Stolen generation compensation case in Federal Court
Source: AAP | Published: Monday August 9 2:35:10 PM
Two members of the stolen generation of Aborigines will tomorrow appear
in the Federal Court to sue the
Commonwealth of Australia for being taken from their families.
Lorna Cubillo and Peter Gunner are asking the Commonwealth for
compensation and punitive damages for
forcibly removing them from their homes as eight-year-olds in 1945 and
1956 respectively.
Their battle is an important test case for the estimated 30,000 people
subjected to the official policy which only
ended in the 1970s.
The civil action follows a failed campaign in the High Court, known as
the Kruger case, which sought to prove a
law allowing mixed-descent children in the NT to be removed from their
full-blood mothers was unconstitutional.
The claimants' solicitor, Michael Schaefer, is expecting a tough fight
from the Commonwealth, with over 700
other clients from the stolen generation lined up behind Mrs Cubillo and
Mr Gunner with Federal Court writs in
the Northern Territory.
The claimants have not specified how much they want the government to
pay but Mr Schaefer has suggested
the government set up a tribunal to deal with future cases if this case
is won.
"If needs be we will run every one of the 700-odd cases we have got (in
court)," Mr Schaefer said.
The federal government has already spent $3.5 million on the case and
its legal team has already tried to stop
it from going ahead.
However, Judge Maurice O'Loughlin ordered it be heard on the grounds
that it was of national importance.
The hearings are expected to be highly emotional with tight scrutiny
being paid to minute and often painful
details of Mrs Cubillo and Mr Gunner's lives.
They will be arguing the government was negligible and breached its duty
of care towards them and that they
sustained psychological injuries and "loss of amenities of life".
"These are essentially personal injuries claims," Mr Schaefer said.
"It's important because Australians will have a first hand account of
one of the most terrible chapters in this
country's history - the removal of children of mixed racial background
from communities of friends and families
without consent."
The hearings are expected to run for three months and travel to Tennant
Creek, Alice Springs and Melbourne.
The case follows the release two years ago of the Human Rights and Equal
Opportunities Commission report
into the stolen generation which sparked heated debate on the question
of saying sorry for the policy.
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