John Bond, former Secretary of the National Sorry Day Commmittee, offers some reflections on opportunities for change in Australia.
When the idea for Sorry Day first came up, John Bond was a full-time worker for Initiatives of Change (IofC), living in Canberra. Bringing Them Home, the 1997 report from a Federal government inquiry into the practice of removing Aboriginal children from their families, had just been released. John and his colleague Andrew Lancaster initiated a three-day campaign, in cooperation with Canberra’s churches, which brought the report to the attention of thousands in the national capital. One of report’s 54 recommendations was to hold a national ‘Sorry Day.’
Thousands mobilised around the concept. Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians came together and invited the whole Australian community to express their sorrow and solidarity with survivors of the Stolen Generations through such an event.
John Bond served as Secretary of the National Sorry Day Committee for nine years. The first Sorry Day took place on 26 May 1998. With many others, he campaigned for the Federal Government to make a public apology. It was another 10 years before this campaign came to fruition, when then-Prime Minister Kevin Rudd finally acknowledged “the profound grief, suffering and loss” inflicted on Aboriginal people through this policy. National Sorry Day is now a yearly event.
Sixteen years on from the national Apology, John now lives in the UK with his wife Mary Lean, herself a lifelong worker for Initiatives of Change. On 7 November, on a trip back to Australia, the couple hosted a fireside chat at Armagh, our Australia-Pacific Centre in Melbourne, in which they reflected on the personal practices underpinning the change process.
Learning from the change process
John and Mary noted the importance of daily quiet time—a time of self-reflection and seeking guidance from the Divine, heard as one’s inner voice—as a way to be vulnerable and open to challenge. As a practice for inner and outer change, “starting with ourselves” in this way also promotes clarity on our own values and the messages we want to put out into the world.
Other practices for change included:
- Being a “point of linkage” for those with a story to tell and those with a desire to learn.
- Finding creative ways to communicate on areas for resolution and positive change.
- Recognizing that building partnerships to sustain such efforts will take time—time in which we can learn from others and share with them what we know
- Appreciating that small achievements can build to public events.
- Building relationships with people who hold public office, without judging them.
- Documenting the journey, so as to bear witness to change and assist others on their journey.
Legacy and influence of Australia’s Apology
In a letter to friends after the 7 November event, John reflected further on the long arc of change in relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. He noted, “A new book, Naku Dharuk, the Bark Petitions, by historian Clare Wright, tells of the struggle for justice of the Yolngu people at Yirrkala in the Northern Territory when their land was expropriated for mining in the early 1960s. Parliamentarian Kim Beazley Sr, while visiting Yirrkala, saw the bark paintings in their chapel, and urged them to petition Parliament on a bark painting. This brought wide publicity to the petition, and led the Government to agree to a commission of enquiry, which recognised Aboriginal rights to land for the first time.
“This is only one of many initiatives through which Australians, inspired by Initiatives of Change[1] have helped restore to Aboriginal people the dignity which British settlement ripped from them.”
Australia’s apology, John added, has had international repercussions. “Canada immediately followed Australia with an apology for similar policies[2], including widespread initiatives for healing which have proved effective. Recently President Biden also apologised for the USA’s removal policies.[3]
“It was good to see the continuing work – the Myall Creek reconciliation action, the Turruk programme at Armagh, and much more. This is all needed, for Australia and the world.”
Three ideas for change
John also highlighted three other arenas in which he sees prospects for positive change, potentially led by Australians.
On Israel-Palestine relations, he wote: “We recognise that much responsibility for this conflict lies with Britain, as has been brought home to British people by the Balfour Project, which was initiated by a doctor active with IofC in Scotland.
“Among others, we are working with senior retired Israeli diplomats who believe that the only way to a permanent peace is to create a Palestinian state alongside Israel. We have had valuable encounters in Parliament as they work to convince our political leaders to take the first step—recognise Palestine as a sovereign nation.
“If Australia did this, it would be a significant step towards the achievement of a Palestinian state. Any encouragement which Australian citizens could give our political leaders would be well worth doing.”
On climate change, he wrote: “Australia is a rich country amidst poor and sinking countries, but coal mines are still being opened. Yet Australia has immense potential for renewable energy, which is cheaper than coal, and more appropriate to a country where energy use is widely dispersed. Australia is well placed to give global leadership on climate change.
“Just as a million Australians responded when Sorry Day was presented as a moral issue, might they respond if climate change is presented as a moral issue in which Australia could act unselfishly for the sake of the region and the world?”
Last but not least, John addressed the evolution and fate of democracy, noting, “Caux, the IofC conference centre in Switzerland, has done much to strengthen democracy, especially in Eastern Europe, in recent years. Now Caux has launched the Democracy Forum, a three-year programme to strengthen the moral and spiritual foundations of democracy. They hope this will inspire similar forums in many countries. We are organising a forum here in UK.
“Could Australia hold such a forum? If our colleagues in New Zealand, the Solomon Islands or Fiji wish to hold such a forum, could Australia give them support? I share these thoughts because I believe your distinctive contribution is needed in some of the difficult challenges that we face globally.”
- Sorry and Beyond: Healing the Stolen Generations is a book by Brian Butler and John Bond on the grassroots campaign for recognition of the impacts of forced removal. You can order it here.
[1] Kim Beazley Sr was active in IofC from 1953, when he visited the IofC centre at Caux, Switzerland, then throughout his life: https://www.foranewworld.org/material/films/we-want-world-live-interview-dr-kim-beazley
[2] https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1100100015644/1571589171655
[3] https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/25/politics/biden-apologizes-native-americans-abusive-boarding-schools/index.html
