This was done by Australians to Australians, enemies in our midst, enemies in our midst.
Aussie PM apologises to child sex abuse victims
SCOTT MORRISON, Australian prime minister apologising to child sex victims
AUSTRALIAN Prime Minister Scott Morrison issued a national apology to thousands of victims of institutional sex abuse yesterday, admitting the state utterly failed to stop “evil, dark crimes” committed over decades.
“This was done by Australians to Australians, enemies in our midst, enemies in our midst,” Morrison said in an emotional address to Parliament, designed as a belated apology to the 15,000 known survivors of child abuse.
“As a nation, we failed them, we forsook them, and that will always be our shame,” he said, recounting abuse that a government inquiry had shown was rife in schools, churches, orphanages, sports clubs and other institutions across the country over decades.
Morrison’s voice cracked and trailed off as he recounted a history of exploitation, cover-ups and state failure.
He declared a new national credo for future allegations: “We believe you.”
The state apology came after a five-year royal commission that detailed harrowing child sex abuse claims involving once welltrusted institutions.
“Today, we say sorry, to the children we failed. Sorry. To the parents whose trust was betrayed and who have struggled to pick up the pieces. Sorry. To the whistleblowers, who we did not listen to. Sorry,” Morrison said.
“To the spouses, partners, wives, husbands, children, who have dealt with the consequences of the abuse, cover-ups and obstruction. Sorry. To generations past and present. Sorry.”
In Parliament, lawmakers stood for a moment of silence following the remarks, as hundreds of survivors looked on or watched in official events across the country.
Normal parliamentary business, a session of prime minister’s questions, was suspended in a bipartisan show of respect.
Outside the parliamentary chamber, relatives of victims wore tags with the names of departed daughters and sons, brothers and sisters, for whom the apology came too late.
After meeting some of the victims, Morrison told journalists “I’ve never felt such pain in one room, ever”.
A series of Australian institutions have already apologised for their failings, including Australian Catholic leaders who have lamented the church’s “shameful” history of child abuse and cover-ups.
According to the Royal Commission, seven per cent of Catholic priests in Australia were accused of abuse between 1950 and 2010, but the allegations were rarely investigated, with child victims ignored and even punished.
Some senior members of the church in Australia have been prosecuted in relation to the abuse.
The Australian government had previously issued formal apologies for the mistreatment of Aboriginal Australians, for forced adoptions and homosexual convictions.
There are growing calls for an apology for the military’s treatment of gay, bisexual and transgender personnel.