Reconciling Australia’s Colonial Past and Present

Topic

Reconciling Australia’s Colonial Past and Present

Instructions

An election promise given by the Coalition Government to introduce, “retrospective legislation to provide compensation of up to $75,000 to Australian victims of terrorism overseas since 11th September 2001” (The Australian, 2013), sparked new interest in the debate about compensation to the Stolen Generations. The legislation was subsequently passed when the Coalition Government gained federal office.
Case Study question – How does the decision to deny compensation to members of the Stolen Generations and award compensation to victim of overseas terrorism contribute to reconciling Australia's colonial past and present?

Answer preview

The Aboriginal people lived in Australia for approximately 60,000 years. When the British entered Australia in 1788, the foreigners used unorthodox means to kill and main the indigenous people (Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet, 2018). The Aboriginal people’s population as reduced significantly. They were limited to non-indigenous camps. The people were not allowed to move in and out of their camps without explicit permission from the colonizers. After approximately 150 years of suffering, Australia adopted the assimilation policy, where children were taken away from their families (Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet, 2018). The goal was to abolish the Aboriginal population.

Word count: 1614