Political Correctness,
It simply doesn't do to recognise the babies taken from young and other mums from the 'mainstream' population.

<Forced adoption was the practice of taking the babies from unmarried mothers, against their will, and placing them for adoption. Former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard offered a national apology to those affected by forced adoptions in 2013.

The Australian Senate Inquiry Report into forced adoption practices found that babies were taken illegally by doctors, nurses, social workers and religious figures, sometimes with the assistance of adoption agencies or other authorities, and adopted to married couples.

Some mothers were coerced, drugged and illegally had their consent taken. Many of these adoptions occurred after the mothers were sent away by their families 'due to the stigma associated with being pregnant and unmarried'. The removals occurred predominately in the second half of the twentieth century. It was a practice which has been described as 'institutionalised baby farming'>

http://tinyurl.com/forcedadoptionaus

I live in inner Sydney, don't forget 2/3's of the Aboriginal population live in the eastern states.

I totally get that & they wouldn't have a clue what Aboriginal Culture is. If fact, for most of them, the only wild life they've ever seen would be in a ZOO.

This is why I make a big distinction between Townies & Bushies. This difference seems to get deliberately confused when discussing the Aboriginal Issue.

Paul1405: Redfern in inner Sydney is Australia's largest Aboriginal community.

My Great Grandmother was born, grew up & died in Redfern. I believe the House or where it used to be is now a Chemist Shop.

OTB: The removals occurred predominately in the second half of the twentieth century. It was a practice which has been described as 'institutionalised baby farming'

As I said My first wife was one of those mothers She was Mentally Ill because of the trauma & I paid for it.

Those who doubt that the plight of half-caste children in aboriginal communities was dire and that a large number of the so-called Stolen Generation were actually such kids being rescued from diabolical situations, would do well to acquaint themselves with the case of Peter Gunner.

By way of background, after the Stolen Generation report the aboriginal legal services were looking for a test case to prove in court the 'truth' of the claims and thereby obtain compensation which the government would be encouraged to offer to all other claimants. Gunner was selected as one of the best examlples of a stolen child.

You can look up the details but the final revelations in court were that Gunner's mother had tried to kill him to hide her shame at having a half-caste or what the aboriginals called 'yella fella'. Such a child was a constant shamefully reminder for the unfortunate girls who bore them. They were often killed or left in the outback. Gunner was left on an ant's nest but was rescued by an aunt who then handed him over to authorities.

Needless to say Gunner didn't win his case. Indeed there has never been a single proven example of an aboriginal kid being 'stolen' for reasons other than their welfare.

The details of history is not all that important, whether Gunner's mother put him on an ant hill, or not. is of little consequence in the wider context of Aboriginal disadvantage in contemporary Australia. The use of specific historical examples like the Gunner case, and then to extrapolate from that the notion that all claims must be suspect, to be perfectly clear that is the inference, blame the victim. Playing the blame game is counter productive to producing positive future outcomes.

"I totally get that & they wouldn't have a clue what Aboriginal Culture is. If fact, for most of them, the only wild life they've ever seen would be in a ZOO."
True, one of the casualties of urbanisation of indigenous people the world over is the loss of language and culture, Aboriginals are no different. That is not to say that with effort both can't make a comeback to some degree, there are examples of that. There are other pressing indigenous issues that need urgent attention, health, education, employment, housing etc. What circumstances brought indigenous people to their present state of disadvantage is of little comfort and certainly no excuse to dodge the issues.

Paul1405: blame the victim.

Unfortunately Paul some times the Victim is the cause of their own misfortune. UnPC I know, but fact.

Paul1405,

You originally thought John Big Mac's assertions about half-caste kids were racist fabrications and asked for corroboration.

I helped out and provided the corroboration. Just one example mind you of a very wide and well-known practice. If you read the Gunner case transcripts you'll find quite a number of people both white and non-white, describing the practice.

So now you've decided that "[t]he details of history is not all that important". So you thought they were important right up to the time when the details showed things you'd prefer not to be so. A seeker after the truth our Paul is not.

Now to your other points. I wasn't extrapolating from one example. It is a fact that there's never been a case of a stolen child proved in court despite several attempts. Indeed there's never been any examples proven of a child taken from loving parents simply because they were aboriginal although that was the claim of the stolen generation advocates.

And I wasn't blaming the victim. The child taken into care is as blameless as can be imagined. And usually its poor mother is more to be pitied than blamed. But equally, those who took to child, put it in care and gave it an education that it would never have received otherwise are also blameless. Good people doing good things in a bad situation.