At a ceremony on the 9th of August at the Court Hotel, Queers for Reconciliations’ Jim Morrison and Alan Carter formally handed over a cheque for $2500 to the Reverend Ian Robinson, the Co-Chair of the Bringing them Home Committee (WA). The money was the proceeds of Q4R’s Winyarn Ball, a fundraiser which they organised as part of as part of NAIDOC week celebrations in July.
Mr Robinson acknowledged the significance of the money saying, ‘The money came at a great time to encourage us because the last Sorry Day used up most of our funds. We still want to pursue having Sorry Day every year in every town in Western Australia. This is also a time when there is great new hope for what was almost a dead issue… We want to take the opportunity we now have to pursue compensation for the stolen generations. The Bringing Them Home Report from ten years ago hasn’t really surfaced in Western Australia because of certain statutes of limitation; however, the cases in Tasmania, Canada and now South Australia in the last month have made it clear that there are other avenues for pursuing that. So we are encouraged and we’re going to keep going forward. It’s more than just the amount, what Q4R have done is really encouraged us at the right time to go forward.’
