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Australian Government Says It's Sorry
The Australian government made a public apology last week. The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, said that the government was sorry about the stolen generations of Aboriginal children that were taken from their homes.
Here's what happened. When Europeans first came to Australia, the continent was already inhabited by people we call Aborigines. England took over the land, and in later years the colony of Australia declared itself independent from England.
The government was made up of the descendents of the British people. The Aborigines still lived there, but they lived in communities that were very poor. Between 1910 and 1970, the Australian government took over 100,000 Aboriginal children from their parents and put them into foster homes and orphanages. Because the parents didn't want to give up their kids, those kids were called the stolen generation.
Until now, the Australian government never officially admitted that what it did was wrong. Now it admits that the children shouldn't have been taken from their parents.
There is still inequality between whites and Aborigines in Australia. Whites live 17 years longer and make more money. The prime minister said that the government would help the Stolen Generation find their lost parents, and that the Australian government will work to make life better for Aborigines.
I'm Michelle and that's what happened in the World this week!
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