Tina Wright was particularly moved by Whittlesea’s Sorry Day commemoration yesterday. The Whittlesea resident’s mother Eunice was among the stolen generation and was one of 15 Koori representatives invited to Canberra to receive the nation’s apology to the stolen generation in 2008.
She was part of the City of Whittlesea’s Sorry Day commemorations, which also acknowledged the contributions of “uncle” Reg Blow – who passed away last year – to the Whittlesea Reconciliation Group of which he was a chairman.
Whittlesea mayor Rex Griffin, who led the annual Sorry Day Walk in the council’s South Morang civic centre gardens, said the council would install plaques along the walk to honour Mr Blow.
“Uncle Reg was a champion for reconciliation in the community and encouraged the sharing of stories about the injustices against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, to promote understanding across the wider community,” Cr Griffin said.
Ms Wright, a former student at RMIT University’s Bundoora campus, said her mother’s story was included in the Bringing them Home report, which laid the foundation for National Sorry Day.
Her mother, aunt and brother were removed from their home on the Lake Condah Mission in 1954 when Ms Wright was a young child. They were sent to a Ballarat orphanage.
