Comment

Comment by peter b dunn on August 30, 2009 at 4:39pm

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=855914
above a link to an article where an apology has been given to those abused in care.

The formal apology is to acknowledge the mistreatment of the so-called forgotten Australians - orphans, child migrants and others cared for in out-of-home institutions, Families Minister Jenny Macklin said on Sunday.

"This is a very significant statement for those who've suffered so much over many, many years.

"We anticipate around 500,000 people have been affected and, of course, it would be more than that if you count the impact on their families."

But like the apology issued to the stolen generations, it is expected to heighten demand for individual compensation.

The announcement comes five years after a Senate inquiry recommended the federal government apologise for widespread failures in the foster care system.

The inquiry found half a million children suffered from a "litany of emotional, physical and sexual abuse, and often criminal physical and sexual assault", while lack of food, education and health care was widespread.

The government would consult with survivors about how to deliver the apology, Ms Macklin said.

"I want to spend the time working with them to design the event so that it really delivers the healing process that they've been looking for so long."

The government has also pledged $300,000 to the Alliance for Forgotten Australians and Care Leavers Australia Network (CLAN), while promising to set up a national archives system.

Survivors have called the apology a significant turning point in Australian history, but warned the road to recovery would be a long one.

"It will be a great uplifting day (knowing) that we've been taken seriously and that we've been heard," said the alliance's Caroline Carroll, who spent 14 years in five different government institutions.

"We were told every day that we were the scum of the earth, that we came from the gutter and that's where we'd end up.

"We were of no importance, there was no individuality, often we were called by a number, not even a name.

"It's a shameful part of Australia's history."

The alliance wants the federal government to introduce compensation packages above those currently available in Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia of up to $60,000.

Fellow survivor and CLAN spokeswoman Leonie Sheedy says she hopes money will also be spent on rebuilding lost family connections and education programs.

"The saddest legacy is the loss of my family," she said.

Both women applauded the Rudd government for "stepping up" and taking responsibility for the errors of the past, noting the previous government handballed apologies to the states.

Western Australia, NSW and the Uniting Church have already put public apologies on the record, but it was up to the federal government to lead the way.

"It's never too late," Ms Sheedy said.

The opposition says it will support the move.

"A lot of people have been very well served by institutions but for those who weren't and for those who could have been better treated, the precedent was set by the apology to the indigenous generations," opposition families spokesman Tony Abbott told ABC Television on Sunday.

Andrew Murray, a former Democrats senator who was instrumental in setting up the inquiry, says he is delighted.

He says it is important for there to be public recognition of past suffering.

"I'm not just relieved, but I'm delighted and I'm also a bit emotional about it," he told ABC Radio.

"It's a tremendous step forward to a recognition that for many of them, the experience in care was awful or less than was necessary."

The government has promised to consult with survivors, churches and state governments to work on the road ahead.

"We have also begun a dialogue with mothers and children separated by past adoption practices which were inappropriate or unethical," Ms Macklin said.

"The government recognises that the pain and suffering of these women also endures."

Comment by peter b dunn on July 11, 2009 at 12:08am

Again sry above message should be wollongongagainstcorruption.org (T missin )

Below is a picy of a letter My friend got after she been (scheduled) I say kidnapped , given a weeks accommodation in the psych unit, at what cost to the public purse, What law did this woman break to get herself in this situation anyway? and now she gets a bill after other people forcibly enter her home and remover her from her domocile, in my books thats kidnapping, and to send her an bill now re their entry costs to gain entry to her premises, thats the height of either rudness or mental illness itself being manifest by these govt workers. but thats just my opinion

Comment by peter b dunn on June 16, 2009 at 6:19am

sry i made a blue the site above article came from is www.wollongongagainscorruption.org sry

Comment by peter b dunn on June 16, 2009 at 6:15am

Here is a short list of the side effects my friend has been placed on after assesment

Risperadol side effects.txt
and here is an article re a concerned local journalist i got from the site www.wollongongagainstcorruption.com


Our city needs a new start
Graham Larcombe
26-Jul-2008


Voters across NSW will elect their Council representatives on 13 September. Residents of Wollongong and Shellharbour, however, will be excluded from voting. Both cities have had their democratic rights removed. Whilst other councils in NSW vote in local government elections, the residents of Wollongong and Shellharbour are to be ruled by unelected bureaucrats. The New South Wales Government has installed Administrators to run both Councils until 2012. The Government was wrong to take away our communities democratic right to vote. This is not the solution. Whatever our political views, it is important that our community insist on our democratic rights.

Residents in Wollongong were angered at the revelations of corruption in our city. But few were surprised and most believe we have only seen the tip of the iceberg. We have learned to expect very little from our elected representatives. There is a perception in the community that many of our local representatives lack morality. A culture of deal making and political donations has damaged democracy in our region and NSW.

In a packed public meeting held in Wollongong earlier this year, people voted unanimously to call for a Royal Commission into political corruption in our region. The ICAC Inquiry was too narrow. Months after the inquiry finished, ICAC has yet to release its final report into the Wollongong corruption scandals. The ICAC hearings make it even more essential that the local government elections proceed in Wollongong as soon as possible. Suspending elections adds insult to injury by attempting to sweep the scandal under the carpet. This denies local people an opportunity to voice their opinion in the only way that many feel they can have an impact.

We all agree that Wollongong and indeed NSW must change. WAC has been drafting a Wollongong Charter for Ethics and Good Governance. It is being developed through consultations with local residents and inputs from anti-corruption legend John Hatton. The Wollongong Charter is designed to safeguard and strengthen democracy. One of the lessons of the Wollongong fiasco is that representative democracy is not enough. Broader and deeper forms of participation and empowerment of communities must be developed.

The Charter sets out the rights and responsibilities of elected representatives, public officials and the broader community. We asked the Minister for Local Government to return our right to vote and to work with the Wollongong community to develop and implement the Wollongong Charter for Ethics and Good Governance. We hope he will respond positively.

The way our region is governed has resulted in systemic corruption, inefficiency and social injustice. Governance in this region has been from the top down, either through political representatives or bureaucrats enacting decisions made elsewhere. Ordinary people are locked out of decision making. Consultation is a form of window dressing rather than a genuine process to empower our communities to participate and be listened to.

Reform is urgently needed to make sure that the shocking events exposed in Wollongong can't easily occur again. Disclosure of political donations is only one aspect of protecting communities against corruption. The other side of the equation is to avoid the concentration of decision making behind closed doors without transparency, public accountability or right of review.

WAC believes that the best way to fight corruption and incompetence in our region is by deepening community democracy, and improving accountability and transparency. WAC is organising an inaugural Making Community Democracy Work Conference in Wollongong on 16 August to bring together communities from across the state and our region to explore ways to strengthen democracy and governance in localities and regions. Strategies include looking at how more resources and responsibilities can be devolved from higher tiers of government to communities and neighbourhoods.

The Conference will look at how relationships between developer donations and elected representatives can be severed. We will also examine changes to legislation to limit the time a state Minister can sack a Council before calling for new elections. Importantly, it will focus on new models of community democracy, where informed and engaged communities have a greater say in planning for the future and identifying priorities. The Conference looks at more inclusive ways of making decisions, with particular attention to people who have been left out of making inputs in the past.

Wollongong and the Illawarra are facing massive challenges – a faltering economy, poverty, environmental degradation, lack of affordable housing, third world public transport, and lack of support for residents with poor health including mental illness – to name but a few. These problems can only be solved through an empowered and engaged community, not by bureaucrats and political leaders who take our community for granted.

Comment by peter b dunn on June 13, 2009 at 11:17pm

yess it is ridiculous and i appreciate the comments ,, to update i rang the Shellharbour Psychiatric unit and asked to be told re reasons for my friends scheduling and i was told to ring the police by a male nure named trevor who said he would supply police with the details i was seeking as im not a blood relative. So i ring the police as requested to get them to glean the required information rom the male nurse trevor but all the police could inform me of was the she is being assessed at 10.30am on monday 15/6/09. so i then again rang and spoke with trevor in relation to my enquiry and i was hung up on. I then rang the poice and requested to make a complaint re the matter and i was hung up on so i rang back and spoke with senior constable FORT who informed me that there was nothing they can do in relation to the matter. all i was told was that a Dr Murphy will be assessing her on monday and that she was scheduled under section 1 subsection 23 of the mental health act 1995. and if i wanted to make a complaint to make it to the hospital. so it sems its illegal to stop taking your medication or they will schedule you and make you take it to engourge the drug companies profits. FFS What happenned to this wonmans guaranteed constitutional rights. Her mom threatened her 2 months ago that she would do this and no she has. Now thats love for ya

Comment by Sweettina2 on June 13, 2009 at 5:03pm

As a nurse this makes me so ashamed of the industry I have loved so much. I too have seen more than I ever wanted to see, patients treated like cattle...ugh!
Hope she's out and okay. God bless her.

Comment by TheLasersShadow on June 13, 2009 at 5:08am

Its so ridiculous i had to laugh sorry :) Hope the crazys at the ward let the sane women go.