Parramatta Girls - the Living Memorial Campaign

THANKS

On returning home from Canberra I've found the events of the last few days have left me with a mixture of feelings. Overwhelmed, honoured, humbled I feel words entirely inadequate to express the experience.

Later in the day I walked down to the shops wearing a T shirt with the word THANKS printed boldly on the front. People were going about their business in the usual way. I wondered whether anything had changed for them.  A few days earlier in conversation with a woman who told me of her lost family, I tried to imagine a white family in this situation - a family that lived in a community where all the babies were taken. Not just by anyone but by the police and the welfare. Who would one turn to if the authorities stole the babies? I learnt how some of the women would make a small incision in the babies skin, so that if the baby was taken they would be able to identify their child by this scarred mark. I thought about an email I received some months ago about a 6 year old white boy who had disappeared on his way home from school – I remembered all the publicity about this – the shock, horror and outrage in the community. Yet by contrast the wails and sobs of aboriginal families were never heard. I cannot express what I felt. I am truly sorry for what happened in my lifetime.

On Wednesday we rose early to take the bus to parliament. Entering through the Prime Minister’s entrance we were greeted by Kevin Rudd where he stood together with his wife Theresa and Jenny Macklin shaking the hand of every single one of the 300 or so invited elders. Shuffled down the long corridors through security checks, into lifts siphoned off into the various galleries or for the few the floor of the chamber. And as each of the former PM’s entered the chamber we stood and clapped. The PM walked in we rose in one and applauded. Preliminaries attended to he then began to speak. It was riveting. Around the galleries and on the floor people wiped their eyes. Some crumpled and wept openly, some fixed their stare. Silence listening silence. And then the words! Cheers, applauds! And to the opposition, Brendan Nelson stood. I thought to myself just say YES. No more was necessary. To the end we all stood together to applaud this great moment. A gathering for morning tea politicians everywhere and the press….families, friends, hugs, laughter, tears all together. An hour or more passed we were gathered up and bussed to the tent embassy for lunch.Everyone was relaxed, the music played and the rain didn’t fall.

That evening at dinner the mood was bouyant lighthearted, chatting, and friendly, a weight had been lifted. Groups of women got up and sang in their native language. We were honoured to have Bob Randall with us, who sang My brown skin baby they took him away…………….this time I heard all the words, not just the music. And now back in Sydney, I feel a shift in myself, a shift I hope in the Australian consciousness and so much to do. 

Marjorie Woodrow meets the PM

Aboriginal Elder Aunty Marjorie Woodrow was committed to Parramatta Girls Home in 1940. Prior to this she had been held at Cootamundra Girls Home. Aged 2 when stolen from her mother, Marjorie was later told that she had died. On the 22nd May 1993 Marjorie was finally reunited with her 99 year old mother who had never given up hope of seeing her baby again.

                           

On the National Apology day 14th February 2008 Marjorie was welcomed by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Jenny Macklin MP at Parliament House.

Language & Power

It's ten minutes to go until the apology airs. There's a sense of expectation, a palpable feeling of possibility. Everyone I've spoken to over the past day or so has been talking about 'where they'll be'--in Canberra to witness the historic event first hand, down at Martin Place on the big screens, at work huddled around the TVs in the conference room. I decided to stay home, to sit quietly with all the thoughts about today swirling around in my head as the words come tumbling around me.

Language and power go together. The words of apology, as I've read the text, speak to the deep injustices of policies that systematically, deliberately sought to control, oppress and destroy. But I keep coming back to one question: what next?

The Parramatta Female Factory Precinct Living Memorial Campaign is one answer to that nagging question. One answer that says to those who were wronged: we hear you. We acknowledge the forgotten history and we want to give voice to your stories and your experiences.  We want to work together to create a new national narrative, a new set of stories that include those whose lives are left out of the history books. And we want to do it in a spirit of creativity, respect and inclusion.

Let's start today.

Federal Parliament opens with historic Aboriginal welcome

NEWS.com.au.

THE Federal Parliament has opened with ceremonial welcoming from Aborigines for the first time in its 107-year history.

National Apology & Parragirls

This week we await a momentous day in Australian history. The Prime Minister’s decision to deliver an apology as the first item of business in the 2008 parliament marks the beginning of new era in politics. Across Australia and around the world, it signals our country’s ability to move forward from the deep, abiding injustices of the past and to work together to ensure that the Stolen Generations are never forgotten. We commend Kevin Rudd in his willingness to stand by his promise to say sorry to generations of Aboriginal Australians many of who belong to a group known as the Forgotten Australians.

In the spirit of reconciliation and as a concrete demonstration and commitment to all Australians, we put it to the State and Federal Government's that a living memorial be established on a site long associated with both indigenous and non indigenous women and children and the Forgotten Australians located within the North Parramatta Government Heritage site known as the Parramatta Female Factory Precinct.

We propose that Parramatta Female Factory Precinct Living Memorial could become a symbol of shared learning, giving voice to the voiceless, and offer an economically-viable, culturally-rich environment for future Australians which would be of international standing.

We fully support the National Apology and hope that this will mark the beginning of reconciliation and renewal for all Australians who experienced institutional or out-of-home care as children.

We send our love to all our aboriginal sisters who shared our experience as former inmates of the Parramatta Girls Home.

Bonney Djuric - Parragirls (ILWA)

Parramatta Female Factory Precinct

www.parragirls.org.au   www.pffp.org.au