An historic partnership has been announced this week to create a long-term partnership between the Beananging Kwuurt Institute (BKI); the Uniting Aboriginal & Islander Christian Congress of WA (UAICC) and the West Australian Stolen Generations Aboriginal Corporation (WASGAC), trading as Yokai: Healing Our Spirit; to support a range of initiatives relating to Truth, Justice and Healing at the former site of Sister Kate’s Children’s Cottage Home in Queen’s Park.
The Chair of BKI, the Reverend Robert Jetta who signed the Memorandum of Understanding with WASGAC this week said, “This is a special moment for BKI as this will enable the long-awaited vision of the late Rev Sealin Garlett, who founded BKI, to be put into place, for BKI to partner with Yokai to enable this site to provide a range of services for Stolen Generations Survivors and their families and for all Aboriginal families who need support”.
The Bringing Them Home Report recommended that “…churches and other nongovernment agencies review their land holdings to identify land acquired or granted for the purpose of accommodating Indigenous children forcibly removed from their families and, in consultation with Indigenous people and their land councils, return that land.”
Reverend Jetta went on to say, “We would like to thank the Uniting Church in WA for following through on this recommendation by transferring ownership of this parcel of land at Sister Kate’s to BKI and UAICC back in 2007. It was this transfer of ownership which is now enabling us to enter into this Partnership with WASGAC.”
Dr Jim Morrison, the Chair of WASGAC also signed the MOU. He stated, “Sister Kate’s is a very appropriate site for the establishment of a Healing Centre as it played a crucial role in the WA Government’s experimental policies to ‘breed out the colour’ in this State.
In 1944 the Commissioner of Native Affairs, A.O. Neville stated “Children placed with Sister Kate are never released to their parents. This would be a direct contradiction of the principle of their segregation from native persons as they are placed with Sister Kate for this very reason.”
“At last month’s Apology Day event in Canberra, the Healing Foundation released a report, which highlighted the sad reality that only 6% of the 54 Recommendations in the 1997 Bringing Them Home Report have been implemented.
They called for urgent responses from Governments, Police and Churches to prevent further trauma and distress. We believe that this Partnership will enable us to work together to support Stolen Generations Survivors and their families and all Aboriginal families impacted by colonisation”, Dr Jim Morrison concluded.
Left to right: Rev Mitchell Garlett, Brett Ingram, Seated: Rev Robert Jetta, Dr Jim Morrison
For Further Comment:
Dr Jim Morrison
