’Lives damaged and destroyed’: PM apologises to one group

Scott Morrison has said sorry to one group of people whose lives have been “destroyed”, but six words in his statement have left some people fuming.

Scott Morrison has been slammed for his “outright disrespect” during his statement to First Nations people on the anniversary of the national apology.

Fourteen years after former prime minister Kevin Rudd’s national apology to the stolen generations, Mr Morrison delivered a statement on Monday.

Addressing the House of Representatives in parliament, he apologised for the brutality and for “lives damaged and destroyed”.

“We are sorry for the failure to respect, to understand, to appreciate,” he said.

The part of Mr Morrison’s speech that rankled some people came after that, as he spoke about the challenge of granting forgiveness.

He alluded to his own words during the debate over Mr Rudd’s apology.

“As I said 14 years ago, sorry can never be given with any expectation of forgiveness. But there can be hope,” he said.

“I said an apology ‘involves standing in the middle ground exposed, vulnerable and seeking forgiveness’. Forgiveness is never earned or deserved.

Forgiveness is an act of grace, of courage. And it is a gift that only those who have been wounded, damaged, and destroyed can offer.

“I said 14 years ago, ‘Sorry is not the hardest word to say … the hardest is I forgive you.’”

Mr Morrison’s statement immediately came under fire, with some people labelling the last six words as “utterly reprehensible”.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison made a statement on the 14th anniversary of the national apology to the stolen generations. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Indigenous Greens senator Lidia Thorpe said Mr Morrison’s statement was “not an apology”.

“This is outright disrespectful to all those affected by stolen generations in this country,” she said.

“How dare you ask forgiveness when you still perpetrate racist policies and systems that continue to steal our babies.”

The First People’s Assembly of Victoria said the Prime Minister needed to “get in the bin” for his comments.

Our official* response to what Scott Morrison said today:

*polite pic.twitter.com/DRsrdGvcV1

— First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria (@firstpeoplesvic) February 14, 2022

First Nations writer and activist Nakkiah Lui accused the Prime Minister of “fanning flames of division”.

“Scott Morrison trying to use Aboriginal anger as political point scoring. He isn’t trying to say sorry nor does this have anything to do with forgiveness and the stolen generation,” she wrote on Twitter.

“He is fanning flames of division by dog whistling racism: reconciliation is ‘get over it’.”

Scott Morrison trying to use Aboriginal anger as political point scoring.

He isn’t trying to say sorry nor does this have anything to do with forgiveness and the stolen generation.

He is fanning flames of division by dog whistling racism: reconciliation is “get over it”. https://t.co/K5NlCSwSGe

— Nakkiah Lui (@nakkiahlui) February 14, 2022

Jenny Noyes, a reporter with Nine, said his comment explains why he can’t move on from Grace Tame snubbing him at the Australian of the Year morning tea.

“I guess this explains why he‘s finding it so hard to move on from a young woman refusing to smile at him,” she wrote.

I guess this explains why he's finding it so hard to move on from a young woman refusing to smile at him https://t.co/SgYrhs9aEm

— Jenny Noyes (@jennynoise) February 14, 2022

Mr Morrison went on to say that he knows that a “path of forgiveness does lead to healing”.

“It does open up a new opportunity, it does offer up relief from the bondage of pain and suffering that no simple apology on its own can achieve,” he said.

“Nor do I believe that such forgiveness is a corporate matter. It can only begin with the individual.

“And forgiveness does not mean forgetting, nor does it mean that there are not consequences for actions and the need for redress and restitution.

“This is a hard conversation … Progress is being made.”

Anthony Albanese said the apology on February 13, 2008, was one of his ‘proudest moments’. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese, who described the apology in 2008 as one of his “proudest moments as a parliamentarian” paid his respects to the victims of the stolen generations who showed “determination, grace and guts”.

During his statement, Mr Albanese made reference to the apology he co-issued last week to victims of sexual harassment and bullying in Parliament House.

“As we were reminded last week, it takes great courage to come forward and face the institution that has failed you and failed you profoundly,” Mr Albanese said.

“That was the case 14 years ago when members of the stolen generation came to Parliament House to witness the apology. It was an apology that had been promised to them after years of resistance and rejection, even by some on the day itself.

“Even in that unifying moment for our country, there were some who turned their backs, but overwhelmingly it was a unifying moment.

“When (Kevin Rudd) uttered the words ‘I am sorry’ on behalf of our nation, our nation was lifted up.”

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd delivered the apology on February 13, 2008. Picture: AAP Image/Stefan Postles)

Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt said while sorry had first been said 14 years ago, “we are still sorry”.

“The significance of being an Indigenous man delivering a ministerial statement in the national parliament to honour that apology 14 years later is not lost on me,” Mr Wyatt said.

“My Indigenous colleagues and I are a testament to the enduring strength and resilience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of 65,000 years of culture … of survival.”

Opposition spokesperson for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney appeared visibly emotional as she acknowledged the apology as a “cultural moment shared by the country”.

“(But) we should never leave it unstated just how long the reconciliation journey has been in our country,” she said.