Shepparton Apology Breakfast 2021 – Online

Shepparton Region Reconciliation Group co-convenors Dierdre Robertson and Bobby Nicholls

The Shepparton Apology Breakfast will move online this year for the first time in its history, to protect Elders from ongoing COVID-19 concerns. the Apology Breakfast will be broadcast online on Friday 12th of February, 2021, at the corrected time of 10:00am on the Council’s Facebook Page.


The event, to be streamed from Shepparton’s Eastbank Centre at 8:00am on February 12, will acknowledge the 13th anniversary of the National Apology to Stolen Generations.

Shepparton Region Reconciliation Group co-convener Dierdre Robertson said there was “barely a family in the Aboriginal community” that hadn’t been impacted by the Stolen Generations. “It’s just so overwhelmingly sad,” she said. “The impacts of the Stolen Generations reverberates down through every generation.

“This is what families have to live with and deal with, and we can’t move forward until we acknowledged that it happened — and it destroyed communities.”

While up to 500 people attended the event last year, Ms Robertson said the online format would give young people an opportunity to share their stories with the community.

Shepparton Christian College representatives will read the apology, alongside speeches from indigenous storyteller Natarsha Bamblett and City of Greater Shepparton Mayor Kim O’Keeffe, and a song from Lily Walker.

“For the wider community, sometimes they think ‘they’ve had the apology, what more do they need?'” she said. “If you have something every year recognising the event, it keeps it alive — saying ‘we’ve still got work to do’ keeps nudging everyone to act.

“This is about truth telling — telling stories and hearing lots of different people tell their stories, so the wider community who might not be as familiar with these things understand that intergenerational trauma.”

You are warmly invited to watch the online Shepparton Apology Breakfast to acknowledge the 13th Anniversary of the National Apology.

When: Friday 12th of February, 2021, at 10:00am
Where: Online via Council’s Facebook page
Contact: Dierdre on 5821 6600 or dierdre@hearsoft.com.au
Watch on Council’s Facebook page or YouTube
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreaterShepparton/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqWIOozZgFneoP4e8lMp9rg
Download a Flyer for this Event

 

Bobby and Dierdre
Shepparton Region Reconciliation Group co-convenors Dierdre Robertson and Bobby Nicholls, in front of the statue of the late activist William Cooper.

Shepparton Region Reconciliation Group co-convener Bobby Nicholls said it was now five years since the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children. “But in 2020 and 2021, there are more children that have been removed from their natural parents and placed in care than in the 50s and the 60s,” he said.

“When I hear that, it saddens us as Aboriginal people, that we work within a system that has continued to fail our people.” While Mr Nicholls said the national apology was “tokenistic” he said it was vital to “look at solutions to see how we resolve these issues” — particularly for the next generation of indigenous people.

“You ask Aboriginal families today, what did ‘sorry’ mean to Aboriginal people?” he said. “You never get over what happened to you, it’s horrific. You are scarred for life, whether you are a parent or the child. “Whether we have 400 people in the park or 40 people at Eastbank, someone will shed a tear — silently or emotionally.”

For Ms Robertson, acknowledgement was the first step to meaningful change. “To start with, we need an increase in awareness,” she said. “And that’s one of the important things about having this event every year, to make sure people know — especially young people — and remember. “We really invite the rest of the community to participate, have those conversations with your families and friends.”

You can read the Bringing them Home report to the Stolen Generations here: https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/bringing-them-home-report-1997

You are warmly invited to watch the online Shepparton Apology Breakfast to acknowledge the 13th Anniversary of the National Apology.

When: Friday 12th of February, 2021, at 10:00am
Where: Online via Council’s Facebook page
Contact: Dierdre on 5821 6600 or dierdre@hearsoft.com.au
Watch on Council’s Facebook page or YouTube
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreaterShepparton/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqWIOozZgFneoP4e8lMp9rg
Download a Flyer for this Event


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