Stolen GenerationsPrint Page

The plaque commemorates the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were removed from their familes through Government policies between 1905 and the 1970s. The plaque has been especially designed and has been placed in a garden.

The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church missions, under acts of their respective parliaments. The removals of those referred to as "half-caste" children were conducted in the period between approximately 1905 and 1967, although in some places mixed-race children were still being taken into the 1970s.

Official government estimates are that in certain regions between one in ten and one in three Indigenous Australian children were forcibly taken from their families and communities between 1910 and 1970.

On 26 May 1998, the first "National Sorry Day" was held; reconciliation events such as the Walk for Reconciliation across Sydney Harbour Bridge and in other cities were held nationally, and attended by a total of more than one million people. As public pressure continued to increase on the government, the Prime Minister John Howard drafted a Motion of Reconciliation with Senator Aden Ridgeway, expressing "deep and sincere regret over the removal of Aboriginal children from their parents", which was passed by the federal parliament in August 1999. Howard said that the Stolen Generation represented "the most blemished chapter in the history of this country."

A decade later, on 13 February 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd presented an apology to Indigenous Australians as a motion to be voted on by the house. The apology was unanimously adopted by the House of Representatives.

Gannawarra Shire Council welcomes the community to come together and demonstrate their support for the Stolen Generation at a ceremony this week.

Director Mandy Hutchinson said Council is pleased to be unveiling a plaque that has been specifically designed to recognise the stolen generation. “This ceremony has been a long-term event that began planning when Aunty Shirley McGee approached former Mayor, Cr Lorraine Learmonth to request that acknowledgment of the Stolen Generation be made,” Ms Hutchinson explained.  

Following this conversation Council continued discussions with the Elders group and devised an approach that included a plaque being developed which would be erected on a permanent display at the Gannawarra Children’s Centre in Kerang.

Ms. Hutchinson said a wonderful partnership between the Elders Group and the Gannawarra Children’s Centre Parents and Friends committee has formed to see this request come to fruition.

“Between the fantastic support from the Gannawarra Children’s Centre Parents and Friends committee, who planted the garden, and also from local company Mawsons who donated the rock  upon which the plaque will be placed, Council is thrilled to see this gesture supported locally,” Ms Hutchinson said.

Council has partnered with Mallee District Aboriginal Services, Southern Mallee Primary Care Partnerships, Northern District Community Health, Cohuna District Health, Kerang District Health and Victoria Police to facilitate this ceremony.

The ceremony will consist of a Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony, followed by a presentation by our Elders, the plaque unveiling and ‘The Creation Dance’ by Tyipen Kwe. The event will be held at the Gannawarra Children’s Centre, Murray Street Kerang at 4.00pm Wednesday 22 March.
Ganawarra Shire Council, Media Release, 10 March 2017. 

Location

Address:	2 Murray Street, Ganawarra Shire Children`s Centre, Kerang, 3579
State:	VIC
Area:	AUS
GPS Coordinates:	Lat: -35.730331 Long: 143.914191 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.

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Details

Monument Type:	Plaque
Monument Theme:	Culture
Sub-Theme:	Indigenous

Dedication

Actual Monument Dedication Date:	Wednesday 22nd March, 2017

Source: MA