Apologies to the Aborigines.

When white settlers came to Australia, it was inevitable that they would have contact with the native people, whether this contact was amiable or not, depended on both the native tribes and the Europeans sharing the territory. Captain James Cook 'discovered' Australia in 1770 and claimed it, naming the area New South Wales. He did not take into account the race already living there, the Aboriginals. About 20 years later, as more whites began arriving on the continent, convicts from Europe, and made settlements along the coast, they often attacked Aboriginal villages and took the women as sexual slaves. The consequences of this brutal and violent behaviour were children, half white and half Aboriginal. In the century between 1869 and 1969, the foreigners took back these 'half-castes', establishing new laws that enabled them to steal children from their native mothers, and removing them to missionaries. These institutions were an attempt to breed the Aboriginal out of them, and maintain white purity. The children's captors, however, could never prove that the children did not suffer violence and neglect at their hands.

The apology put forth by Kevin Rudd was important, because it may have alleviated some of the enmity felt by the Aboriginals for the Stolen Generations. Wounds, no matter when they were inflicted, never fully heal, unless they are tended too. This relates to the festering emotions of anger, betrayal and fear felt by the those whose children were ripped from them for no valid reason. Although the native people of Australia can never truly forgive and forget the Stolen Generations, with this apology, the Australians and the Aborignals will work towards a healthier relationship, free of any grudges for mistakes of the past.

The colonized Aborignals, even though the Stolen Generations wasn't in their lifetime, will harbour an old prejudice against the whites that took over their land. As a result of this, they would never be able to reach cordial relations, now, with the whites apologizing for their rash behaviour, the Aborignals can forgive and move on. For the colonizers, apologizing must take much pride and regret for the past. It will humble them, and in the process of foriveness, better understand the people and culture they share their country with.