Legislative Assembly

15538 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Thursday 20 September 2012 __________ The Speaker (The Hon. Shelley Elizabeth Hancock) took the chair at 10.00 a.m. The Speaker read the Prayer and acknowledgement of country. CLASSIFICATION (PUBLICATIONS, FILMS AND COMPUTER GAMES) ENFORCEMENT AMENDMENT (R 18+ COMPUTER GAMES) BILL 2012 Message received from the Legislative Council returning the bill without amendment. BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE Notices of Motions General Business Notices of Motions (General Notices) given. APOLOGY FOR FORCED ADOPTION PRACTICES The SPEAKER: I inform members and visitors to the public gallery that this House and the other place will be considering a motion of apology for forced adoptions at 10.30 a.m. Pursuant to resolutions of the House, I shall now leave the chair until the ringing of one long bell at 10.27 a.m. [The Speaker left the chair at 10.11 a.m. The House resumed at 10.32 a.m.] APOLOGY FOR FORCED ADOPTION PRACTICES The SPEAKER: I formally welcome visitors to the public gallery today and inform them that, pursuant to resolutions on 12 and 19 September 2012, the House will now consider the motion of apology for forced adoption practices. The Legislative Council will also now be considering a similar motion. I welcome to the Chamber today a representative of mothers whose children were taken for adoption. Lyn is a mother whose child was taken for adoption in a regional area of New South Wales in earlier years. Lyn is an advocate for many mothers and while no experience can ever be the same as that of another there are common threads. Lyn has written independently to Ministers about the need for an apology and what an apology would mean. I now call on Lyn to address the House and invite the Minister for Family and Community Services, and Minister for Women to escort her to the microphone. [Lyn was conducted by the Minister for Family and Community Services, and Minister for Women onto the floor of the Chamber.] LYN [10.33 a.m.]: The words of this poem are my words and they were written on my journey to heal. I hope it reaches out to those mothers who have experienced the same issues and processes that I have been through. My poem reads: The Child You Stole Was Mine I can pinpoint where the pain had begun When I "relinquished" my son The pain is deep within A lifelong price to pay for my sin. Some may say I could choose But wait until they lose Someone so profound Then they stand on the same shaky ground For nothing will ever equate To a loss so great. 20 September 2012 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 15539 I need you to understand On such a scale so grand How the pain can feel As our feelings reveal Nerve endings it can tear As memories fill us with despair. Many tears tumble like rain They keep falling again and again Trying to muffle the sound I feel I could drown In the torrent of tears that overwhelm. For no-one stands at the helm To steer or guide this ship As into oblivion I slip. I cannot find the words to address What I feel and I must confess The pain doesn't ease or go away Realistically it is there to stay A reminder of when my son was born A son for whom I truly mourn. Our time together ever after they stole Demanding we become whole Did they understand what they asked? As they took us to task "Get on with your lives" they said. By manipulation and lies they led. We cannot take back a single minute Our child's story, where do we begin it? When they took the children from our womb Telling us "In this world there is no room For anyone of your ilk. We take your child; dry up your milk Replace his existence so easily And build him a new identity You have no rights, no say" That was until the apology in WA. Don't ask me to wipe away my tears Don't ask me to stifle my fears For now, years later as God planned, My son, a man, now stands I lost the child for whom I grieve It wasn't my plan for him to leave. You forced us to live apart How do a stranger and I start To cover the intervening years And the reason for all those tears One thing I need you to know Pain everlasting does not show Something I will never forget Nor will others, you can bet To the outside world there is no sign But the child you stole, was mine! Thank you. The SPEAKER: On behalf of the House I sincerely thank Lyn for her very moving address. Mr BARRY O'FARRELL (Ku-ring-gai—Premier, and Minister for Western Sydney) [10.34 a.m.]: I move: That: (1) this House acknowledges the traumatic effects of the forced adoption practices of the past that have echoed through the lives of tens of thousands of mothers, fathers, people adopted as children and their families; and (2) all members of this House, with profound sadness and remorse, say to those living with the ongoing grief and pain of forced adoption practices that we are sorry. 15540 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 20 September 2012 The trauma induced by the forced adoption practices in the past has reverberated through the lives of tens of thousands of mothers and their children who were removed. It has affected fathers who were never given a say, as well as the families who never knew the truth of what went on with the brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews or grandchildren they lost. It caused years of pain and grief for many, instead of the joy and delight that parenthood might reasonably have been expected to bring. Today in this Australia's first Parliament we acknowledge the terrible wrongs that were done and with profound sadness and remorse say to those living with ongoing grief and pain, we are sorry. We have come to know about this shameful episode of our history because of the courage, commitment and strength of many individuals: mothers, fathers, people adopted as children, who refused to stay silent about the injustices they suffered. Their mistreatment was first publicly acknowledged by this Parliament in the December 2000 report, entitled "Releasing the Past", of an inquiry into those past adoption practices. During its inquiry, the Legislative Council Standing Committee on Social Issues received more than 300 written submissions and heard testimony from fathers, mothers and those who were taken for adoption. Committee members heard distressing accounts of actions taken to secure—or not secure—a mother's consent to the adoption of her child. They heard of women routinely denied access to their babies in the hours and days after the birth. This year's Senate committee report on former forced adoption policies and practices also recorded evidence of events last century that led to the babies of many young, single women being taken for adoption. The Senate committee concluded that it was incontrovertible that forced adoption practices were commonplace. It is hard to fathom how these practices were allowed to occur when today in the twenty-first century we celebrate motherhood and family in all its forms. In communities everywhere the image of the expectant mother is one of great joy and hope for the future. But mid last century society did not look kindly on the young, pregnant single woman. Rather, these women usually faced the disappointment of their parents and the disapproval of their community. They were made to feel ashamed. In that time, and with those prevailing attitudes, adoption was believed to offer the perfect solution—a "clean break", a "chance for a fresh start". It was considered to be in the "best interests" of everyone. But the problem was that this policy ignored the fundamental bond between mother and child and the lifelong trauma caused when that bond is prematurely and brutally severed. In the lead-up to today's apology, the Minister for Family and Community Services, Pru Goward, met with many mothers and fathers and people adopted as children to hear their personal accounts of how the experience of adoption had affected their lives. They were heartbreaking stories of loss and grief. These deeply personal and moving recollections reinforced the Senate committee's conclusion that forced adoption practices were wide-ranging and common. One mother told of being lied to about the death of her baby and the torment of living with that lie until she finally learned years later that her son was in fact alive. Another mother spoke of being drugged and sedated to impair both her judgement and her memories of giving birth, and others recounted further dehumanising treatments. An adopted man told of uncovering a desperate and anguished letter from his mother to authorities pleading for her son to be returned to her. A father spoke movingly of the disenfranchisement of his fatherhood as authorities steadfastly ignored his wishes to parent his child. All felt their basic humanity had been violated, trampled, ignored. Some women felt they had been coerced into giving consent and that their right to refuse or revoke consent was deliberately concealed from them. Although no two experiences were the same, they all shared a single claim: all were extremely vulnerable and in great need when they were denied the care and support they deserved. As a parent, I find it almost impossible to comprehend the pain caused by such treatment—and equally incomprehensible is the resilience of those who lived and continue to live with the wounds inflicted.

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