Sorry Proof Country - Part 2 of 3

I wrote and directed this documentary in 2003 as part of a now defunct company, to highlight the history of "Sorry Day" in Australia amid growing frustrations within Australia's Indigenous Communities, especially in relation to our nation's treatment of the "Stolen Generations" and reluctance to officially apologise for the hurt caused by past policies. Many bodies supported this production with generous permission to use historical footage and snippets from the feature film, Rabbit Proof Fence. The documentary runs 22 minutes and has been split into 3 sections for YouTube.
Part One covers a lot of the background, Part Two covers the tensions in Parliament, Part Three covers the hope of the community for finding a way forward. That way forward was found on February 13, 2008, when Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, made an official apology in Federal Parliament. The transcript of Kevin Rudd's speech can be found at http://www.aph.gov.au/house/Rudd_Speech.pdf

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• sorry
• stolen
• aborigines
• australian
• apology
• generation
• indigenous

[DirectorSteve]

dangeredzky, unfortunately my research is in storage and not easy to get to, but wikipedia says "On Thursday 26 August 1999 the Australian Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, moved a Motion of Reconciliation, which included an expression of "deep and sincere regret" ... [t]he opposition leader, Kim Beazley, moved to replace Mr Howard's motion of regret with an unreserved apology, but was unsuccessful."

[DirectorSteve]

Thanks all, it is interesting to see how this footage moves people.

[limttoom]

Yes, people made mistakes but why don't they want to admitt fully that they were wrong. Aboringes deserve more than sorry. The stolen Generations deserve more than apologies. Equality is more like it.

[dalriadaecosse]

Personal and heartfelt delivery in Mr Beazley's speech. Very emotional.

[broadleygreen]

Since when do governments represent all the people? HAH!

[JonnyBoy723]

great documentary. peace and love to the Aboriginals and to everyone.

[Gindelbi]

True! Hard for most people to grasp that. lol

[krissy4nik]

Right but in order to procede into better days the past must be corrected. People should feel free to move on when society is equal but until that happens everyones got work to do.

[Gindelbi]

Sorry has been said so many times over. It's already been done. That's all I am saying. Never forget, but learn to proceed into better days.

[krissy4nik]

You cannot have equality in the future if you do not rectify and acknowledge what was done in the past.I dont think an apology would separate you I think it would in a very small way begin to heals wounds and unite you ...if you just move on and look into the future without recognizing and addressing the past it will seem alot like the elephant in the room is being swept under the rug and that would cause more bad blood than a simple im sorry for the pain you went through.

[Gindelbi]

A very late response, but I think that every time there is an apology, it seperates us as Australians. I can say that what the previous white Aussies did was wrong, but I am not guilty personally. Why should I apologize when I would rather focus on just integrating and getting along and making a WHOLE Australia? As long as we apologise, we will be separated. Australia as a whole should be looking towards the future, and to do that we do need equality.

[Applebaum]

Equality Day...........no Equality Year