The Prime Minister has been called out for his remarks during an address marking the 14th anniversary of the National Apology to the Stolen Generations.
Speaking in parliament, Scott Morrison apologised for the “lives damaged and destroyed” in his speech and then looked for forgiveness.
"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," he said.
"I also said fourteen years ago, “sorry is not the hardest word to say, the hardest is I forgive you”.
The Prime Minister has received severe backlash for comments.
Describing it as “outright disrespect”, Djab Wurrung Gunnai Gunditjmara woman and Victorian Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe, like others, took to social media.
Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe has slammed the PM on twitter. Source: AAP
“How dare you ask for forgiveness when you still perpetrate racist policies and systems that continue to steal our babies? That is not an apology," she wrote.
The First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria offered a short sharp response to the Prime Minister’s comment.
“Get in the bin,” they said.
Playwright and author, Nakkiah Lui accused the Prime Minister of using “Aboriginal anger as political point scoring.”
“He isn’t trying to say sorry nor does this have anything to do with forgiveness and the stolen generation. He is fanning flames of division by dog-whistling racism: reconciliation is “get over it”,” she said.
Ms Lui also noted that no federal compensation scheme was rolled out for Stolen Generation survivors after the apology, and that several Liberal members of Parliament didn't attend the apology, including the now Defence Minister Peter Dutton.
“Scott Morrison, to now try and use the apology to point score and blame on Aboriginal people … how bloody low,” she said.
Rapper and author, Briggs was quick to point out that "that's not how forgiveness works".
The Prime Minister’s address pressed on an already tender wound as many reflect on the 14-years past.
Stolen Generation survivor Ruth Hegarty was removed in the 1930s. Taken from her mother at 4-years-old, she was sent to Cherbourg Aboriginal Mission and trained as a domestic servant.
Eighty years on, Aunty Ruth still remembers it all.
“Thousands were impacted by these racist policies, taken the children away, they have nearly all gone to their graves now, there are very few left,” she said.
For Aunty Ruth, the apology isn’t enough.
“For those stolen children we need more, we certainly need more,” she said.
“While this day doesn’t help, it's still recognition that Australia has a lot more to do.”
In her address to Parliament, Wiradjuri woman and Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney acknowledged her colleague and friend, Senator Pat Dodson.
Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney delivers a speech recognising the anniversary of the apology to the Stolen Generations. Source: AAP
She asked the Parliament to put themselves in the shoes of a young Mr Dodson, "hiding in the long grass and watching the welfare office take away his mates."
"Put yourself in the shoes of that little boy. Not just in that moment but in the earlier moments of his life that meant he knew that he had to run and hide," she said.
"Imagine what it was like for those that had nowhere to run."
"Put yourselves in the shoes of a three-year old, wrapped in the love of a large family- that love ripped away. Put yourselves in the shoes of parents, loving, caring and grieving."
