“I’m Sorry” is Not Enough
Morrison’s insensitive call for forgiveness highlights his government’s lack of action on Indigenous policy.
On the 14th anniversary of the 2008 National Apology to the Stolen Generations, Prime Minister Scott Morrison recalled his statement from that same year: “…sorry is not the hardest word to say, the hardest is I forgive you”.
Yet, Morrison’s repeated calls for forgiveness paint him less as an apologetic leader, and more as a petulant child stomping their foot and crying — “can’t you just get over it already?”
The National Apology was a necessary step in acknowledging the trauma of the Stolen Generations and the ongoing disadvantage faced by First Nations people in Australia. But fourteen years on, an apology is no longer sufficient. In anticipation of an upcoming election, we must expect more from our Prime Minister than a half-arsed apology.
For survivors of the Stolen Generation — and in fact all First Nations people — the effects of assimilation policies and colonisation are not confined to a moment in history. Indigenous deaths in custody continue to take place across Australia, children are removed from their homes at an increasing rate, and there remains a critical gap in health outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.
The complex issue of Indigenous disadvantage, economic insecurity and disparities in health and education are a culmination of colonial institutions, namely historical violence, oppression, and intergenerational trauma. Thus, rejecting a linear, perfunctory understanding of colonisation is necessary to accurately understand how prevailing institutions and ongoing colonial ideals shape inequalities and insecurities.
A 2018 report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare stated that Indigenous Australians are “2.1 times as likely to die before their fifth birthday” and have more difficulty accessing health services. The report attributes ‘the Indigenous health gap’ to determinants such as lower levels of education, and insecurities in housing, employment, and income. These impacts are relational in forming contemporary inequalities and insecurities for Indigenous Australians.
Not only do past policies have enduring repercussions, ongoing government policy fails to address key issues.
Alarmingly, the report’s findings regarding the main contributors of the health gap denote 47% as an ‘unexplained component’. This leaves almost half of the gap in Indigenous health outcomes as ‘unexplained’. Arguably, inequality in health outcomes are a culmination of overarching colonial ideas and institutions, and are not in fact, ‘unexplained’.
For example, political, environmental and social factors have all been linked to poor outcomes in health for First Nations people. Failing to address the impacts of colonisation as a determinant in health outcomes typifies the Morrison government’s apathetic approach to Indigenous policy.
Moreover, the removal of First Nations children from their homes has continued to rise in the last ten years. The 2021 Family Matters Report found that over 21 500 children were living in out-of-home care as of June 2020 — making Indigenous children 10 times more likely to be removed from their homes than non-Indigenous.
Not only do past policies have enduring repercussions, ongoing government policy fails to address key issues such as healthcare and child protection. The literature reaffirms that colonisation was not only a catalyst in ‘reversing’ levels of development for Indigenous societies globally, but also attributes contemporary inequality to be a result of colonial institutions, which hinders long-run societal development.
In this case, Indigenous development was ‘hindered’ by colonisation, as pre-existing cultural practices, languages, and familial ties were violently disrupted by British colonisers, which has culminated in contemporary inequality. The dominant view of development is primarily Western, and frames a significant portion of discourse on societal development and inequality. It is therefore pertinent to view colonisation and past assimilation policies as ongoing structures of inequality and disadvantage.
Inequality is relational and does not exist for one society in isolation. Conversely, political economist Max Weber presents an approach indicative of the broader colonial mindset, whereby the ‘colonised’ — in this case Indigenous Australians — are viewed as ‘disadvantaged’ for reasons intrinsic to their own societal structures or cultural beliefs.
Such notions fail to consider not only the extreme impact of colonisation, but also the deeply formed cultural ties, practices and spirituality which have allowed First Nations people to be the world’s oldest living civilisation. This ideology was present in 1788 — Indigenous groups were viewed as ‘backward’ and requiring British assistance to become civilized — and remains prominent in Australian society. Morrison’s continued push for self-accountability and evidence-based Indigenous policy is similarly indicative of this approach.
Yet, nothing better represents the government’s lack of accountability on First Nations issues than Morrison’s anniversary address.
Despite promises made in his address, Morrison’s approach to Indigenous policy presents little hope for Indigenous Australians. In his anniversary speech, Morrison promised to continue working on the Indigenous Voice co-design first announced in 2019. In doing so, he ensures this voice will not be a ‘top-down’ model. However, Morrison’s approach to Indigenous policy has remained both top-down and selective since the policy was announced in 2019.
Key evidence and advice from Indigenous peoples has continually been ignored by the Morrison government — an example of which is apparent in Morrison’s rejection of the Referendum Council’s call for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, which he wrongly deemed a ‘third chamber’.
A national government approach to addressing the intergenerational effects of child removal, remedying inequalities in health, and providing reparations for survivors and their descendants is not only extremely necessary, but vastly overdue. While the government has begun to deliver on the latter, there remains a severe lack of accountability in ongoing practices of child removal.
Yet, nothing better represents the government’s lack of accountability on First Nations issues than Morrison’s address. On what is already an immensely difficult and emotional day, rather than committing to tangible, systemic change the government delivered an apology which failed to address key issues, and instead repeatedly asked for forgiveness.
In proudly re-stating his deeply tone-deaf and privileged sentiment from fourteen years prior, Morrison exhibits not only a lack of empathy, but more importantly a disregard for addressing the issues which underpin persistent Indigenous disadvantage.
Primarily, this author has used the terms Indigenous or First Nations people/s to refer to both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, with an understanding that both historical and enduring experiences between these groups differ.
It is also understood that individual experiences of both contemporary inequality and colonisation are divergent not only between, but also within these groups. Thus, this author endeavours to articulate the significance of colonialism and ongoing Indigenous disadvantage, without diminishing the significance of individual experiences or identities.
Thanks to Caitlin Goston for editing this piece.
