Victims welcome national apology
CHILD sex abuse survivors cried, yelled and clapped with raw emotion as they received a historic national apology for the pain inflicted upon them.
“I believe you, we believe you, your country believes you,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison told Parliament.
He then read the official apology to survivors and their families, who gathered in Parliament’s Great Hall with a mix of sadness, anger and relief. “What happened was not your fault,” Mr Morrison said.
The apology evoked mixed feelings from survivors, most of whom welcomed the sentiment but called for more to be done.
Rick Venero was abused at a Marist Brothers school in Sydney, and he now wants action taken against institutions who protected paedophiles.
“(The apology) meant a great deal. It’s fantastic to get that from the Australian people,” Mr Venero said. “(But) it’s pretty shattering actually, to come here and everyone’s behind it, and the power of these institutions means that nothing’s really happening.”
One man, who asked not to be named, whose schoolfriends were abused by a Catholic priest, said the apology had come too late.
“Some people are going to be haunted by it forever,” he said after watching the broadcast at a ceremony in Melbourne. “Some people have already killed themselves.”
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said Australia had failed tens of thousands of children, across generations.
“The words of this apology must come with action,” Mr Shorten said. “It is not the time for government or institutions to haggle over the dollars, to hide behind the lawyers.”
Mr Morrison said it was a day to confront key questions: “Why weren’t the children of our nation loved, nurtured and protected? Why was their trust betrayed?”
The two leaders held hands with apology reference group chairwoman Cheryl Edwardes
THE WORDS OF THIS APOLOGY MUST COME WITH ACTION BILL SHORTEN
as Mr Morrison read the official apology out loud for the first time. Mr Morrison paid tribute to Julia Gillard for setting up the child abuse royal commission and the former Labor prime minister attracted standing ovations from survivors.
The government has rolled out a national redress scheme, with a new office of child safety to report to the Prime Minister.
Mr Morrison also announced a National Centre for Excellence to raise awareness of the impacts of child sexual abuse and a national museum. He and Mr Shorten also agreed to cancel Question Time yesterday out of respect to survivors.