Clarifying of What the Western Australian Apology Meant to Most Mothers and Adoptees

SUPPLEMENTARY TO SUBMISSION 129
SUE MACDONALD

I had the privilege to listen to the Victorian hearing last week, however, I was rather perturbed about statements concerning the disappointment of Western Australian mothers with the W.A. Parliamentary apology.
I feel compelled to enlighten a few people who have negatively commented.

This disappointment is simply not true! This opinion was borne out of a report by the Australian Newspaper with the headline W.A. Mothers Disappointed with Barnett’s Apology.
I WAS THE MOTHER INTERVIEWED BY THIS NATIONAL NEWSPAPER ON THE STEPS OF PARLIAMENT HOUSE the day of the apology. I was asked whether the apology met my expectations. I said that I was disappointed initially with Mr. Barnett’s words but as the apology unfolded in its bi-partisan approach, the apology blossomed and created immense satisfaction and emotional healing for all. Wanting to report the sensationalist aspect of that statement, the reporter honed in on the slight negative and did not report the enormous positives.

I have been in touch with Past Adoption Services on many occasions and been told that the women now approaching them were absolutely thrilled.
The apology had empowered them to come forward and address that part of their lives. This apology has gone a long way in helping them step out of their shadows of toxic shame.
This shame belongs and rightly so, to the perpetrators of the torture endured by them all those years ago. Imagine the healing of the doubts which haunt our children’s’ minds and hearts – living with the idea that they were not wanted and just given away.

I have remained removed from the apology/inquiry debate deliberately since I embarked on this journey two years ago. As a matter of fact, when I first appeared on television I called for both. I believed that both were necessary. I assessed that an apology first with all the publicity it would bring, would give immediate acknowledgement of the wrong that was done to the women and their babies. An apology from such a high place would help our children understand, acknowledge the wrongdoing/suffering, which is the first step in healing trauma, draw Commonwealth Government attention to the issue and finally rebalance the scales of a very one sided public view.

Two years ago I was admonished by the anti-apology campaigners and despite deliberate attempts by them to sabotage THIS POWERFUL HISTORICAL EVENT, myself and a group of wonderful dedicated and courageous women ignored this sabotage and fought on. What came out of this apology is acknowledgement of the TRUTH AND AN ADMISSION BY GOVERNMENT THAT WHAT HAPPENED TO US WAS WRONG.

The W.A. apology was A GIANT LEAP FORWARD in exposing a very dark part of this nation’s history and will serve as a constant reminder not to do this again to women and their children. To undermine its significance with absolute nonsense is to undermine the confidence and belief of the beautiful women and children who SUFFERED AND SURVIVED the torture of being separated at birth.