The half a million Australians whose childhoods were shattered through abuse, neglect, and an almost total lack of love in institutionalised care between the 1920s to 1970s were given a new name yesterday: ''The Remembered Australians''.
Previously dubbed ''The Forgotten Australians'', the damaged survivors of a particularly ugly chapter in Australia's history were formally recognised when Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered a heartfelt apology on behalf of the nation.
He recognised the 10,000 child migrants shipped over from Britain after World War II on the false belief that they were orphans, as well as children from Malta who were sent as children often without the consent of their parents to become child labourers.
''We come together today to offer our nation's apology; to say to you, the 'Forgotten Australians', and those who were sent to our shores as children without their consent, that we are sorry,'' Mr Rudd said.
''We look back with shame that so many of you were left cold, hungry and alone and with nowhere to hide and nobody, absolutely nobody, whom to turn [to].''
He apologised to the hundreds of thousands of Australian children who were subjected to physical, sexual and emotional abuse at the hands of government, church and charity-run organisations when their families fell apart through war, poverty, or circumstance.
He acknowledged the physical suffering, emotional starvation and sexual abuse many experienced inside the state- and church-run institutions.
''Today, and from this day forward, it is my hope that you will be called the 'Remembered Australians'.''
Almost 1000 care leavers gathered in the Great Hall for the apology, clutching old photos of lost families and childhood boarding house shots as well as sprigs of wattle for remembrance.
Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull, who spoke in whole-hearted support of the apology, broke down as he retold the story of Peter Hicks a care leaver whose battered childhood suitcase is on display at the National Orphanage Museum in Sydney.
''This little battered suitcase was Peter's one passport to a life beyond the grim orphanage in which he found himself at only 14 months of age,'' Mr Turnbull said.
Mr Hicks used the suitcase to hold his meagre possessions for an annual Christmas stay with a kindly married couple.
As an adult, still desperate to find his mother, Peter wrote away seeking answers.
Then at the age of 40, he received a call out of the blue asking him to visit a woman who was in hospital. The woman his mother was battling cancer and they reunited for a brief six weeks before she passed away.
''Stories like Peter's are a savage indictment on our society, but we must tell them,'' Mr Turnbull said, as a sobbing Mr Hicks rose from the audience to embrace him.
Both political leaders received standing ovations, although the most rousing applause was reserved for former Democrats senator Andrew Murray a child migrant who was sent to an institution in Zimbabwe when he was just two years old who has lobbied tirelessly for formal recognition and an apology to the 500,000 Australian survivors of institutionalised care.
Mr Murray described the apology as ''wonderful''.
''It had the right tone and touch. Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull undoubtedly get it.''
Mr Murray sat through months of emotional testimony from care leavers around the country as he took part in two Senate inquiries the 2001 Lost Innocents and the 2004 Forgotten Australians reports.
Email a friend
Favourites
Del.icio.us
Facebook
Digg
StumbleUpon
MySpace
Reddit
Newsvine
LinkedIn
Kwoff
Twitter