During Senior School Assembly on Monday, Student Executive Member and Davis House Captain, Freya Cantwell delivered a powerful address to students and teachers regarding National Sorry Day, recognised in Australia each year on 26 May. 

An extract of Freya’s Address is provided below: 

“On 26 May 1997, a report called Bringing Them Home was tabled in the Australian Parliament.  

This Report outlined the hardships undergone by Indigenous children who were forcefully removed from their families.  

We now refer to these children as the Stolen Generations. The Report included a list of recommendations for what the Government should do to reconcile and move past their mistakes.  

One piece of advice was for the Government to issue a formal apology to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. And so, exactly a year later, the first National Sorry Day was held.  

A beautiful poem titled I am Sorry written by Stephanie Mulrooney, explains the purpose of National Sorry Day. 

I would like to read it to you all: 

 I Am Sorry 

(A poem dedicated to all First Nations Australians)  

They travelled far across the sea to a strange and distant land,
They claimed your home for a foreign king with a flagpole stuck in sand.
For the failings of my ancestors, I feel compelled to say,
That I am sorry for all they did, and all they took away.  

For the ancient tales no longer told, the words no longer spoken,
For the families that were ripped apart, their hearts forever broken,
For the censoring of our history, too shocking to reveal,
For the wounds we have inflicted that we all must strive to heal.  

For the struggles and injustices that linger to this day,
For the overwhelming sense of loss that never goes away,
For those who do not understand, and those who fail to try,
Who say things like, “That’s in the past, just let sleeping dogs lie.”  

For all of this, I share with you my sadness and my sorrow,
In the hope that we may walk as one towards a new tomorrow.
By learning from our past mistakes, our ignorance and failure,
Perhaps, one day, we will become a reconciled Australia.  

By Stephanie Mulrooney 

So today, and on Friday, which is the actual date of National Sorry Day, I encourage you all to reflect upon the past mistakes our Governments, and our ancestors have made.

It is also a chance to learn more about the current issues facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, one of which our Human Rights Captain, Kaitlin will address now.”