Genocide In Australia Essay

The Aborigines, native people of Australia, have been subjected to restrictive laws, unimaginable treatment, and abuse for over a century. This mistreatment of fellow human beings by the Australian government led to the almost depletion of an entire race of people. Because of this, without a doubt it can be correctly stated that the Australian government committed a genocide of the Aboriginal people. This genocide has left social tears in Australia that are still visible today. The signs that a genocide were going to occur began as soon as Australia began being colonized. When mass amounts of Europeans began traveling to Australia in 1806 they brought along with them a several diseases that proved to be lethal to the Aborigines such as smallpox,

For instance, Aboriginals were prohibited from working certain jobs, owning land, and of course they could have their children taken away (Horvitz and Catherwood 1). These laws were passed during the nineteenth century, and the last of them were not repealed until 1970 (Horvitz and Catherwood 1). However, the effects of these laws are still apparent. Not being able to own property or work certain jobs impoverished many Aborigines, which has been hard to recover from. This poverty combined with the lack of able youth to work in Aboriginal communities has forever affected

One piece of report that was monumental in the acknowledgement of the crimes that the Australian government had committed was entitled the Bringing Them Home Report; it was tabled in to parliament 26 May 1997 (Stolen Generations). This report outlined the cruel, harsh, and often abusive environments that the children of the child removal campaigns were exposed to (Stolen Generations). It also exposed that the true reason the government was removing children was because of racial assumptions, and they were attempting to “breed out” an entire race (Stolen Generations). Because of the Bringing Them Home Report, the Australian government was forced to acknowledge what they had done to the Aboriginal people. However, the current prime minister during the time when the report was released refused to make an apology because, he felt “the current generation should not be responsible for the mistakes of the past” (Stolen Generations). This mentality was met with strong objection from activists, and with increasing awareness, an official apology from the Australian government was issued in 2007 (Stolen Generations). The Australian Aborigines have been put through wretched ordeals in the past century, and their suffering has forever changed a continent. However, because of their strength and resilience, there is hope for the future. The Stolen Generations