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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/oct/22/the-national-child-abuse-apology-shows-that-institutions-can-heal-as-well-as-harm
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| The national child abuse apology shows that institutions can heal, as well as harm | The national child abuse apology shows that institutions can heal, as well as harm |
| (25 days later) | |
| The survivors who came to Canberra for the apology had been betrayed by institutions, yet they journeyed to the national parliament, an institution seemingly determined to drive the Australian people to despair, to seek a measure of healing. | The survivors who came to Canberra for the apology had been betrayed by institutions, yet they journeyed to the national parliament, an institution seemingly determined to drive the Australian people to despair, to seek a measure of healing. |
| With victims of institutional sexual abuse massing in their hundreds in Canberra on Monday – intent on taking possession of their house, its halls and its chambers, the pain etched on their faces and in their bodies – the Australian parliament did not have an option to fail. | With victims of institutional sexual abuse massing in their hundreds in Canberra on Monday – intent on taking possession of their house, its halls and its chambers, the pain etched on their faces and in their bodies – the Australian parliament did not have an option to fail. |
| The only option for the people’s representatives was to rise to the occasion, and deliver. So on Monday, politicians gathered with solemnity and purpose, turning their collective sights away from the B-grade intrigues of the palace, turning their eyes to the survivors who wept in the chambers, on the forecourt, in the corridors, to the people who bowed their heads to avoid meeting the eyes of others, or the terrible punishment of the prying cameras. | The only option for the people’s representatives was to rise to the occasion, and deliver. So on Monday, politicians gathered with solemnity and purpose, turning their collective sights away from the B-grade intrigues of the palace, turning their eyes to the survivors who wept in the chambers, on the forecourt, in the corridors, to the people who bowed their heads to avoid meeting the eyes of others, or the terrible punishment of the prying cameras. |
| At 11am, the Australian parliament assembled and said sorry to the brave souls who had been betrayed by the men of God, by people in power, by people with a duty of care to protect the innocents. | At 11am, the Australian parliament assembled and said sorry to the brave souls who had been betrayed by the men of God, by people in power, by people with a duty of care to protect the innocents. |
| 'So much pain and hurt': Tears flow as Morrison apologies to child abuse victims – politics live | |
| It said sorry to the people who had every reason to break, but refused to be broken. | It said sorry to the people who had every reason to break, but refused to be broken. |
| It honoured the people who had been spurned, but lived to hear their parliament acknowledge their trauma, and apologise. | It honoured the people who had been spurned, but lived to hear their parliament acknowledge their trauma, and apologise. |
| It honoured the people with the heart and the voice to hurl their long repressed rage at Scott Morrison when he joined them in the Great Hall of the parliament. | It honoured the people with the heart and the voice to hurl their long repressed rage at Scott Morrison when he joined them in the Great Hall of the parliament. |
| The institution of the people respected the echoing fury as the survivors vocalised their reactions while holding hands together across the rows, at the prime minister’s invitation. Morrison absorbed the moment of their frustration, and he validated it. | The institution of the people respected the echoing fury as the survivors vocalised their reactions while holding hands together across the rows, at the prime minister’s invitation. Morrison absorbed the moment of their frustration, and he validated it. |
| The Australian parliament, on Monday, did what it too often forgets to do. | The Australian parliament, on Monday, did what it too often forgets to do. |
| It humbled itself before its citizens, making itself contrite, projecting penitence in the presence of something greater than ego and animus, absorbing the outpouring of grief and suffering into the memory of the meeting place, into the fabric of the building. | It humbled itself before its citizens, making itself contrite, projecting penitence in the presence of something greater than ego and animus, absorbing the outpouring of grief and suffering into the memory of the meeting place, into the fabric of the building. |
| As well as honouring the living, the institution said sorry to the people who had not made it to Monday 22 October – to the people who died on the journey for justice, sometimes at their own hand, often without revealing their pain to another human being, and certainly without acknowledgement or validation. | As well as honouring the living, the institution said sorry to the people who had not made it to Monday 22 October – to the people who died on the journey for justice, sometimes at their own hand, often without revealing their pain to another human being, and certainly without acknowledgement or validation. |
| The chamber listened in silence as Morrison – a sometimes brittle political figure, quick to see slights – poured himself into his words, finding and feeling his flow. His voice caught as he acknowledged the scale of the amorality and the betrayal – the trust broken, the innocence betrayed, “power and position exploited for evil, dark crimes”. The father, the man of faith, the prime minister, flinched before the atrocities his words gave life to. | The chamber listened in silence as Morrison – a sometimes brittle political figure, quick to see slights – poured himself into his words, finding and feeling his flow. His voice caught as he acknowledged the scale of the amorality and the betrayal – the trust broken, the innocence betrayed, “power and position exploited for evil, dark crimes”. The father, the man of faith, the prime minister, flinched before the atrocities his words gave life to. |
| Gillard had the grace to humbly acknowledge the sincerity of the welcome, and to remind them Monday was about them, not about her. | Gillard had the grace to humbly acknowledge the sincerity of the welcome, and to remind them Monday was about them, not about her. |
| Silence too as Bill Shorten did what he generally does at big political moments: searched for the human story to make a connection, channelling back the emotion of people in the room. Shorten told the galleries the abusers were “pillars of our community”, people with power, authority and status, wielded as weapons against the innocent, victims who were then blamed for the crimes they suffered. | Silence too as Bill Shorten did what he generally does at big political moments: searched for the human story to make a connection, channelling back the emotion of people in the room. Shorten told the galleries the abusers were “pillars of our community”, people with power, authority and status, wielded as weapons against the innocent, victims who were then blamed for the crimes they suffered. |
| The visceral emotion of the survivors, the truly cathartic sentiment, was reserved for Julia Gillard – the prime minister who had delivered them the royal commission. | The visceral emotion of the survivors, the truly cathartic sentiment, was reserved for Julia Gillard – the prime minister who had delivered them the royal commission. |
| She was the prime minister who declined to be restrained by nervous colleagues and powerful institutions to seeking to preserve their veneer of respectability, and by their backers in the public square, who delighted in eviscerating her for daily sport. | She was the prime minister who declined to be restrained by nervous colleagues and powerful institutions to seeking to preserve their veneer of respectability, and by their backers in the public square, who delighted in eviscerating her for daily sport. |
| They roared when Gillard entered the Great Hall, the victims’ champion who had asked to sit down in the bleachers, with the survivors, rather than on the stage, with the dignitaries. | They roared when Gillard entered the Great Hall, the victims’ champion who had asked to sit down in the bleachers, with the survivors, rather than on the stage, with the dignitaries. |
| Gillard had the grace to humbly acknowledge the sincerity of the welcome, and to remind them Monday was about them, not about her. She told them it had been a long road to this occasion. “I do want to take this opportunity to record my thanks to all of you for your courage, your determination, for your stoicism. | Gillard had the grace to humbly acknowledge the sincerity of the welcome, and to remind them Monday was about them, not about her. She told them it had been a long road to this occasion. “I do want to take this opportunity to record my thanks to all of you for your courage, your determination, for your stoicism. |
| “It took many years to get to this moment but we are only at it not because of me, but because of you.” | “It took many years to get to this moment but we are only at it not because of me, but because of you.” |
| National child abuse apology: Morrison to commit to museum of remembrance | |
| Monday reminds us – and that reminder is a salve – that democratic parliaments can be powerful when they position themselves with their communities, rather than walling themselves off, and pitting themselves relentlessly against each other, and the interests of the people, in staged rituals that amplify the dislocation. | Monday reminds us – and that reminder is a salve – that democratic parliaments can be powerful when they position themselves with their communities, rather than walling themselves off, and pitting themselves relentlessly against each other, and the interests of the people, in staged rituals that amplify the dislocation. |
| Properly, everyone observed that Monday’s apology was important, a moment in Australian history, but it would be the actions that mattered. | Properly, everyone observed that Monday’s apology was important, a moment in Australian history, but it would be the actions that mattered. |
| Of course that’s entirely correct. It will be action that matters. | Of course that’s entirely correct. It will be action that matters. |
| But words matter too, and sentiment, and sincerity, and moral clarity, and the enduring belief that the parliament, at its best, can be an expression of all the people. | But words matter too, and sentiment, and sincerity, and moral clarity, and the enduring belief that the parliament, at its best, can be an expression of all the people. |
| Monday reminds us that institutions can be the architects of unspeakable horror and betrayal, and they can also be the agents of healing. | Monday reminds us that institutions can be the architects of unspeakable horror and betrayal, and they can also be the agents of healing. |
| Royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse | Royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse |
| Australian politics | Australian politics |
| Scott Morrison | Scott Morrison |
| Bill Shorten | Bill Shorten |
| Julia Gillard | Julia Gillard |
| Coalition | Coalition |
| Labor party | Labor party |
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