protected not stolen generation, page-14

My father worked for the then Qld Dept of Aboriginal and Islander Affairs (as a clerk) in the late 1930s and my mother was a nursing sister in western communities. While neither were directly involved in policy or it's implementation, they honestly believed that what was happening was in the best interests of children.

Life then was very hard in the "camps" and children, particularly any with white blood, were at the bottom of the pecking order for scarce resources. Many would never make it to adulthood. What we perceive now as "paternalism" was people trying to do their best at the time.

Interesting that many who would call my parents racists (totally baseless) would, I suspect, be calling for action on CO2 JUST IN CASE it might be necessary. The social workers at the time had similar motives.

Also it should be noted that the modern rhetoric doesn't match the facts of the time in another way. My wife's family has strong links to the west although they were not graziers. In her family there is an "uncle" who is aboriginal. He was left behind at a station once when the tribe "went walkabout". They were ,of course, coming back but never did so he was raised as part of the family. Is he considered as a "stolen child"? He would never say so but has he been lumped into some statistics?