VICTORIAN HUMANIST

Rabbit-Proof Fence Reconciliation

The rabbit proof fence and the forcible removal of half-caste children from their Aboriginal families, symbolise monumental policy failures of the 1900s. One was a waste of time and money - the rabbits got through. The other a human tragedy of gross injustice, as revealed in the Bringing Them Home Report. Suffering still, many of the 'stolen' children and their families live among us, victims of racist policies.

Rabbit-Proof Fence, a film by Phillip Noyce, depicts one sad example of child removal. It is based on the true story of Molly Craig, a young Aboriginal girl who leads her younger sister and cousin to escape from a government institution set up as part of a policy to train Aboriginal children as domestic workers and integrate them into white society. In 1931 Molly, Daisy and Gracie walked over 2,000 kilometres from the Moore River settlement near Perth back to their home in Jigalong by following the rabbit proof fence.

Children like Molly, Daisy and Gracie were the product of sexual relations between white men and Aboriginal women. By the 1900 increasing numbers of half-caste children could be seen in the Aboriginal camps on the fringes of country towns. These children were a new 'racial type'. They represented a moral scandal and an affront to white sensitivities. Across Australia the States resolved to deal with this problem by the forcible removal of these children and their assimilation into white society. Rabbit-Proof Fence shows these policies, based on racist ideas, were enforced without regard for mother-child bonds.

In the tradition of social realist art, Rabbit-Proof Fence depicts the effects of policies which violated basic human rights, in this case of child and family. It is a filmmakers contribution to reconciliation. Australian Humanists also support reconciliation. Indeed, we have an international reputation as advocates of reconciliation between Aborigines and more recent immigrants. Since attending Australis2000 Congress Levi Fragell, the IHEU President has many times praised Australian Humanists for their stance on this important human rights issue.

The Rabbit-Proof Fence is a fine example of the humanistic tradition of seeking the truth through understanding. Just as few people would now claim that the building a rabbit proof fence was based on sound thinking, likewise few can claim that forcible separation and assimilation was a humane and just policy.