sir ronald wilson took part in removing the stolen generation.
sir ronald wilson took part in removing the stolen generation.
who took part in removing the stolen generation?
sir ronald wilson
despite the lengthy and detailed findings set out in the 1997 "bringing them home" report into the stolen generation, which documented the removal of aboriginal children from their families by australian state and federal government agencies and church missions, the nature and extent of the removals have been disputed within australia, with some commentators questioning the findings contained in the report and asserting that the stolen generation has been exaggerated. sir ronald wilson, former president of the human rights and equal opportunities commission and a commissioner on the inquiry, has stated that none of the more than 500 witnesses who appeared before the inquiry were cross-examined. this has been the basis of criticism by the coalition government and by the anthropologist ron brunton in a booklet published by the institute of public affairs that was criticised in turn by the lawyer hal wootten. an australian federal government submission has questioned the conduct of the commission which produced the report, arguing that the commission failed to critically appraise or test the claims on which it based the report and failed to distinguish between those separated from their families "with and without consent, and with and without good reason". not only has the number of children removed from their parents been questioned, but also the intent and effects of the government policy.
history wars
in april 2000, the aboriginal affairs minister john herron, presented a report in the australian parliament that questioned whether there had been a "stolen generation", arguing that only 10% of aboriginal children had been removed, and they did not constitute an entire "generation". the report received media attention and there were protests against the claimed racism in this statement, and was countered by comparing use of this terminology to the world war 2 lost generation which also did not comprise an entire generation. on 13 february 2008 prime minister kevin rudd presented an apology for the "stolen generation" as a motion in parliament.
racism in australia