Max,

The topic is not race specific.

The topic concerns children involved in the the old child migrant schemes and children incarcerated within state run orphanages, children who were subject to religious, govt and other care providers. It "specifically" concerns children ABUSED and NEGLECTED while under this care.

Your post was sarcastic, and displayed a lack of sensitivity and understanding of the issue.

It's a serious issue.

Hey Max, Stolen were aboriginals taken from family and culture.

Forgotten were in institutions with no family generally and culture ignored.

And a lot suffered either way.

Or that was my understanding.

I guess the victims themselves decide which one they belong. It hasn’t stopped though. Maybe the forgotten and stolen could help this generation.

And I reiterate, apart from the source of the kids, what’s the difference?
They were all kids taken from their homes, to “improve” their lives. They were all handled by the same authorities, and suffered the same abuses and neglect, and later the same hard lives.
Everyone seems to ignore the fact that there were a heck of a lot of positive outcomes as well, good lives found, education and careers established that never would have been possible otherwise. Why focus only on the bad ones, look at the whole picture instead.
As for this statement..” Your post was sarcastic, and displayed a lack of sensitivity and understanding of the issue.” I suspect it’s because you don’t like the question, not any lack on my part, so tough.
A: it wasn’t sarcasm, except to you.
B: Care to demonstrate how a legitimate question displays a lack of sensitivity.
C: The same for a lack of understanding?
Or is it simply that I’m failing to be suitably PC on the issue? I’m suffering from “wrong-thinking”? Mustn’t question the established “truth”?
I think perhaps you would do better to expand your horizons, try and see what happened in the context of the time and society it happened in, not some Idealistic”shoulda bin”.
Re-interpreting history is a waste of time, most of the people concerned truly believed they were doing the right thing, and did their best. That it was a disaster is a human failing, and shouldn’t be used in the never-ending “victim/compensation” game so beloved of the Idealists

Every person on this planet can claim victim status. My mother was in an orphanage for 8 years from the age of 3. Never once have I heard her complain or look for an apology. There needs to come a time when people stop wallowing and get on with life. To continue living with a victim mentality is soul destroying. An apology from the Government would do nothing as shown by Mr Rudd's symbolic gesture to our first people. Only a determination to forgive and get on with life will heal wounds.Look at how many of the Jewish people have got on with life after WW2. This sounds hard to some but the sooner people realise that every day is a gift and to sit around moping is a wasted life.

Thanks Max for that post. You have confirmed my suspicion that you have no understanding of the 'actual' topic, and the tragedies involved. "Of course" some care providers (the vast majority) performed their duties appropriately.

You seem to be trying to turn these tragic happenings in young peoples' lives into some rather obnoxious platform for you to make politicised statements based on your political opinions.

The topic is not race specific nor political outlook specific.

The topic is about these neglected children who suffered terribly, and efforts being made to recognise this suffering. Some of the practices and tragedies, especially in the 50's, were horrific.

The topic is about these neglected children who suffered terribly, and efforts being made to recognise this suffering.

Funny, isn’t that EXACTLY what I was talking about, the only difference is, I don’t draw a false line between the races, you do. You’re betraying you’re underlying racism, and shame us all thereby. Even you’re nom de’ plume is a “Freudian slip”, surely?
Like all closet racists, you resort to “playing the man”, abuse replaces discussion.
I haven’t said a word about politics. You haven’t answered a single question.
Discussion is people offering their differing points of view and defending them, which I have done, yet all you can do is try and howl me down with unfounded accusations, typical of the closed-mind approach of racists.
Until people like you confront themselves and deal with their failings, no amount of “apologies” or compensation will make an iota of difference,
“Those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them”
Look at the whole history, not just a slice, taken out of context, re-interpreted it in your own narrow way, soley because it suits you’re racist outlook.
I don’t want to see such things happening to ANY children, ever again, but until we grasp the nettle and deal with what actually happened, and put it behind us, there can be no healing, just illusions that satisfy the conscience of the Idealists, and the simplistic-minded.
It will keep happening until we learn. Wouldn’t prevention be better than an apology