Prime Minister Scott Morrison cannot even give a speech on the 14th anniversary of the historic Apology to the Stolen Generations without causing many to call into question his world view

POST SUBTITLE: In which Scott Morrison's personal philosophy markedly resembles that of those religious institutions which historically assisted successive colonial and state governments to oppress First Nations people within Australia and its island territories whilst pursuing the eradication of First Nations spirituality, cultures and languages.

Apology to the Stolen Generations
A section of the invited guests, 
Australian Parliament, Wednesday, 13 February 2008
IMAGE:Mark Baker/AFP/Getty Images in The Guardian

On 14 February 2022 the Australian Prime Minister & Liberal MP for Cook, Scott Morrison, rose to his feet in the House of Representatives to acknowledge the 14^th anniversary of the 13 February 2008 Apology to the Stolen Generations given by then Prime Minister & Labor MP for Griffith, Kevin Rudd.

In part Morrison’s speech stated:

“Mr Speaker, we are on a journey to make peace with our past. And it’s a difficult journey and it is an important one, to draw together the past, the present, and future, so we can truly be one and free.

We belong to a story - from time immemorial, a continent that contends with us all, and the work of building a strong, sovereign and vibrant democracy that gives us all a voice.

But we don’t seek to sugarcoat this story. We don’t turn aside from the injustices, contentions and abrasions. That’s what successful liberal democracies do. We must remember if we are to shape the future, and to do so wisely.

So as we do this at this time every year, we remember the Stolen Generations. Children taken from their parents. I say it again, children taken from their parents. No parent, no child could fail to understand the devastation of that, regardless of whatever their background is. Children taken from their parents. Families and communities torn apart. Again and again and again.

With that trauma, disconnection, and unquenching pain, came a national shame and a deep wound. Separated from country, from kinship, from family, from language, from identity. Becoming even strangers to themselves.

Fourteen years have passed since we had said sorry here in this place.

Sorry for the cold laws that broke apart families.

Sorry for the brutalities that were masked even under the guise of protection and even compassion.

Sorry for believing that Indigenous people were not capable of stewarding their own lives.

Sorry for the failure to respect, to understand, to appreciate.

Sorry for the lives damaged and destroyed.

So on this day, and every year since, we are right to remind ourselves of times past - not to re-ignite the coals of pain, or to bring division where there are the beginnings of healing, but to be mindful of the lessons learned. To turn again from the great Australian silence, and towards each other.

And to again say: we are sorry.

And as I said when I spoke in support of the original motion here in this place on the other side of the Chamber 14 years ago, sorry can never be given without any expectation of forgiveness. But there can be hope.

I said an apology “involves … standing in the middle ground exposed, vulnerable and seeking forgiveness”.

Forgiveness is never earned or deserved. It can never be justified on the simple weighing of hurts and grievance. Such measures will never rationally tip the balance in favour of forgiveness.

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

I also said fourteen years ago, “sorry is not the hardest word to say, the hardest is I forgive you”.

But I do know that such a path of forgiveness does lead to healing. It does open up a new opportunity. It does offer up release from the bondage of pain and suffering that no simple apology on its own can achieve.

And 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. I know that Danny Abdallah, who together with his wife Leila knows a lot about loss and grief, and they have begun this conversation with Indigenous community leaders through the i4Give you foundation that he has established in memory of their children Antony, Angelina and Sienna and their niece [Veronique].

Out of great tragedy and loss there can rise hope. And I wish them all the very best for these conversations.” [my yellow highlighting]

The response to Morrison’s words on "forgiveness" was immediate.

Our official* response to what Scott Morrison said today:

*polite pic.twitter.com/DRsrdGvcV1

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

News.com.au, 14 February 2022:

“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”. 

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.”