It’s Time. Bring them Home

I worked with Bill Simon, a member of the Stolen Generations, to bring his story to publication. Bill attended the Kinchela Reunion, along with other former inmates of the notorious Home. Permission to use the names and images of the men has been given. I wrote this piece in consultation with Ray Minnicon, CEO of Kinchela Boys Home Aboriginal Corporation.

The sounds of the didgeridoo floated over the mid-morning gathering. That morning, the didgeridoo, which for Aboriginal people heralds important occasions, celebrations, and tribal rituals, sounded ominous.  Apprehension filled the air.  Local Dunghutti elder Bluey Smith led the men in a line as they walked solemnly up towards the stage area and took their seats. Welcome home.

It was Saturday, September 17, 2002, and fifty of the boys, now men stood with over two hundred family and community members on the old Kinchela site. A smoking ceremony was conducted by three of the men, and the welcome to country was given by Bluey Smith. Today, on the Kinchela site, these men were the most honoured guests. Black and white were there to honour them, to acknowledge their courage and survival and still others were there to say sorry of behalf of the government for the gross injustice that was inflicted on the Stolen Generations. The reunion was organised by Ray Minnicon, an Aboriginal pastor and John Parsons, both of whom worked for World Vision Australia, who, together with OATSIH (Office for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health) assisted with funding for the reunion.

Today, there is no evidence of what happened here between 1924 and 1970. The old dormitories have long gone, many of the former managers and guards have passed away, government policies have changed, and programs of reconciliation have been implemented. The memories, however, are not long gone, the hurt has not passed away, and most of the men still carry the results of their childhood experience close to their hearts. You could see it in their faces as they took their seats that day; the air was thick with emotion. 

Some never came out of the Home alive, and others died an early death.  Some suicided, some died because of physical complications and a lifetime of poor health that were a result of their treatment in the Home. Others were absent because they had been placed in psychiatric institutions or jail. At the beginning of the ceremony, the Aboriginal flag was flown at half-mast and a minute’s silence observed for those that never made it. And there were those present who only had to stroll across the lawn to get there - the Koori residents of the Bennelong Haven Indigenous Drug and Rehabilitation Centre, built on the site where the dormitories once stood.  Back where it all started. These men, voluntary residents at the centre had worked through the night painting clap sticks, which were handed out to everyone present and used later in the afternoon when the music began.  

Some men had had brothers at the Home who were no longer alive. Others had brothers who could not face returning to the site. Still, others had brothers who they never saw again after they were taken away and they have never been able to trace them. Many never saw their mother or father after they were taken as their parents had died, and many lost contact with their sisters as well.

Throughout the day, the men shared their experiences with each other, but many broke down in tears and could not discuss their individual experiences.

Music was a prominent feature of the day. Bobby Randall sang his song Brown Skin Baby. Roy Read, a Kinchela man, sang his composition called Why. He was taken when he was two.  Roy then spoke of the importance of government accountability. A Koori a-Capella family group, Mirror Child who have Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage sang their song We Were Babies, dedicated to those who were taken as young children. 

People from Uluru sent message sticks, and these were read out by Cecil Dixon, a Kinchela man.

This day, although marked with sadness and horrific memories, was also a day of the celebration of survival. Bill Simon spoke that day.

‘I told my story,’ he said. ‘I spoke about the consequences of being stolen and how it ruined many years of my life.’

Alan Murry spoke about his nine years at Kinchela and described the pain of his family being fractured and dislocated. His brothers couldn’t face coming back, he said. His four sisters were also taken.

‘When I was a Kinchela boy I was shunned in Kempsey, in the hospital and in the community, as were all Koori boys,’ he said.

On this reunion day, the men were now treated with respect and admiration. The Mayor of Kempsey, Janet Hayes, welcomed the Dunghutti elders and all the visitors. She acknowledged on behalf of the Kempsey Shire the hurt, anger, and shame that Kinchela boys suffered and still suffer. Rev John Brown, a Uniting Church minister and Co-chair of the Sorry Day Committee & Journey of Healing, congratulated the men on their survival. The Journey of Healing began when elders at Uluru brought Home some of their own members of the Stolen Generations and then sent message sticks to all corners of Australia.  The message sticks said: ‘It is time. Bring them home.’

Andrew Refshauge, representing Premier Bob Carr, stated that two years previously the state parliament of NSW had formally apologised to the Stolen Generations. He then said, ‘I am sorry.’  Applause broke out in the audience.

A letter was read out, written by Ronnie Ridgeway, father of Senator Aden Ridgeway who congratulated the KBH ‘Why’ project and World Vision Australia’s Indigenous Programs for organising the reunion.  In this letter, Senator Ridgeway spoke about the importance of honestly confronting the events of the past and acknowledging the hurt and pain that Aboriginal people experienced as a result of government policies.   He went on to speak about the importance of Australians knowing the truth about Australia’s black history and why those events from the past continue to affect Aboriginal people today. He reminded people that the past did not necessarily mean one hundred years ago. Removal of children occurred right up until the 1970s. Former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser sent a letter praising the men who had the courage to make the journey back. He called for action at government, community, and individual levels. 

Vince Wenberg unveiled a model for a monument garden. This garden will be dedicated to the eight hundred boys who were ‘educated’ at the Home. One of Vince’s brothers, John, whilst in Kinchela, died after being transferred to Kempsey hospital. A baby sister, Dorothy, died at Bomaderry Children’s Home while another sister Pat, who was at Cootamundra Girls Home and later transferred to the Parramatta Girls’ Home, died at age twenty.

Some of the first boys to come to Kinchela at that time were boys who had previously lived at the Boys Home and School, George Street, in Singleton.  When that Home closed on 15th January 1924, at the order of the APB, as the Superintendent was sent to a new post in Brungle, most of the boys were sent to Kinchela.  Ten were sent to Brungle with the Superintendent.

For the next twenty years, Kinchela housed and schooled boys and “trained” them for their future.  Local school inspectors had long been dissatisfied with the standards of education in Aboriginal Schools and proposed that the students be integrated into the mainstream school system.  The idea was put to the parents of the non-Aboriginal community at a meeting in the 1940s and was defeated upon a vote of thirty-three to one.  Again in 1960, the suggestion was defeated upon voting.  The law required only one family to vote against the proposal for it to be defeated.  The school’s headmaster at that time was in favour of the request, but a few families were against it, and so it remained a proposal.  The Kinchela School closed in 1962, the boys being absorbed into local schools in the Kempsey area, particularly West Kempsey Primary School.

When the Home closed in 1970, there was much debate about how the property could be put to use.  The Aborigines Advisory Council suggested a conference centre be established on the site.  Another Aboriginal group suggested the farm be run on a commercial basis by Aboriginal people. 

Because of the neglected state of the buildings, it was decided that renovating them in order to establish a conference centre would be too expensive a project.  It was also decided that there was not enough land to successfully operated a commercial dairy farm.  In a letter dated 19th April 1972 to the Aborigines Advisory Council, the Minister for Child and Social Welfare, Mr John Waddy states that his predecessor, the Hon. F M Hewitt MLC advocates the Home and lands being sold and the proceeds going to the establishment of a hostel for Aboriginal secondary students.

The government advertised the sale of Kinchela on 5th May 1972, but the sale was abandoned for reasons that are not known.  Val Bryant OA held negotiations with the Aboriginal Lands Trust and established what is now known as Bennelong Haven.  Val was widely known for her success in running centres in Sydney and for her philosophy of spiritually connecting the whole family of a person who is alcohol dependant.  Bennelong Haven is Aboriginal owned and serves as a rehabilitation facility for those people referred by the courts.  

Bill Simon was thinking about his brother, Laurie, as he was in the car driving towards the reunion.  A court order took Laurie from his mother and institutionalised him. A court order sent him back to an institution, Bennelong Haven, however well-intentioned, and he died there.

‘When we were nearing Kempsey,’ Bill said, ‘memories of the past overcame me. Cows, paddocks, horses, trees, houses then more houses. The past literally flashed before my eyes. I was ten again, on the road to Kinchela, my brothers in the car, the government official who had just removed us, driving in silence. A slight panic took hold of me. Where are we? Where’s mum? The panic passed, and I looked at the friends I was with in the car. So long ago and yet, the memories are so powerful that they can propel themselves into my life decades later and cause my heart to skip a beat.   

Going back was an amazing experience for Bill. Painful and positive. Depressing and uplifting. 

‘It was wonderful to meet up with men whom I hadn’t seen for years, and it was incredibly sad to hear some of the stories about how their lives had unfolded since Kinchela. Stories similar to mine. Stories different to mine but all tainted with the consequences of our time in the Home. We hadn’t seen each other for so long and yet we were a family of sorts.’

Some men broke down in tears on the day and couldn’t speak about their experiences. Some had coped better than others. But one thing they all had in common was that no one had escaped lightly. A Kinchela Boys’ Home Meeting Place is being established in Redfern, and it is hoped that through shared experiences and friendship, the men of Kinchela can move forward with the respect and support they so deserve.