How Significant Was Kevin Rudd's Apology to the Stolen Generations Essay - 1

How Significant Was Kevin Rudd's Apology to the Stolen Generations - Essay Example In the history of political speeches in Australia, this held the record for the most emotional speech in many years. The depth of the statement had gone to deep to be assumed to be just a political statement. It also represented social views regarding the ignored states of the indigenous people on Australia (Docker, Curthoys & Peters-Little, 2010). It was also compared to a speech by human rights groups. The apology did not impact only in Australian citizens but it has a global effect in the fight against abuse of human rights. The apology statement moved the population’s perception of the indigenous people. In the past the Australian government had done a lot of harm and injustice towards the indigenous people. The apology statement was intended to mend that wrong by initiating perception change and convincing people that the government will give justice to indigenous people. The main aim of this essay is to analyze the contents and the implication of the apology statement. I t will also provide a perspective on the significance of the apology statement by Kevin Rudd’s Apology to the Stolen Generation. The release of the apology statement had been waited for a long time and anticipated. The speculations started being believed when the children of Torres Strait and other indigenous children were taken away from their parents. This action sparked a nationwide row over the matter. It is at this point when the children were termed as the stolen generation. However, the Australian government insisted that all it did was to expose the children to a more modernized and friendly environment. These claims were not accepted by the human rights groups who still insisted the act was heinous and contradicted the law. It is this argument that led to the establishment of an inquiry to look into the matter. The team was led by Ronald Wilson and Mick Dodson (Beecher, 2009). The inquiry was given the title; the national inquiry into the separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait children from their parents. The findings of this inquiry were founded in a report known as bringing them home report. The report contained the inquires’ recommendation of some charity and just deeds towards the children. Apart from the recommendation, the report shows that one out of three children was taken forcefully away from their parents. In the report tribulations of the children undergo while under the government were highlighted in the report. According to the report many of the children taken to foster home were unhappy with their living conditions. There were also some claims of forced labour imposed upon the children (Kahane, 2009). All these inquiries and speculations were made possible by the speech made by Kevin Rudd. The speech led to the formation of the inquiry, the writing of the report, and the recommendations to solve these issues. According to Rudolf (2009), it was for the first time in history that the indigenous people felt that they wer e being represented and their living conditions noticed to be inhumane. All this developments are attributed to the Prime Minister and his landmark apology statement. As the world celebrated the major step towards the realization of human rights, the immediate Australian government and the rest governments found a critical issue to base their debates on. The political expression made by the apology by the apology statement was very significant in Australia. 11 years prior to the statement in 2008, no government accepted the fact