Native Australians Seek Payment for 'Slavery-Like' Conditions
2020-10-26
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1Thousands of aboriginal Australians are expected to join a legal case that lawyers are bringing against the West Australian government.
2The case seeks payment for what it says are years of unpaid work.
3Historians have said that, at the time, the officials knew the work was a form of slavery.
4The legal action says the unfair labor took place during the 19th and 20th centuries.
5It says indigenous children as young as four were taken from their families to work in mines, on farms and as servants in Australia.
6Many received little or no money, and some were paid only with bread and meat.
7Lawyers have said conditions were "akin to slavery."
8Until the 1970s, money earned by indigenous workers in Western Australia was paid to the state government, but rarely given to the worker.
9Lawyers have said as many as 10,000 workers and their descendants would be able to join the legal case.
10The lawyers brought the case in Australia's Federal Court.
11Jan Saddler is a lawyer at Shine Lawyers, a legal company that is leading the court case.
12She said indigenous Western Australians were part of the case.
13Some are now more than 70 or 80 years old.
14"...They are actually waiting to receive their wages from the 1940s and the 1950s and they still have not been paid, and this is what that claim is all about," she said.
15Australia's laws controlled everything in an indigenous person's life -- from what they could buy to whether they could get married.
16The law also permitted that their wages could be taken by the government.
17That situation lasted until the 1970s.
18In February 2008, then Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologized to Australia's indigenous peoples for the way they had been treated.
19"To the Stolen Generations, I say the following: as Prime Minister of Australia, I am sorry. On behalf of the government of Australia, I am sorry. On behalf of the parliament of Australia, I am sorry," he said.
20Stolen Generations is the name given to tens of thousands of Australian Aboriginal children who were taken from their families.
21They were sent to white Australians as workers or servants up until the 1970s.
22The Western Australian state government has said it hopes for a settlement.
23The government would like mediators to negotiate with the indigenous people.
24Reparations plans have paid millions of dollars to indigenous workers in the states of Queensland and New South Wales.
25An earlier reparations plan in Western Australia limited payments to $1,400 and came with several conditions.
26Indigenous peoples' rights campaigners said it was too restricted and did not truly answer for the injustices of the past.
27A federal parliamentary investigation in 2006 tried to establish how much money may have been stolen from aboriginal Australians over the many years.
28Lawmakers found that wage theft was so widespread that is was impossible to arrive at a final amount.
29I'm Susan Shand.
1Thousands of aboriginal Australians are expected to join a legal case that lawyers are bringing against the West Australian government. The case seeks payment for what it says are years of unpaid work. Historians have said that, at the time, the officials knew the work was a form of slavery. 2The legal action says the unfair labor took place during the 19th and 20th centuries. It says indigenous children as young as four were taken from their families to work in mines, on farms and as servants in Australia. Many received little or no money, and some were paid only with bread and meat. Lawyers have said conditions were "akin to slavery." 3Until the 1970s, money earned by indigenous workers in Western Australia was paid to the state government, but rarely given to the worker. 4Lawyers have said as many as 10,000 workers and their descendants would be able to join the legal case. The lawyers brought the case in Australia's Federal Court. 5Jan Saddler is a lawyer at Shine Lawyers, a legal company that is leading the court case. She said indigenous Western Australians were part of the case. Some are now more than 70 or 80 years old. 6"...They are actually waiting to receive their wages from the 1940s and the 1950s and they still have not been paid, and this is what that claim is all about," she said. 7Australia's laws controlled everything in an indigenous person's life -- from what they could buy to whether they could get married. The law also permitted that their wages could be taken by the government. That situation lasted until the 1970s. 8In February 2008, then Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologized to Australia's indigenous peoples for the way they had been treated. 9"To the Stolen Generations, I say the following: as Prime Minister of Australia, I am sorry. On behalf of the government of Australia, I am sorry. On behalf of the parliament of Australia, I am sorry," he said. 10Stolen Generations is the name given to tens of thousands of Australian Aboriginal children who were taken from their families. They were sent to white Australians as workers or servants up until the 1970s. 11The Western Australian state government has said it hopes for a settlement. The government would like mediators to negotiate with the indigenous people. 12Reparations plans have paid millions of dollars to indigenous workers in the states of Queensland and New South Wales. An earlier reparations plan in Western Australia limited payments to $1,400 and came with several conditions. Indigenous peoples' rights campaigners said it was too restricted and did not truly answer for the injustices of the past. 13A federal parliamentary investigation in 2006 tried to establish how much money may have been stolen from aboriginal Australians over the many years. Lawmakers found that wage theft was so widespread that is was impossible to arrive at a final amount. 14I'm Susan Shand. 15The Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. 16_______________________________________________________________ 17Words in This Story 18aboriginal -adj. of or relating to the native people of Australia, known as aborigines 19akin -adj.similar or related to 20descendant -n. someone who is related to a person or group of people who lived in the past 21wages -n.money that is paid a worker based on the number of hours or other units that they have worked 22mediator -n.someone who works with opposing sides in a dispute in order to reach an agreement 23reparations -n. money that a country or group pays when it loses a war to pay for damage and loss; a payment to correct a mistake that someone or some group has caused 24We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.