As a child I spent a fair bit of time with Mona, traversing the APY Lands, inadvertently learning along the way.
Recently I drove down and visited Mona Olsson at her home in Pooraka. This visit involved filming all across South Australia covering the many facets to Mona’s 82 year life.
From Pooraka we travelled to the Colebrook Blackwood Reconciliation Park to visit the ‘Fountain of Tears’ and the ‘Grieving Mother’.
This was a deeply emotional time for Mona as she took me through her forced journey from her homelands and recollected memories shared with her family.
Excerpt from New Times 2008
“Saying sorry doesn’t mean much unless we can leave that part of our history behind, having addressed it, and go forward in forgiveness, healing, restoration and partnership with the rest of Australia“.
“The Government’s apology is a momentous occasion but it should not be simply thought of as a one-day event. We look forward to the Federal Government acting on its commitments to Aboriginal people“.
“More than ten years ago, Australia’s Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission released the ‘Bringing them home’ report. It contained 54 recommendations, one of which called for official apologies from Australian Parliaments and ‘appropriate reparation’.