Stolen Generations:  Back to Manga Manda

Speech delivered by Michael Schaefer - 5 June 2004

at plaque unveiling ceremony Phillip Creek, NT

Firstly, I wish to acknowledge the traditional owners of this land, the Warumungu people and their Elders present here, and thank them for their hospitality. I am mindful of the fact that other groups were also relocated to this place and I acknowledge their Elders also present today.  

We have come here to remember and commemorate events which occurred here nearly 60 years ago. These events hold special significance not just for the Warumungu people but for members of the Stolen Generations throughout Australia. The events which transpired here should never be forgotten. They stand as testament to the policy of the Commonwealth of Australia of the removal of children from their families, culture and land and forced detention of them in institutions far from their kin and their country. Although these events are now acknowledged in the broader Australian community, the great loss and hurt caused by them remains.

In 1946, the place known as Phillip Creek was a ration depot where Aboriginal people including the Warumungu People congregated. A small mission settlement, known as Manga - Manda had been established with several mud brick residences, a store, a kitchen/ dinning room complex, dormitories and a school. Many children lived with their families at the settlement and attended the rudimentary school. Lorna Cubillo was one of these children. In that year and early one morning 16 children from the mission were told of an outing in the bush away from the settlement. A picnic had been organised and the children including Lorna were put on the back of an open truck. The children soon realised the deception when they saw adults around the truck crying and wailing and witnessed a female missionary trying to remove a baby, still being breast fed from her mother.

Lorna recounted this distressing scene in her evidence before the Federal Court in Darwin. "There were many Aboriginal people around the truck. There was a commotion. There was a lot of people crying, people were hitting themselves with hunting sticks and blood was poring down their faces. We were crying and there was a lot confusion. I was scared. I wasn't even sure if I would be killed. I didn't know what was happening. I was in a state of confusion and so were the other children. We were all on the truck. Then as the truck moved off, the Aboriginal people chased us and we went around the creek that had some water and they chased us until they disappeared into a cloud of dust that was left by the truck that we were on." The Patrol Officer who drove the truck gave evidence in the Darwin Court case. He described the event, the removal of these children a scene he never wished to experience again.

Lorna Cubillo was removed along with the other children on the truck to the Retta Dixon Home in Darwin. She was detained there until 1956. The Retta Dixon Home was an institution where the children had little or no love and affection. She had no communication with her family during these years. She was told that her culture the dances and songs which formed such an important part of her culture were works of the devil. The missionaries told her that Aborigines were condemned to the eternal fires of hell. Lorna and the other children on that truck lost all communication with their families and their culture. Her childhood was full of despair, loneliness and distress. Her removal and institutionalisation caused lasting psychological harm borne by her to this very day.

In his opening address to the Federal Court in March 1999 Counsel for Lorna Cubillo and Peter Gunner, Mr Jack Rush QC described in detail the shocking scenes which took place here nearly 60 years ago. Mr Rush told the Court "the evidence that will be called in these cases will demonstrate misery, trauma and abuse, will demonstrate the separation of Aboriginal children from their parents, community and culture, will demonstrate significantly the separation from country. Yet despite this treatment, the evidence will disclose that the spirit had remained indomitable and long cherished ideals and aspirations have shone through. The connection of Aboriginal people to their land, to their culture and to their traditions and families has triumphed". This ceremony is significant. It is direct evidence of that triumph. The truth will not be denied. The righteousness of the cause of those members of the Stolen Generations including the children who were removed from this place so many years ago will not be denied. To quote the former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser in 2000; "while we reject the attitudes that led to these policies, we also need to have enough humility to recognise that our condemnation comes from a later stage in human development. It is a mark of how Australia has travelled. It is a mark also of how far much of the world has travelled. All the more reason for today's Australians officially to express their sorrow at what has happened".

I am here as a representative of the entire legal team in the Cubillo and Gunner case. I am proud to be part of today's commemoration. I have been inspired by the courage shown by all members of the Northern Territory Stolen Generations and I am honoured to have stood with them in their fight for justice.