On 13 February 2008, the first sitting of the new parliamentary year, then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd formally acknowledged the immense suffering experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people due to past government policies of forced child removal and decades of mistreatment of Indigenous Australians.
He said:
We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians. We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.
As Mercy people, we continue to seek ways of building reconciliation and healing for those hurt in the past; who continue to feel and be treated as second class people.
So we pray…
God of Justice,
We come to seek your guidance, wisdom and compassion
As we pray for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have been wronged in the past, may our hearts be open to receive your healing grace, so that we in turn bring healing to each other.
We ask this prayer through Christ, our Lord,
Amen