Heather du Plessis-Allan: The most important thing is that things are actually fixed

Big old day for the survivors of abuse in state care today because the government through the Prime Minister finally apologised for this.

That is important.

I know you know what they want is redress as well, a whole bunch of them, and fair enough... that will come.

But, an apology also is very important. Especially when you consider how long it has officially not been a big deal that kids went through what they did while they were in the state of care - for it to now be acknowledged as, “yep, absolutely, actually a big deal” and for the state to admit it did wrong.

I think that's really important

Slightly unfortunately, the day has been overshadowed by anger directed at the Solicitor General.

I think this is going to be the thing that everybody remembers about today.

Una Jagose tried to apologise herself today as the solicitor general, she was booed by survivors. She was heckled by survivors. One woman walked out another, turned her back to the Solicitor General while she was talking in a move of protest.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yeah, so big old day for the survivors of abuse
and state care today because the government through the Prime Minister,
finally apologized for this. And look, that is important. Look,
I know what they want is redress as well, a
whole bunch of them and fair enough, and that will come.
But an apology also is very important, especially when you
consider how long it is officially not being a big
deal that kids went through what they did while they

(00:20):
were in the state of care. For it to now
be acknowledged as yep, absolutely actually a big deal, and
for the state to admit it did wrong, I think
that's really important. Slightly Unfortunately, the day has been overshadowed
by the anger that's been directed at the Solicitor General today,
and I think this is going to be the thing
that everybody remembers about today. Really. Una Jugosi tried to
apologize herself today as the Solicitor General. She was booed

(00:44):
by survivors, She was heckled by survivors. One woman walked out,
another turned her back to the Solicitor General while she
was talking in a move of protest, and plenty of them.
The reason they're so angry is because they want her
stripped from her job. They accuse her of covering up
what really happened to them. Now, I'm not going to
tell these people that they're not entitled to feel angry,
because of course they are. But what we have to

(01:05):
remember when we're discussing the Solicitor General's role in this,
and even in a lower role previously as a Crown
lawyer before she became the Solicitor General, is that Crown lawyers,
Crown law, the Solicitor General, they are the government's lawyers,
right they act in the best interests of the Crown.
It's pretty much the same as David Bain's lawyer, or
even Brenton Tarrant's lawyer, or should you or I be

(01:27):
accused of something significant our lawyers that our lawyers are
not there to look after everybody else. They are there
to look after us. They're working in the best interests
of their clients. And the same as true of Crown law.
It's really important context. When we feel angry at somebody
like the Solicitor General or Crown law for what they did,
I understand why Una je Gosi is copying it. Pretty

(01:49):
much the worst Today is much easier to pin the
blame on one person. Isn't it than to pin the
blame on a giant system like government, and especially when
you consider that government's change every few years. I mean,
one person is much easier to hold accountable than potentially
thousands of people for little bits that they did over decades.
And maybe it will make a lot of people feel

(02:10):
a lot better if she loses her job. But remember this,
it's not like she going to fix anything, is it.
Not in the past, and not for kids who are
in state care in the future. And beware the quick
solution because the quick solution may create a false sense
that things have been fixed when they really haven't. And
the most important thing is that things are actually fixed.
Isn't it more important than anything? She actually fronted up

(02:31):
today and so did the Prime Minister, and I say
that's got to be a good start. For more from
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