that concluded with a rally in Mbantua (Alice Springs) on June 26.

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Rosalie Kunoth Monks: “You better believe it, when the Intervention first hit in 2007 community councils were decimated.”

Matthew Ryan: “Trying to get the government to listen to us, is like a brick wall.”

Around 100 Aboriginal grandmothers and supporters gathered at the Redfern Block on May 26, and marched to the Families and Community Services (FACS) office, as part of a National Day of Action on the anniversary of the Bringing Them Home report. The action was organised by the Grandmothers Against Removals (GMAR), a national network initiated by families who are directly affected by the child removal crisis. It is fighting to bring an end to continuing stolen generations.
When the First Fleet sailed into Port Jackson on January 26, 1788, it carried more than the physical paraphernalia for European settlement. Along with tools, agricultural implements, chains, handcuffs, the cat-o'-nine-tails and gunpowder, the colonists brought with them an entrenched world-view.
ADELAIDE Come to the National Sorry Day: Stolen Generations track home on Tuesday May 26 at 10.30am – 2.30pm. Join the Stolen Generations calling for reparations with speakers, music, bbq and drinks. Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga. Ph John Browne 0431 234 561. BRISBANE Join the Rally for the future: Lock the gate on Thursday May 21 at 10am. Speakers’ Corner, outside Parliament House, George St. BENDIGO Come to a rally to stop the community closures on Friday May 15 at 4.30pm. Rosalind Park. MELBOURNE
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