Original subtitles

♪

♪

♪

Sue, right now your baby needs to be safe

and you need a bit of support, don't you?

I know you love her, of course you do.

But this will give you a chance to sort yourself out.

Just go and get up and get on top of everything.

Don't, Margaret.

Don't take her.

Do you want me to put her down soon?

Just put her in the carry cart.

All right, love?

Put her down.

Put her down.

There you go.

You'll be all right.

You'll be able to see her tomorrow.

I'll take you to her and you'll be able to see that she's fine.

All done.

All right.

Don't!

-Don't! -Don't! -Please!

Please, Margaret!

-Please! -I'll do better, I promise!

The thing I love about this group is that you don't have to explain yourself.

We've all been adopted as kids and okay,

we've all had different experiences after that.

But it's a big bottom line, isn't it?

I'm glad to be here tonight, I don't mind telling you.

I've been getting a lot of grief at work.

Things have been getting me down, really.

I've been feeling a bit low, a bit lonely.

You know, and you always think, is it...

Is it because what happened when I was a kid?

You know, maybe I'll never be right.

But you can't always know that, can you?

You just...

You just always wonder.

Have you seen Jack's case?

I think he left it at the front desk for a while.

Is this where the triangle group is?

Yes, that's right, but we've finished for the night.

Charlotte.

Charlotte Cooper.

Could I have a quick word?

It won't take a minute.

Well, what you're looking for isn't really what this group does.

This is a local support group, really.

I might be able to refer you to

somebody who'd be able to offer you counselling.

What counselling?

I want to find out who I am.

Well, this isn't really the way to...

Look, I don't even know if my name and birth date are right.

I remember leaving England.

I was four years old.

I was in a children's home because my parents were dead.

Then they sent me in a boat to Australia.

All I know for certain is I was born in Nottingham.

Why did you mean they put you on a boat?

It was all in a boat for us.

Hundreds of us.

What, your adoptive parents were emigrating?

No, no parents, no guardians, just a couple of hundred kids they sent us away.

Well, that can't be right.

What do you mean?

It's simply not legal.

There's no way that a group of unaccompanied

children would just be shipped off like that.

Are you calling me a liar?

No, of course not.

That is the one thing I know.

I know about who I am.

Don't you tell me that's not true.

Okay, look, I can see you're upset.

Why don't you come into my office on another date and...

-Here, take this. -That's my name.

That's all I've got to tell anyone where I've come from.

It is 10.30 at night and...

I can't find anything else.

I've tried everything.

I've been everywhere.

Now my time's running out.

I'm flying back. So you have a look and you write and tell me how wrong I am.

Come 10,000 miles to find home, they call you a liar.

Wait.

You're not a bloody saint.

You were tired.

Yeah, I know, but I should have seen it coming.

You can't always see it coming.

Why is Ben out of bed?

Oh, hello, miss.

Ben spilled his juice.

It wasn't my fault.

What are you doing out of bed?

I can't sleep.

Can I read?

No. Go on, go back up to bed, and I'll come and tuck you up in a minute.

It's not fair.

I'm older than him. Let's get you some more juice.

-Happens all the time. -Up you go.

I just don't know if I did the right thing.

Oh, Margaret, we're social workers.

There's no right thing. There's social work practice, court decisions.

My professional judgment.

Which means that sometimes you're doing the right

thing, and sometimes you're oppressing the poor

with the middle class values of reactionary government.

Don't make that face at me.

Kiss for mommy.

Sometimes you're just tired.

Oh, you're heavy.

Love it.

It's okay, I'll go.

I had a bad dream.

Oh, sweetie.

Are you OK?

What happened?

It was a long road to Luton, and I couldn't.

You couldn't what?

I couldn't get out, and I couldn't find you.

Darling, I'm here.

I lost you.

Oh, sweetie, I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere, OK?

All right?

Are you going to go back to sleep?

♪

I think you have to talk about it.

Exactly.

I only told my husband just this last year.

Yeah, good for you.

Well done.

What do you think, Nicky?

Um, well, yeah, I mean, I know what you mean, but, um, sometimes I

just think it would sound stupid if I told everyone what was bothering me.

What is it?

Um, it's my brother, Brother Jack.

I don't really see him, you see.

Do you want to tell everyone who Jackie is, Nicky?

Mmm.

Yeah.

They did the job

He found me a few years ago, um, just

got a letter out of the blue.

Dear Nicky, I think it may have been your brother Jack.

And he was.

As soon as I saw him, I knew.

I mean, you know, I remembered.

That's right.

You know, once upon a time, I used to have a brother.

So, uh, where is he?

Australia.

Can you believe it?

It was the Sallie Army who found me for him.

They'd taken us both in and put me in my first

foster home and shipped Jack off to Australia.

So, uh...

I mean, I know I have family, I suppose.

But he's so far away, and sometimes it's hard to feel.

So, was he adopted by an Australian family?

Uh, no.

No, um, it was just kids, Jack said.

A big ship full of kids from, uh, five

to 30, and all being sent off to Australia.

You never told me that bit, Nicky.

Didn't I?

That's what happened.

It could still all be just coincidence.

Do you think so?

Well, if children did emigrate to Australia in

any numbers, there must be some record of them.

♪

I was just wondering if you had any records of any

unaccompanied children who were sent to Australia in the 1940s and 50s.

I don't think we ever had those records in Australia House.

So there were children sent out there.

Do you know how many?

When?

Why were they sent?

I've already told you.

We don't have any more information.

So who would know?

Why don't you ask your own government?

They're the ones who sent the kids out there.

I know, I couldn't believe it.

I mean I was still half thinking that the

story couldn't be true and he just came out with it.

No, no, I think I'm gonna still get the later train

and I'm gonna go and try St. Catherine's house now

and see if I can find Charlotte's birth certificate.

If I can get her mother's name off that, then I can probably

find out when she died and when Charlotte was placed in an orphanage.

We can start to trace her journey.

♪

Maybe get some clues about why Nicky's brother was sent away as well.

♪

♪

♪

♪

Charlotte's mother wasn't dead.

Lovely to see you, Merv.

How was your day? Charlotte said she was in an orphanage in

1950 because both her parents were dead, while I found a

record of a woman with her mother's name who got married in

Nottingham in 1956, not dead, very much alive and eating wedding cake.

Might not be the same woman.

I ordered up the certificate, but why would

Charlotte have been sent if she wasn't an orphan?

So, if her mother was alive in 1956, she might still be alive?

I don't know.

So you're going to follow that up?

Well, I'll find the address on the certificate and follow the trail from there.

It's not the right age.

I don't know why it's taking so long.

-There? -Yeah.

Okay.

Is that time already?

No, I don't hang on.

I'll finish that off.

Excuse me.

Are you Vera Wilson?

-That's me. -How can I help you, love?

I was wondering if I could have a word with you in private.

It's something personal.

I'll take you through.

What's it about?

It's about your family.

Oh, my God.

I mean, he'd come one day.

It's you insane.

No, I'd better be fairer.

I'm a social worker.

Do you know where our baby is?

Let's go somewhere where we can talk in private.

Where is she?

Does she have a family?

Is she happy?

Charlotte's in Australia.

She grew up in a children's home in Australia.

In Australia?

What was she doing over there?

What was she doing in a children's home?

I went back to get her and they told me she'd been adopted.

I went back to get her.

They told me she was better off.

She was in a real family.

What was she doing in a children's home on the other side of the world?

♪

♪

♪

Alright, can we take that?

How was your flight?

♪

That's, um, my mother.

Your grandmother.

She was very strict, you know.

You've got to understand how things were 40 years ago.

No one wanted the shame.

It was such a scandal.

Mother wouldn't have me in the house.

They took my baby away from me at

the hostel and I tried to visit

and then one day they said she'd gone.

You would gone.

Get this for you in case

Well, I always kept it.

♪

♪

♪

I'm up to my eyes at work.

I know.

And we can't afford it.

I know.

And the kids?

They'll be fine here.

♪

♪

♪

♪

Nice to see you.

Margaret, this is my brother, Jack.

It's very nice to meet you.

I've heard a lot about you.

Oh, it's good to meet you.

Where's the flight?

Um, yeah, we're good.

Get these into the car.

Long live it.

-Yeah? -Yeah.

Are you all right?

Yeah.

Are you still okay to come for the reunion tomorrow?

Yes, yeah, yeah, of course.

♪

♪

♪

So, we are delighted to see our usual

wonderful turnout of former Fairbridge residents.

This is a nostalgic and happy day for all of us.

Now, just before I go, this is Mrs Humphreys, who has come all the way

from England to join one of our old Fairbridgians at the reunion today.

She'd love to hear any stories you have about your

time here, so do take the time to talk to her if you can.

Hello, my name's Margaret Humphries.

I was recently contacted by a woman who was sent here to

Australia as a child and has lost all contact with her family in England.

And I'm here today to see if any of you are in the same position.

If you want to talk to me, just come and find me later.

All right, thank you.

So is this all there is?

The bunkhouses, the farm buildings?

What about school?

Well, you only got to go to school if you finished your farm work first.

Jack told me some stories about this place, didn't he, Jack?

I mean, the food was terrible, wasn't it?

What was it you said, Jack?

Um, you could always tell the Fairbridge kids,

because they were the one nicking the other kids' lunchboxes.

Do you know if all the other children

were sent out from Britain the same as you?

I don't know.

Do you know who sent you?

I'm going to be up by the bus.

Yeah.

Son of a fucker.

I'm sorry.

This woman you were talking about, did you find any family for her?

Yes.

She was told that her mother was dead, but we found her.

You found her mother?

Yes.

You think I've got a mother?

I don't know.

Everybody's got a mother.

What year?

What year are you talking about?

What do you want?

What do you want to know?

Sorry to keep you waiting.

Any records of who the child migrants were would

be back of the UK or with local state authorities.

♪

♪

Well, there's so many of them.

These migrations, were they organized schemes?

I can't tell you really.

It's not my area, I'm afraid.

So why have I never heard about it?

Why has no one ever heard about it?

I don't suppose anyone was really that interested.

I want to get a view of you two.

I'll stop, Jack.

I can't stand Mother's Day.

I get the same feeling every year like someone's

twisting a knife inside me, so normally I'll stay

inside on that day and I draw the blinds and I let the phone ring.

I was married, you know.

-I've got... -I've got three kids.

See, I just never knew what was wrong with me.

You know, I'd think about my mother all the time, but I...

I could never... could never talk about it.

Because, I mean, how can you talk about

someone when you've been told they don't even exist?

I went to see this doctor.

He put me on antidepressants, and they didn't really help, so...

I saved them up.

I saved them all up, and then...

I mean, it wasn't my wife's fault, you know, there's a...

There's an emptiness in me,

there always has been and I think, I thought, I think that

the only thing that could fill it is her, you know, is my mother.

I've got this very strong memory of when I was

in the children's home in the UK and I was only 10.

And this this man in a suit he came to see me

and he says how'd you like to go to Australia?

You know he said the sun shines every day You'd

live in a white house Ride a horse to school and

you pick oranges off the trees for your breakfast

You know, when I didn't say anything, he says, Well, it's just...

Your mother's dead, you know, so...

You might as well.

So, now you're telling me that she might not have been dead after all.

Oh, no, I can't say that, Jack.

We just don't know.

What we can do is we can search for her records and see what we can find.

I don't know.

I... Of course, of course, I don't know.

You found your sister?

She was so happy to see you, you know?

Nicky trusts you.

And I reckon I...

I think I should, too.

Oh, there she is.

Come on.

Hello, sweetheart.

How did that feel?

Good to see you.

How was the flight? It was all right, actually.

All right? Come on, guys. Did you get any sleep?

A little bit, yeah.

I am entirely exhausted.

-Fuck! -Beth, how did you hear me?

That's what I found first.

But then I was desperate.

I'd been searching court records, children's panel, minutes, you name it.

No trace of the children anywhere.

I was just looking through newspapers

round about our date and that leapt out at me.

Now you had the name of the organisation.

Fairbridge.

It wasn't just Fairbridge.

All sorts of different charities ran these schemes.

Churches, Barnardos.

Children from deprived backgrounds

shipped off for a better life in the colonies.

This is it.

This is all fitting together.

The schemes ran from the 19th century to, you won't believe this, 1970.

But there was a wave of migrations to

Australia between the mid-50s and the mid-60s.

How big?

How many kids? I don't know exactly, but it must have been organised.

I mean organised at the level of government.

These children were in care.

Local authorities were their guardians.

For so many of them to be systematically

deported, it must have been government policy.

The Home Secretary would have had to give

his consent for them to leave the country.

And the Australian government must have wanted to receive them.

Why did Australia, I suppose?

You're talking about the organised deportation of children in care.

I don't have any concrete proof yet, but

the evidence doesn't leave much room for doubt.

So who's taking responsibility for what

happened to these children once they reached Australia?

Oh, Merv, I've got the names of hundreds of

people in my suitcase who all want to know who they are.

I know.

Who do I ask? Where do I start?

Are you going to look at all that stuff now?

Jet lag. I thought you said you were going to work in the morning.

I've got to.

I've been summoned.

Merv?

I'm going to have to get back to Australia.

Come on.

Catch your breath first, eh?

We can see you now.

Two weeks ago.

Then send it to the other department.

Shut the door.

-Yeah. -To the other department.

Okay.

Take a seat.

Two weeks?

Okay.

Well, as you know, Rita's filled me in with what you've been up to.

I've read your report.

Look, I just want to say that I have kept on top of

my caseload and I went to Australia in my own time.

That was my annual leave.

I think that's appalling.

What?

What is? You had to use your own holiday to pursue this.

Oh.

I'm taking this to the Social Services Committee.

Tell me.

What is it you want to do?

Well, uh, the people that I've met, they want

to find a record of who they are.

They just want to know where they came from.

What do you need?

Time.

Time to find their families.

How long?

Oh, a year.

How about two?

Yes, that would be...

I'll make a recommendation to the committee.

So...

Are you talking about me working on this full-time?

That is what you want, isn't it?

Yes.

Yeah, yes, it is.

Now, how are we going to fund you properly?

We're going to have to raise your profile to try and get some public funding.

We need to get donations.

Have you thought about going to the press?

Bev?

It's been printed in the papers in Sydney and Melbourne too.

♪

Oh, this thing.

Hey, Mr. Sunfries, I read the article in the paper.

Please could you help me find my mother?

Sent to Australia in 1957.

I have no birth certificate.

I'm in trouble, aren't I?

Have I helped you understand all that, Bob?

It's a lot to take in.

They gave me the wrong name.

They'd given you the wrong name.

That's why it's taken so long to find your birth certificate.

So...

which name do I use?

Who am I?

You're the same person.

But I've got the wrong name.

You're using a different name from the name on your birth certificate.

Do you want to stop for a minute?

No.

No, I'm good.

So, what next?

Well, what would you like me to do next?

Thank you all very much for your

patience, and I'll be with you as soon as I can.

I'm very sorry to keep you waiting.

-It's not a problem. -I'm Dan.

Dan, please, come in.

Oh, Len Connolly.

I'm with Dan.

Oh, nice to meet you.

Well, I usually see people on their own, but...

No, I'm a moral support.

Right.

Well, Dan, you'll be fine on your own, but if that's what you want...

It's what he wants, yeah.

Well, nice to meet you, Mr Connolly.

All right, shall we yeah

So I reckon if I do have any family, they might be around Doncaster.

Okay, right, Doncaster.

Um, well, from what you've told me, I will be able

to start to trace your mother's birth certificate.

Oh, I've tried all of that.

I've had the best in the business working on it.

-Lane. -Nothing, you know.

Can't be done.

That cost me a few bob, too.

Not that I'm short of a few bob.

I am trying to listen to Dad.

Well, I reckon you need to see me as well.

Are you a child migrant, too?

I've just told you that.

Well, I'm sure that tracing your family is very important to you.

But right now, this is Dan's time.

Okay, so, there are three possibilities.

We might be able to find your mother's birth certificate,

and obviously that is what we want and what we're hoping for.

We might find her and then discover that she's already passed away.

We might, um...

We might not have any luck.

-I'm really sorry. -Excuse me.

What are you doing?

Could you put that down, please?

Just checking what you're up to.

I'm sorry, but if you interrupt again, I'm going to have to ask you to leave.

Okay, well, when are you going to see me?

Look, I've got all the documents that the detectives found me.

They never found my mother.

Well, if the world's best private detectives were unable

to trace her, I'm not really sure what you expect me to do.

Well, I thought you could give it a go.

I'm afraid I have a backlog of people to see on this

trip and I won't be able to fit you in but if you

want to send me your documents Then I'll see what I can do

Right, now, Dan, what I'm going to need from you is any

recollections that you have, um, obviously from your early childhood.

You've caused quite a stir, Mrs. Humphreys.

There's been a lot of comments since you broke this story in the newspapers.

Well, I didn't exactly break the story.

People are saying what happened to some of these children is an outrage.

Would you care to comment on that?

Well, I'd say it was, yes.

That's rather a strong word, though, isn't it?

I met a woman recently who was sent to Australia at five years of age.

And she wanted me to tell you that she lived with 15

other girls in an unheated, unventilated hut for 10 years.

And during that time, her only

possessions were one dress and one pair of shoes.

And then at age 15, she was told that she

had to repay her debt of board and lodging.

And she was sent to work as unpaid slave labor

on a farm that was 50 miles from the nearest road.

So what you're saying is? And in all that time, she

never knew that she had a mother still living in

England who had no idea where she was or what had happened to her.

I'd like to know what word you would use to

describe what that mother and daughter suffered.

And here we go.

One, two, three.

Let's do, let's do one more, one more mate.

Oh, Mrs Humphreys!

Miss, I've got to talk to you.

I'd like to take you to dinner.

My treat, my treat.

I can buy my own dinner, thank you.

Oh, come on, what are you, one of those lesbian socialists?

Shut up, Linda, he's alright.

You know what he's saying. Hey, look, look, look, she's turned crimson.

He's alright.

Mrs. Humphreys, Mrs. Humphreys, I want an appointment.

♪

So how long have you been doing this work?

You know what?

I've been cleaning floors for 40 years.

First thing they did at Fairbridge, when

I came off the boat, put a mop in my hands.

Stop you all crying and clean that floor.

How old were you?

I was eight.

I was crying too, didn't need to put a bucket of

water on the floor, I was dropping enough water on it.

That was it, scrubbing for 40 years.

sometimes.

When I was shining up those floors, I think, I

wonder what my old mum would think if she could see me now.

So you remember your mum?

Of course, of course I do.

You can't ever forget your mum, can you?

I don't know where she is.

He's been in and out of the hospital for years now

but we've never seen him the way he was the other night.

When your program went out on the radio he just, he just broke down.

He just howled and then all he wanted to do was get a hold of you.

I'm glad I could be here.

He's just over here.

I was only three.

Someone told me my parents were dead.

And then I was on a boat coming here and grew up in the orphanage.

You don't want to hear this, Margaret.

Yes, I do.

That's why I'm here.

♪

♪

It's Christmas, I was really excited I

I would have been seven by then.

I had this

wonderful singing voice, you see.

I used to give concerts at the orphanage and this

dentist and his wife asked if

I would come to their

home for Christmas Eve and, you know, sing for them.

♪

Oh, Lev.

Thought I'd take a chance.

Couldn't sleep.

What time is it there?

Three in the morning.

Just wondered if you were okay.

Oh, you know, getting by.

What's wrong?

It's just...

Some of the things that I'm hearing are...

Get an earlier flight.

Come home just before Christmas.

Like I promised, it's only a week away.

Keep me over Christmas.

I'm just gonna get presents.

Proper Christmas dinner.

We had a big party.

I sang Ave Maria, the women said

I was a little angel.

And then the dentist.

♪

dentist and two other men, they took me into the bathroom and they...

Bye.

♪

♪

♪

♪

What's wrong?

We can't have that.

-Margaret? -Margaret?

-I can't. -I can't. -Margaret? -Hey, stop.

Stop, stop, stop.

So what do I tell Ben and Rachel?

Sorry, Christmas is cancelled.

Oh, Murph, I missed you.

I missed you.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

Christmas back on then.

As long as I don't have to do any bloody counseling.

♪

♪

♪

♪

Jack.

Oh, my God.

Well, I thought you'd never hurry up and

find my mum unless I came and helped you out.

Oh.

Come in, come in.

So, uh, just got here.

Stress

I don't think I can do that, yeah.

Yeah, it's number 71

Yeah, no.

Well, I'd be very grateful if she could give me a call.

Yeah, it's Margaret Humphreys.

Yes.

♪

So, where are we off to?

Right.

We're picking up Nicky from work, and we're driving to Tyneside.

Righto.

You a Jack?

You a little Jack?

Oh my God.

You used to sit on me lap.

Well you know me.

Well, you knew me when I was a little boy.

Yeah.

-Yeah, yeah. -I can see you now.

And you and Nicky.

So you knew her mother?

Yeah.

Oh, she was lovely.

Where's she now?

Well, we don't know.

We lost her.

Oh, we don't remember, because we're in children's homes.

Oh, now, wait a minute.

That can't be right.

Well, a woman I knew would never have put her children in a horn.

She lived for that little boy and girl.

Well, you think that maybe if her relationship broke

down and she was on her own and she couldn't cope, she...

No, she wouldn't have ever been more stuck with the babies.

She wouldn't? No, while there was breath in her body.

Well, they sent us away, so we...

She wouldn't have been able to find us.

See?

That would have broken her into bits.

What was she like?

What did she look like?

Let me think.

She looks...

she looked a bit like you, actually.

claiming thousands of kids have been deported without their parents' consent.

Now, we will be taking your calls for all of those questions.

Today, denied allegations surrounding their children's home have been due.

The brothers are finding that the claims of these children have been false.

Neither the British nor the government here in

Australia have taken any responsibility for this.

How would you describe it?

Deportation?

Yes.

It's clearly the organized deportation of children from one country to another.

And neither the charities nor the church organizations that ran

those schemes have been prepared to admit that any mistakes were made.

How about a speech, migrant?

Oh, no.

No, no, really.

Um, all right.

Thank you. Well, I want to say thank you to all of you.

Um, this is the proper launch of the Child Migrants Trust.

And it has a home now, this house.

And without all of the donations and without

all of you, none of this would have been possible.

Um, so thank you for giving me an office in it.

And, um, I'm really glad I don't have to

spend another day working in that hotel room.

Do you want to grab some food?

Cup of tea?

Ah, I'm heading off.

I've got a long drive home.

Are you sure, James?

Yeah, I don't know any of these people.

I'm sorry, I don't want to spoil your party.

You don't know any of them?

Well, yeah, yeah.

I know the Indian boys, of course.

See you, mate.

Margaret Humphries.

Listen you bitch, you tell those

winching bastards to stop talking about Bindoon.

If they tell one more lie about the brothers, just one

more, we're coming over there and I'll fucking finish you myself.

Do you enjoy running this slanderous publicity machine of yours?

I'm afraid I don't recognize that description of my work.

I don't represent any newspaper or any television station.

But you'll happily declare your wild allegations to anyone.

I haven't made any direct allegations to the press.

Some of the boys who were sent to your children's home at

Bindu chose to speak to the press when they were approached.

But none of those contacts were initiated by me.

Well...

Since you stirred things up, the Christian

brothers have been forced to conduct an

internal inquiry into the boys' towns at Bindu and elsewhere.

Now, have you any idea how much distress you

have caused to elderly men who only sought the best?

I'm hearing an awful lot about the distress caused to the brothers.

No-one's talking about the distress caused to

the children who were supposed to be in their care.

You're doing alright there, aren't you?

Are they, uh, paying you okay, are they?

This probably isn't the best way to start this conversation, is it?

I don't think you'd like me very much, Mrs. Humphreys.

All right.

I'll be honest with you, Len.

I don't know about the man sitting opposite me, but I'm sure that

there's a hurt little boy somewhere inside that I'd like very much.

We're just going to have to take the time to find him.

And how do I know that you're qualified to do that, Mrs. Humphreys?

You'll have to make your own judgment on that, Mr. Connolly.

You'll just have to trust me.

♪

It's Len Connolly's first step on Australia over there.

Then we're processed in here.

All these little kids quaking and shaking and

wondering what on earth they've been dropped into

Brothers were sent one way Sisters another they're

all crying into their sleeves thinking I can't be this out all the time

Then we were put on the buses out here.

When I shoved onto one of them, I realised Teresa wasn't coming with us.

She was one of the girls who looked after us on the way over.

She was taking a shine to me.

Yeah, I was just a little scrap, you know.

She made a bit of a pet of me on the voyage over.

I think I charmed her.

So when I realized Teresa wasn't coming, I went crazy.

Didn't I? I went mad. Fighting to get to the back.

I was climbing over everything trying to get to her.

♪

Anyway, by the end of that day, I was with the Christian brothers.

They'd taken all my clothes.

They gave me an old shirt and a pair of shorts to wear, and, uh...

I was cleaning out the rubbish pit at Bindoon.

Yeah, come on.

Look, we don't need to talk about that.

I just want to find my mother.

That's it.

Help me with that if you can.

I don't need anything else.

I'm not offering anything else.

That's not my place.

All I'm asking is have you imagine what it might be like if you do find her.

Well, let's just find her first, all right?

We'll try, but what do you want?

To find her, to know who she is, to know who I am.

You've got absolutely no hopes or expectations beyond that.

Look, Mrs. Humphreys, I'm sure that you see old

boys and girls day in, day out, bawling their eyes

out, telling you how much they miss their dear old mum.

Well, the truth is, our mum shot through, didn't she?

We didn't just fall out of our prams and fly off with Peter Pan, did we?

No, our mums didn't want us.

That's why we're here.

Isn't that the truth?

No, the truth is actually much more complicated in most cases.

No, she didn't want me.

She put me in a children's home.

Well, that's all right.

Let's just put a face to the old deal.

Oh, I can sit here all day, if you like, and

bleed on about what a hard life I had of been through.

Let's talk about Bindu.

Mrs. Humphreys, I've paid my debts.

I've sourced the brothers' farm tools through my company.

I've made donations to the Christian Brothers.

I've paid my debts.

Your debts?

What do you owe them?

Oh, I don't.

Look, they raised me, they fed me, they

clothed me, whatever, and I've paid it all back.

I don't see how an-year-old boy who's working to grow

his own food, who has one pair of shorts, one shirt,

no shoes, can be said to be running up much of a debt.

Well, no one can say I owe them anything.

No, I don't think you do.

But maybe that's the monster living in your head.

I don't like the idea of you walking

around with a monster like that in your head.

♪

♪

I'm afraid this won't do I'm here to give somebody some really important news.

They're gonna remember this day for the rest

of their lives Can you show me something else

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

Jack.

Take a seat.

That's that's beautiful

So, Murph telephoned me last night and

we've had the results of our latest search.

Yeah, if you found my mother.

Yes.

We were too late.

She's dead, isn't she?

Yes, she is.

Yeah.

When did she die?

Last year.

Oh.

Oh,

we were just too late then.

♪

♪

Mrs. Humphreys, no one is suggesting for a

minute that the people you represent have not suffered.

But this has to be placed in its historical context.

What was done was done with the very best intentions.

These children were placed in children's homes without casting any blame.

Their family situations were far from ideal.

A more modern sensibility might suggest greater

effort should have been made to keep families together.

But at the time, it was genuinely believed to be in

the children's interest to give them a fresh start.

Ultimately, these children were in the care of the British government.

And it was the governments of Australia and Britain who

were responsible for authorizing the migration schemes.

And if we're talking about historical context, I'll remind

you that the last migrants were only shipped out 17 years ago.

But we're not here for recriminations.

There's no need for that.

Now the Child Migrants Trust has been created.

We can offer you an opportunity to redress some of

the damage for which your organizations were responsible.

These people were deported as children, young children.

They've been deprived of their family, their identity.

They need to find the families they lost.

I know that you'll all want to help them do that.

I think my organization would be prepared to

make a contribution if some trustee arranged...

You can't be a trustee.

We have to be able to say to these

children, well adults now, that they're safe.

It has to be a neutral service.

What we are offering you, the government, is an opportunity

to take responsibility for what happened to these children.

If you could at least tell us whether you have any

records of the child migrants to which you could give us access.

The first came for over 100 years and I can

assure you that we're doing everything we can.

Look, they just want to know who they are.

Well, we said it, didn't we?

Oh, yes.

Excuse me.

Mrs. Humphreys.

Can I just have a minute of your time?

You say you're speaking as a mother, but please, take

consolation in your own family while we're meddling with all this.

I mean, how could you possibly understand the

real circumstance of these unfortunate children?

They were living in slums.

They were children of tramps and degenerates.

So, you don't accept that the British government has a case to answer?

We have every sympathy with the feelings of these former child migrants.

But you take no responsibility?

We have no actual responsibility.

Whatever Margaret Humphreys alleges, the fact is...

They were the responsibility of the British government.

The fact is, this may have been a distressing episode in

history, but there is no profit in playing the blame game.

Right. Well, thank you very much for that.

We've got them rattled now.

Legally, they're responsible.

They know it, we know it.

We find the paperwork that nails them.

They know we will. They know the paperwork's out there.

Yeah.

Well, I'm gonna find it, Margaret.

You know I am.

Yeah.

You all right?

Just tired.

I've got an early start.

Lent's flight gets in at six.

Here, let me do that.

No, no, no. Never let it be said I didn't take care

of my own family before I started meddling with others.

Hey. Hey.

So it's just us now.

No help coming.

We keep putting them on the spot.

But right now, it is just us.

8,000 miles and I'll finally get my turn trip back.

As long as she accepts me, that's all.

As long as she doesn't turn me away.

I've got a very good memory, you know, I, um...

I remember walking up a green hill with, uh, grass under my bare feet.

There was someone pulling me by the hand because I couldn't walk very well yet.

I was angry.

I was angry because I'd been promised a penny

or a sweetie or something, and I didn't get it.

It would have been her, wouldn't it, holding my hand?

What's that?

It's a check.

You can fill in what you like.

You can decide.

You can have that or you can have my loyalty.

I don't mind witches.

As long as we're square.

Oh, you see that?

-See that? -She's in there.

You want me to go in with you?

No, no, no, no.

You'll be right in. No, get yourself a cab back.

Or, um, is there a cafe up there that we just passed?

Thank you, Margaret.

Thank you.

You're very welcome.

What is it?

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

The boys' home at Bindoon was closed some time ago.

No, the Christian Brothers have been victimised by these slanders.

We are considering legal action to prevent any

more journalists trespassing on church property.

I heard you.

I don't think you can come to Perth and tell any lies.

Excuse me?

The good brothers and sisters rent

decent, loving homes for those poor children.

I do not tell lies. Do you know how much

you could hurt the Holy Fathers with your lies?

I do not tell lies, ever.

♪

It's Margaret Humphreys from the Child Migrants Trust in Australia.

Yes, you'll know what it's regarding.

We've had extensive correspondence on the subject.

Yes.

Well, I would like him to return my call.

Yeah, and if he doesn't, I will call you back tomorrow.

Thank you.

You bitch!

You fuckin' evil whore!

Fuckin' open this window!

I'm gonna rip you apart!

I can get us...

I can get in any color!

Get out!

Ah!

I can't sleep, I can't get to you, I can't get off!

I'll get you!

♪♪

home?

No, I can't.

Call the police.

Get out of that house.

People are depending on me, Merv.

I've got a load of appointments.

I've got to go.

I'll call you back later.

I heard what I went out to bin do with the camera crew.

Stir things up a bit.

You guys said you didn't want to go alone.

-Here. -Here. -Stop!

♪

I'll wait for you here.

No, you don't need to wait for me.

I'll get a taxi.

You really should get a car.

No, you don't need a taxi.

You don't need a car. I'll wait for you.

Thank you.

Ah, here we go.

with that area.

Um, it's right.

Right, the other right.

Sorry, man

Doing a bit of classic alone?

Say you wanna start

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

like a child

I see

♪

♪

♪

Jack, what are you doing here?

Well, Merv rang and asked me to come over.

He thought you might need a bit of company.

What did he say?

Well, he said you needed me here.

♪

♪

It's all right, honey.

It's spring in your tea.

I'm sorry.

Is that everything you need?

Yeah.

I thought I might sleep out on the veranda.

I don't much like sleeping under a roof.

All right.

Whatever you want.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

You alright in there, Margaret?

Yeah.

♪

♪

I can't breathe.

Huh?

I can't breathe.

I can't breathe.

-You can't breathe? -Yeah.

It's my heart.

It's my heart.

Hold on, darling.

Sit down and eat your cereal.

Rachel?

♪

♪

Tell them you have to stay here Tell them you belong to us

♪

♪

And John...

Look, my darling, it's just...

I'm taking you to the doctor.

I don't need to go to the doctor.

I'm taking you.

Well, for God's sake, I can get myself to the doctor.

Look, I only came because my husband insisted.

I... I just wanted to set his mind at rest.

I know there's nothing wrong with me.

And you have post-traumatic stress disorder.

I'm sorry, but that is rubbish.

Nothing happened to me.

It all happened to them.

Absorbing other people's pain is a stress of its own.

I can't stop.

There's no one else.

If I...

♪

♪

♪

♪

I am a great maid, I can hardly stand to argue.

And she hasn't stopped.

Oh Margaret, lovely to see you.

Margaret, I hope you don't mind us dropping in on you.

I was just telling them, Margaret, we had such a good day.

I really wanted to invite you, but we know you're so busy.

Thirty years I was working at that pub, and they never knew I had a daughter.

She was really keen for me to come over for the retirement

party, but we didn't know what we were going to tell people.

And then Bill says...

Bill's one of the regulars.

Who's this lovely young lady Vera?

He's ancient, see, so...

And I said, this is my daughter, Bill.

My daughter, Charlotte.

And he says...

Never even blinked.

She looks just like you.

He could tell.

Anyone could tell.

And there we were, in front of them all.

Together, mother and daughter.

I tell you, Margaret...

It was the happiest moment of my life.

Of my life.

Both of us, we just...

We just felt...

-Whole. -At last.

Nothing missing.

And I said we have to come and tell Margaret this.

But we didn't even know if you'd be here, you're so busy.

So, when are you back off to Australia?

Well, as soon as this lot can spare me.

♪

There's a chilled chardonnay on the table there for you.

Margaret River.

Bit young, but hitting its stride, I reckon.

I didn't come here to drink, Len.

I thought you wanted to talk.

Yeah, I've got some soup, too.

It's home-cooked.

I can cook, you know.

I'm sure you can.

You look hungry enough.

I've already eaten.

What was it you wanted to say?

You're a difficult woman to entertain, Mrs Humphreys.

Nice, huh?

Look, um, all this TV coverage has stirred everything up, Margaret.

It's, uh, got the boys talking.

And, um, look, I've been watching how the boys are around you.

And, uh, not speaking out of turn, you know what I'm talking about.

Um, you're like a sister to them.

You're family after everything you've done.

You know, the only family most of us will ever have anyway.

I'm not sure that family's really the right word.

Well, that's how we feel.

No, but you're right, it's, um, it's not real.

Because you haven't been there, have you?

You've heard about our childhood, but you haven't touched our childhood.

Because you haven't been there.

Where?

To Bindoon.

I'm asking you to come to Bindoon with me.

Have a think about it a moment.

Look, Len, what you all suffered at

Bindoon, that's your history, but it's not mine.

I, I, I have to be careful, I, I'm not, um, it

wouldn't be appropriate for me to get too close to all of that.

Well, it wouldn't be right.

No, no, you'll be right.

I'll look after you.

No, Len, I don't want to.

I don't have to go there, and I don't want to.

Okay, okay, but you look at it from the old boy's point of view.

That's like saying that you can't look at who they are.

Is that what they're saying?

Well, you overthink about it, Margaret.

Maybe that's the monster living in your head.

I'd like to think of you walking around with a monster like that in your head.

♪

♪

♪

Well, we should be there in a couple of hours.

It used to take six before they graded the road.

God, you should have seen her, 40 or 50 little

nippers bouncing around in the back of an open

truck, eating dust and flies, crying for their mums.

We thought we'd been dropped off at the end of the earth.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

All right.

Save from here first

They're what you expected?

I didn't know it would be so big.

And I didn't know it would be so beautiful The

boys put every stone of that building together

The cement would burn your feet, with no shoes.

Cement would burn the cuts on our feet and the sores on our hands and knees.

All day, in blazing heat, no rest, no water.

I was nine years old and I was lifting

rocks the size of my upper body.

And he's yelling at us, you weak,

weak, pitiful sons of whores.

We built stations of the cross.

But who was crucified, huh?

Tell me that.

You all right to go down?

I suppose they don't let us in.

There's a swimming pool at the back of the building.

I paid for it.

They'll let us in.

He had this, he had this big knobby stick

and he would crack you over the skull with it.

Feather belts, fan belt for the tractor.

Anything to give you a good wallop, you know.

They'll all still be having their breakfast, if you feel like a cup of tea.

It's nice.

Good morning, brothers.

I've, uh, brought Mrs. Humphreys here to have a

look around the old place, if that's all right.

I'm trying.

Very good.

Is there any chance of a cuppa?

We can do better than a chipped cup, can't we, brother?

We'd hear one of the brothers come in.

Just his footsteps on the wooden floor.

You'd be lying there in the wet sheets, and you're thinking, please, God.

Please, God, don't let it be me.

He would make you strip naked and get

on the tables with everybody watching him.

I don't know where I thought I could run to.

There's nothing there for miles.

He came after me on horseback, and when he caught me,

He tied me to a tree, and he, uh...

♪

You probably can't believe me

♪

Of course I believe you.

The fuck are right with me, Margaret?

I think you might have forgotten something, brother.

I'll fix it up, Sean.

♪

♪

Didn't matter if he'd split your skull open and keep whacking away.

You just thought...

Who's gonna, who's gonna look after me?

Who's going to look after me?

I'm nobody.

♪

Have I disturbed you, brothers?

Have I threatened you?

What have you got to be frightened of?

Grown men like you.

♪

♪

♪

♪

What was that Mark?

Can't see another house, nothing but bush.

No one would find you here.

He'd wait for me after dark, I don't know.

He took a sort of shine to me, I was a favourite or something, I suppose.

You just think I'll live through this, it'll stop one day.

But a year's.

Margaret, have a look at them.

Black cockatoo.

Ah, there'd be flocks of them over here sometimes.

They'd sound like trains going over your head.

You all right?

You've got a funny colour.

I'll just get you a drink.

Take care.

-You all right? -I'm fine.

It's just the heat.

OK.

You know, your problem, Mrs. H, you don't look after yourself properly.

You won't let anyone else do it, either.

No, it's not for anybody else to look after me.

I've been loved and looked after my entire life.

It's your turn now, but you never get it.

Everybody thinks that there's going to be this big

cathartic moment where all the wrongs are righted and

all the wounds are healed, but it's not going to happen.

I can't give you back what you've lost.

Well, there's plenty of other people in that boat.

Well, it's not enough, is it, Len?

It's never enough.

Yeah, his old Ben Dern had shook you up all right, didn't he?

Oh, I'm fine.

Yeah, you should shake me up.

I'm the one who should be shaking.

But even if I was, even if I was...

lying here in the dirt, bawling like a kid, I...

couldn't feel at all, could I?

Isn't that what you'd tell me?

I had to stop crying when I was eight.

I don't know how to start now.

But you feel it.

You feel it for all of us because we can't, you do.

You're fighting for us, Margaret.

You're in there for us. You're on our side.

So let the rest go.

Just let the rest go.

What you're doing is enough.

It's more than anyone else has ever given me.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

Happy Christmas.

Thank you.

Happy Christmas.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

There you are.

Happy Christmas.

So what are you going to give all of us for Christmas, Ben?

I'll give you my mom.

♪

It's how you did.

It's how you did, darling, and we love you for it.

Yeah.

Hey, don't you dare, don't you dare do that.

What are you trying to do?

♪

I'll see you in a couple of weeks.

I'll see you in a couple of weeks.

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And I'll always

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