My Shadow Is Your Shadow
In 1905, the Western Australian government removed thousands of Aboriginal children from families to address the 'half-caste problem', but despite three decades of national inquiry and 16 years of Pri…
My Shadow Is Your Shadow
In 1905, the Western Australian government removed thousands of Aboriginal children from families to address the 'half-caste problem', but despite three decades of national inquiry and 16 years of Prime Minister Rudd's apologies. Thousands of Aboriginal children were taken from their families and communities under a government program that attempted to eliminate the so-called 'half-caste problem' in twentieth century Western Australia. Fearing that a growing mixed-race population posed a threat to white Australian society and influenced by the racist ideas of the eugenics movement of the time, the state government passed laws in 1905 that enabled the systematic removal of mixed-race children from their families, and the strict control of Aboriginal marriages and reproductive freedom, in an effort to 'breed out the colour' over several generations. The over-arching policy of forced social assimilation, which persisted through the 1960s, sought to smash the connections between mixed-race children and their Aboriginal families, culture, language and land. The social devastation and intergenerational trauma caused by these policies, to this day, are compellingly recounted by Stolen Generation Survivors in a new 59-minute documentary - "Genocide in the Wildflower State". Stolen Generations Survivors demand a response to the crucial question: why is it that almost three decades since a national inquiry found this to be genocidal (Bringing Them Home report), and sixteen years since Prime Minister Kevin Rudd formally apologised to them, WA has failed to commit to redress and compensation, when all other states (bar Queensland) have done so? Believing much can be done to heal the ongoing wounds of this catastrophe, Stolen Generations Survivors appeal to WA parliamentarians to 'work with us to put the trouble at the heart of this state to rest'. —Frank Rijavec and Steve Mickler
My Shadow Is Your Shadow
Drama
Film Details
In 1905, the Western Australian government removed thousands of Aboriginal children from families to address the 'half-caste problem', but despite three decades of national inquiry and 16 years of Prime Minister Rudd's apologies. Thousands of Aboriginal children were taken from their families and communities under a government program that attempted to eliminate the so-called 'half-caste problem' in twentieth century Western Australia. Fearing that a growing mixed-race population posed a threat to white Australian society and influenced by the racist ideas of the eugenics movement of the time, the state government passed laws in 1905 that enabled the systematic removal of mixed-race children from their families, and the strict control of Aboriginal marriages and reproductive freedom, in an effort to 'breed out the colour' over several generations.
The over-arching policy of forced social assimilation, which persisted through the 1960s, sought to smash the connections between mixed-race children and their Aboriginal families, culture, language and land. The social devastation and intergenerational trauma caused by these policies, to this day, are compellingly recounted by Stolen Generation Survivors in a new 59-minute documentary - "Genocide in the Wildflower State". Stolen Generations Survivors demand a response to the crucial question: why is it that almost three decades since a national inquiry found this to be genocidal (Bringing Them Home report), and sixteen years since Prime Minister Kevin Rudd formally apologised to them, WA has failed to commit to redress and compensation, when all other states (bar Queensland) have done so? Believing much can be done to heal the ongoing wounds of this catastrophe, Stolen Generations Survivors appeal to WA parliamentarians to 'work with us to put the trouble at the heart of this state to rest'.
—Frank Rijavec and Steve Mickler.