Category Archives: Stolen generations

Lowitja O’Donoghue, celebrated campaigner for Aboriginal Australians, dies aged 91

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A member of the stolen generations, the Yankunytjatjara leader was only reunited with her mother through a chance meeting 30 years later

Lowitja O’Donoghue, a Yankunytjatjara leader and activist, has died at the age of 91.

The Lowitja Institute announced her death on Sunday. A pioneering leader in Aboriginal advancement and recognition campaigns, O’Donoghue was a “formidable leader who was never afraid to listen, speak and act”, her family said.

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Hundreds of Aboriginal children likely buried in unmarked graves at three WA missions

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Exclusive: More than 740 First Nations people, the majority of them very young, are believed to have been buried with no record at Moore River, Carrolup and New Norcia

As many as 400 Aboriginal children and babies are likely to have been buried in unmarked graves at three former Western Australian missions, the vast majority of them interred after dying when five or under, a Guardian Australia investigation can reveal.

Spanning decades, more than 740 First Nations people, the majority of them very young, were most likely buried with no record at just three church and government-run missions in the state: Moore River, Carrolup and New Norcia.

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Albanese lashes Dutton over Garma festival no-show as leaders trade barbs over Indigenous voice

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PM and opposition leader spar over referendum, apology to the stolen generations and the prospect of treaty in heated parliamentary debate

Anthony Albanese has accused Peter Dutton of “undermining the interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people” by opposing the Indigenous voice, launching a strident defence of the referendum and criticising the opposition leader for declining to attend the Garma festival this weekend.

As the Coalition again pursued the government in question time over the treaty element of the Uluru statement from the heart, asking how long it would take and what it would cost, Albanese sought to re-focus attention on the referendum. The prime minister questioned why the Liberal party opposed a constitutionally enshrined voice despite backing a legislated model, claiming the opposition was seeking to divide the nation.

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Linda Burney warns MPs who walked out on apology not to ‘repeat the mistake’ with the voice

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Those like Peter Dutton who now regret walking out on the stolen generations apology should grasp the opportunity offered by the Uluru statement

The Indigenous Australians minister, Linda Burney, will warn those who boycotted the apology to the stolen generations in 2008 – among them the opposition leader, Peter Dutton – not to “repeat the mistakes of the past” and grasp the opportunity offered by the Uluru statement from the heart.

Dutton was the most senior of a handful of Coalition MPs who walked out of parliament when the then Labor prime minister, Kevin Rudd, formally apologised to the stolen generations in 2008.

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Uncle Jack Charles: First Nations elder and storyteller farewelled at state funeral in Melbourne

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Film-maker Amiel Courtin-Wilson says Uncle Jack ‘gave people space to be themselves … in a way that afforded them unique dignity’

A crowd waving Aboriginal flags has lined St Kilda Road in Melbourne to send off Indigenous elder and storyteller Uncle Jack Charles after his state funeral.

The actor, musician, activist and member of the stolen generations died at Royal Melbourne hospital on 13 September after suffering a stroke. He was 79.

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Archie Roach, Australian songman and voice of the stolen generations, dies aged 66

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Tributes pour in for musician whose song Took the Children Away became the anthem of the stolen generations

Archie Roach, the Indigenous Australian songwriter whose celebrated song Took the Children Away brought national attention to the story of the stolen generations, has died aged 66.

Roach died at Warrnambool Base hospital after a long illness, surrounded by his family and loved ones.

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Uncle Jack Charles makes history as first Indigenous elder to speak at Victorian truth-telling commission

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Yoorrook commission will establish official record of Indigenous experiences since colonisation

Victoria’s Indigenous truth-telling commission has opened public hearings, with respected actor and activist Uncle Jack Charles the first to share his story.

Born to a Wiradjuri father and a Bunurong mother, Charles was called as the first Indigenous elder to speak at the Yoorrook Justice Commission on Tuesday.

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‘Never too late’: Victorian government pledges $10m for stolen generations redress scheme

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Scheme will involve measures including counselling, funeral or memorial fund and redress payments

The Victorian government will put $10m into a stolen generations redress scheme that the premier, Daniel Andrews, says is a step to right history’s wrongs.

Announcing scheme with the premier, Victoria’s Aboriginal affairs minister, Gavin Jennings, said on Wednesday that Aboriginal families were historically “torn apart by parliaments like this one”.

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