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'Stolen' Aborigine apology demand 'Stolen' Aborigine apology demand
(about 2 hours later)
A woman from Cwmbran is demanding an apology after discovering she was separated from her parents as a baby by the Australian government.A woman from Cwmbran is demanding an apology after discovering she was separated from her parents as a baby by the Australian government.
Leonie Pope was removed from her white father and Aboriginal mother in the country's "stolen generation" scandal.Leonie Pope was removed from her white father and Aboriginal mother in the country's "stolen generation" scandal.
Now she now wants compensation from the Australian government and is planning to emigrate and rejoin her siblings.Now she now wants compensation from the Australian government and is planning to emigrate and rejoin her siblings.
Prime Minister John Howard has previously said his generation cannot be held responsible for what happened.Prime Minister John Howard has previously said his generation cannot be held responsible for what happened.
Ms Pope, a mother-of-three from Cwmbran, was adopted as a child and brought to Wales, over 30 years ago.Ms Pope, a mother-of-three from Cwmbran, was adopted as a child and brought to Wales, over 30 years ago.
Now she is preparing to move her husband Michael, 37, and children Joshua, eight, Matthew, seven, and Ffion, three, to be with her long lost siblings in Brisbane, Queensland. "I was a home birth, so when I was born we were admitted to the hospital in Brisbane," she explained.
"It is going to feel like a complete story," said Ms Pope, 35, who has lived in Cwmbran for 20 years. "It is the ending we are all looking for." "It was here that this policy was carried out.
It was good to know, to finally know that I did belong to people and that they were still there Leonie Pope "I became separated from my mother. She was told she was signing for inoculations, like a consent, but it was later realised that she'd actually signed foster papers.
In the period from 1910 to 1970, it is estimated that between 10-30% of indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families by government agencies in an attempt to "breed out" their Aborigine blood and give them a better life. My mother confronted the hospital saying she wanted me back - she was actually told I was dead Leonie Pope
This policy was particularly focused on "mixed race" families. Ms Pope - whose mother was Aborigine and her father was white - said the Australian authorities should apologise. "We were called the stolen generations and we were forcibly removed from our parents because it was felt by the government that the aboriginal people were unfit people to be bringing up their own children."
Her adoptive parents, Neil and Gloria Pope, were told that her real mother had abandoned her at hospital. She said that all of her brothers and sisters were also taken from her parents.
She began researching more about her roots as a teenager and after a long process she discovered her natural mother had battled hard to get her back only to be told her baby was dead. "When my mother and I became separated, my mother confronted the hospital saying she wanted me back and that she had signed the wrong papers, she was actually told I was dead.
"She said ' well she's my daughter, I want her body for burial. I have the right to my own daughter's body' and at that point she was told that I had been disposed of so there was no reason for her to return to that hospital looking for me.
"But all that time, I was in that hospital and I remained there until I was about six-months old."
Ms Pope is now preparing to move her husband Michael, 37, and children Joshua, eight, Matthew, seven, and Ffion, three, to be with her family in Brisbane, Queensland.
"It is going to feel like a complete story," said Ms Pope, 35. "It is the ending we are all looking for."
The removal or Aboriginal children has been criticisedThe removal or Aboriginal children has been criticised
Her mother died before she could learn of her daughter's existence, but Ms Pope continued her search and, in 2004, discovered that she had six siblings. In the period from 1910 to 1970, it is estimated that between 10-30% of indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families by government agencies in an attempt to "breed out" their Aborigine blood and give them a better life.
Her sister Rosemary who had also been searching for her wrote her a letter. Ms Pope's adoptive parents, Neil and Gloria Pope, were told her real mother had abandoned her at hospital.
"I was nervous at reading it but all the information in there was just to say 'we are out here and we do want you'," she said. She began researching more about her roots as a teenager but her mother died before she could learn of her daughter's existence.
"It was good to know, to finally know that I did belong to people and that they were still there." In 2004, Ms Pope discovered that she had six siblings - she met five of them at the start of this year.
Ms Pope first met five of her six siblings, who were all taken from her mother, at the start of this year.
She also met other relatives, including her uncle Jeffrey Dynevor who became the first Aborigine to win a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games in 1963.She also met other relatives, including her uncle Jeffrey Dynevor who became the first Aborigine to win a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games in 1963.
When I flew back it was really difficult leaving. I must say if it hadn't have been for my children I would not have returned Leonie Pope I spent all those years believing my parents didn't want me Leonie Pope
"When I landed in Brisbane... waiting for my luggage seemed to be the longest part of the journey knowing that my sister was on the other side of the glass waiting for me," she said. "Even today in Australia it goes unacknowledged and also I think the government policy of removing children went on longer than people imagined," she said.
"Then I walked out and she was there. I found it was not a difficult process at all. It felt like I had always been there. "I think they should be making amends for what they've done because they've caused a lot of devastation.
"When I flew back it was really difficult leaving. I must say if it hadn't have been for my children and husband I would not have returned." "I spent all those years believing my parents didn't want me because I had been told a lie and they must make amends."
The plight of the so-called Stolen Generations was dramatised in the Philip Noyce film Rabbit-Proof Fence, which was released in 2002.
The policy was only publicly acknowledged in 1997, when the results of an inquiry were published.The policy was only publicly acknowledged in 1997, when the results of an inquiry were published.