Federal Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy apologises for NT stolen wages scheme
Territory Senator Malarndirri McCarthy has issued a formal apology to thousands of Territorians who were paid little — or nothing at all — for ‘gruelling’ labour under the stolen wages scheme.
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The Federal Government has formally apologised to thousands of Territorians who toiled in “back breaking” and “gruelling” conditions for years without a proper wage.
On Wednesday, Federal Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy issued a formal apology to the Stolen Wages Northern Territory group members and their surviving relatives.
Under the federal wage control legislation in place between 1933 and 1971, Indigenous workers could either be paid significantly less than non-Indigenous workers, or even nothing at all.
Ms McCarthy said this reflected a “dark period in our nation’s history” where First Nations’ people were exploited and denied “fair financial reward” to build the economic prosperity of the Northern Territory.
“I am sorry for the suffering and injustice inflicted on First Nations’ people — my people — through the laws of the Commonwealth,” the Yanyuwa Garrawa woman said.
“Indigenous people were stolen from their families. Indigenous people were used for back breaking labour building new communities that often excluded them.
“We know they did gruelling and critical work, particularly in the Northern Territory, toiling on farms and stations, building, tending to stock, cooking and cleaning, gardening, making clothes.
“And now we also know that under Commonwealth laws in place for decades … First Nations people in the Northern Territory did this work for very little pay — even in some cases for no pay at all.”
The apology comes three months after the Commonwealth Government settled a $202m class action over the Territory’s stolen wages.
The Senate heard the lead applicant in the class action, Minnie McDonald, was 14 years old when she was put to work six days a week as a domestic labourer on a Central Australian cattle station, alongside her father, mother, brothers and later her husband.
“Never seen the money though,” she told the federal court.
Indigenous Territorians shared with the court stories of working 12 hours in the blistering heat on cattle stations, long days cooking and cleaning — only to find nothing in their bank accounts and surviving only on rations of flour, sugar and tea.
“This is about all the people who were working everywhere and never got paid nothing,” Ms McDonald said in September.
Ms McCarthy said many of the surviving stolen wages victims lost their childhoods to the “back breaking” labour, often separated from family and Country, in workplaces marred by “violence and punishment”.
She acknowledged the bravery and strength of those who gave evidence in the class action, which she hoped would “bring closure to this shameful chapter in Australia’s history”.
The settlement to surviving workers or their families is still subject to Federal Court approval, with the next hearing set for December 17.
Victims of the stolen wages scheme may be eligible for as little as $10,000 under the proposed funding model
Earlier this month Shine Lawyers representative William Edwards said there were 800 Indigenous Territorians who registered for the class action who were alive during the eligible period, with 7519 registering for the class action to date.
Registration for the class action closes August next year.
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Originally published as Federal Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy apologises for NT stolen wages scheme
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