IV 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 242 

Recognizing the apology offered by the Government of Australia to the aboriginal people and its significance as a gesture of healing for this 

proud nation. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 12, 2009 

Mr. HASTINGS of Florida (for himself, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. 

FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. MEEKS of New York, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. 

CLAY, Mr. MEEK of Florida, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. AL GREEN of 

Texas, and Ms. FUDGE) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by 

the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the apology offered by the Government of Australia to the aboriginal people and its significance as 

a gesture of healing for this proud nation. 

Whereas indigenous Australians are a people of many languages and traditions who arrived on the continent more 

than 50,000 years ago, and have one of the oldest continuing cultures on earth; 

Whereas violence, discrimination, and disenfranchisement 

played a significant role in European and indigenous 

Australian relations, including the mass killings of indigeVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:38 Mar 12, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR242.IH HR242

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•HRES 242 IH 

nous Australians by European settlers during the 18th 

century, restricting indigenous Australians from having 

the unqualified right to vote in Australia until 1962, and 

forcibly removing children of indigenous and Torres 

Strait Island ancestry from their homes and communities 

and assimilating them in White families and orphanages 

for much of the 20th century, victims of which have become known as the ‘‘Stolen Generations’’; 

Whereas the adoption of such discriminatory laws and policies by the Australian Government undoubtedly contributed to the poverty, unemployment, substandard education, crime, and poor health care that continue to devastate indigenous communities; 

Whereas despite centuries of official and unofficial systems of 

discrimination, Australia’s indigenous people have made 

profound contributions to Australia’s social fabric; 

Whereas indigenous Australians were inspired by the American Civil Rights Movement and organized against institutionalized discrimination from the 1950s through the 

1970s to fight for the rights and privileges that they were 

denied in their native country; 

Whereas, on February 13, 2008, after decades of requests 

from activists and elected officials asking the Australian 

Government to express an unqualified apology for its 

treatment of indigenous Australians, Australian Prime 

Minister Kevin Rudd apologized on behalf of the Australian Government and its Parliament for the Stolen 

Generation and the overall ‘‘past mistreatment’’ of indigenous Australians, and promised to address the resulting 

social, economic, and health disparities in indigenous 

communities; 


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•HRES 242 IH 

Whereas, as part of this apology, Prime Minister Rudd also 

promised to ‘‘harness the determination of all Australians’’ to close the gap that lies between indigenous 

and non-indigenous Australians in life expectancy, educational achievement, and economic opportunity; 

Whereas Australia’s national apology for the atrocities that 

it committed against the indigenous people is a significant expression of Australia’s willingness to come to 

terms with its past to better understand its present and 

build a better future; and 

Whereas Prime Minister Rudd, in a speech delivered to the 

Australian Parliament on February 26, 2009, renewed 

Australia’s determination to address the disparities faced 

by indigenous people and committed to a national investment of $4,600,000,000 over 10 years to programs aimed 

at eliminating these disparities: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) commends the Australian Government for 

3 acknowledging the injustices of its past in order to 

4 understand the injustices of its present and prevent 

5 these injustices from continuing in the future; 

6 (2) joins with the Australian Government in 

7 hoping that this apology marks the start of a more 

8 open and fluid communication between the indige9 nous community and the Australian Government, in10 cluding a commitment to addressing the social, eco11 nomic, and health issues that disproportionately af12 fect indigenous Australians; 


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•HRES 242 IH 

1 (3) regards the Australian Parliament’s historic 

2 recognition of its past wrongs as an inspiration for 

3 other multi-ethnic nations around the world to ac4 knowledge the injustices of its past in order to un5 derstand the injustices of its present and prevent 

6 these injustices from continuing in the future; and 

7 (4) remains committed to comprehensively ad8 dressing the economic, educational, and health-re9 lated disparities that continue to affect some Black, 

10 indigenous, and other communities of color because 

11 of discriminatory laws that were authorized and en12 forced by the United States local, State, and na13 tional governments. 

Æ 


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