All language subtitles for The.Last.Daughter.2022.1080p.WEBRip.x264.AAC5.1-[YTS.MX]-en

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As far as
I can remember,

I've always had dreams
of houses and doorways

and hallways
and hiding places.

As a kid, we tend to
push things down.

But when you turn to adult,

I think that's when all the
feelings start coming back.

For a long time,
I didn't know who I was.

I knew I had
fragmented memories

of a little white sister.

But I couldn't
put the pieces together.

I had to get answers.

I had to find out who I was.

I've never shared this story before.

And I don't think anyone's
heard it like this before.

I've had to go back
so I can move forward.

Uh...

We're here one reason
and one reason only,

as far as I can make out,

and that's Brenda.

And I can only fill in
bits and pieces,

but I hope it all works out.

Why are you nervous?

I don't know. Just sort of...

All this gear around and...

Now I'm here.

Well, I met Connie
in the sole milk bar,

which was run by her dad.

I got sight of her
and I thought,

"Jeez, this is a nice-looking
girl working in there."

He came back for lunch.

Sort of met and, um...

Yeah, sort of, things went on
from there.

And I ended up with
a hamburger and a bride

in the end,
so that was alright.

We were in a house,
which we sold,

and then we rented a place
and we built our own home.

I cut the frame out
myself, bricked it up.

And it come together
very nicely.

We had our first daughter, Rebecca,

and then we thought,
"Well, let's keep going."

We were always thinking

of having a bigger family.

We'd talked about adoption
a bit.

There were kids out there
that needed... needed a home

and that weren't as fortunate
as we were.

We thought, "Well, why don't
we go and pick up the papers

"and see what we have to do
to fill them in?"

It just got put on the shelf,
I suppose, for a while.

I fell pregnant in
between that and I had a boy.

And then we got
the surprise call.

The department rang,
wanting to know

if I was still interested
in having a child.

They said,
"We have someone here,

"but it's a little
Aboriginal girl."

And I thought,
"Well, that's interesting."

When my baby
was only nine weeks

and my little girl was
only two and a half,

I said, "Oh, well, it'll be
hard but it'll be worth it.

"We've been waiting
long enough."

We had good room
in the house.

We were paying our bills
and eating well.

So we landed up
ringing them back

and saying,
"Yes, we'll take her."

We got to delivery date
at the railway station.

We stood there for a while

waiting for this train

and we kept looking
at each other, sort of thing,

and gee, excited,
apprehensive, I suppose.

Then there was a lady
with a little Aboriginal girl.

She said,
"Mr and Mrs Ockers?"

I said, "Yes."

She said, "This is Brenda."

Yeah, I can live that moment forever

even if I get to be
200 years old, I think.

It was a very quick exchange.

Was just really...
and not much said at all.

Then she walked off
and that was it.

Brenda
didn't say a word.

Was a big step for her too,

a little girl to come to
a family she doesn't know.

All aboard!

One day just
melded into the next.

She just went along with
Gene and Becca at those times.

Life began
as a family of three children.

And that was the good bit.

It was good.

This way a bit.

Yeah, but you...

- Darling...
- I had it perfect.

I know you're perfect.

No, I'm not perfect.
I said I had it perfect.

When I first met Mark,

he was taking children
on cultural camps.

I've had the honour of
paddling and walking

with the Bundjalung people.

I collaborated with them

to get other people
to experience

what I have experienced.

It was a bit scary
at first.

He looked like
a drill sergeant,

especially when he spoke.

Once you've thrown your gear
in the rescue boat,

come and grab a PFD
out of the two red bags.

The pocket goes to the front.

Once you've done that,
go to the back of the trailer

and grab your paddle, please.

I started
warming up to him

when I went on the camps
with him.

It was a time for me
where I was learning myself.

But before we start,
just going to

hand you over to Jarulah.

He's gonna do
the welcome to country.

When I first met Brenda,

yeah, it was
a bit of a mystery.

She was shy, timid,

couldn't really even
look you in the eye,

especially to a whitefella.

At the beginning,
Mark just wanted to know

more about me,

and I hadn't shared that
with anyone before.

That drew me to her

because I could see
Brenda was carrying a story.

We just needed to find out
what that story was.

Rebecca and Brenda's
relationship was very close.

They held hands.
They played together.

You know, there was
no arguing about the clothes.

Connie dressed them
basically all the same.

We had a playpen thing
and they all got in.

And Brenda said,

"How come the baby
is not black, is not dark?"

I knew then that I had to
actually tell her

where she came from.

She took it as it was.

She was quite happy.

She started school.
We enrolled her.

We put her in
as Brenda Ockers.

We were gonna hope she's
gonna be an Ockers eventually.

That's the whole system

that we were going through -

to foster to start with,
to intention for adopt.

The whole family
loved her, you know?

She was part of us.

Down the line
we put an application in

as an adoption.

Within a very short time,
we got a visit

from the welfare that was
looking after the case.

We were hoping
it was all gonna go through,

that's why he was there.

You know,
get some paperwork done.

We thought,
"This is a home run."

She just wanted to be loved
and secure,

and that's what she had
with us.

Everyone seated.
Stay nice and tight.

Come on down, Aunty Brenda.
Give her a big clap.

One day, Mark asked me
to share my story on camp.

I didn't know much
about my story,

but I knew that I had
a little white sister.

I don't think I could
really remember any detail,

but I just remember her.

I remember that...

...there was love there.

This guy
from the welfare,

he come in,
sat down on the lounge

and we said,
"Well, we're gonna adopt her."

He says, "Oh, no, no."

He says, "Things have changed,
mate. Things have changed.

"She's gotta go
up to Newcastle.

"That's where her family is."

And that shocked us,
because we had no idea

that we were going
to have to give her up.

He says, "We'll give you
some more instructions,

"and you'll have to take her
up there for a day visit."

I said, "Why,"

seeing we had her already
for so long,

and what was...
how can they do that,

and they said, "Oh, the father
is a reformed alcoholic."

And Connie was talking
to Brenda a bit,

trying to set her
in the situation,

which would have been
very difficult.

How can you say to a child,

you know, they haven't
been home for five, six years,

and say, "Oh, this is
your mummy"?

When we first
got there to take her there,

it was quite nerve-racking.

We both got out
and took Brenda...

...and walked
up to the front door.

We were given no intel at all,

even at that time.

We weren't told about
all the other kids.

And then Brenda's mum
was standing

at the end of the table

with this cold stare at me.

It was... something
I'll never forget,

how desperate she looked,
you know, and hurt.

You could see she was hurt
in her eyes.

Her mother
wasn't very happy.

I didn't have eye contact
with her.

You know,
I couldn't even talk to her.

All I said is,

"Brenda, we'll see you
later in the afternoon."

She knew the protocol, that
she had to go back that day.

But that was... that was
quite remarkable...

...when you face that.

And you think,
"What have I done?

"What have I done?"

Oh, I gotta stop.

Nah.

After my first time sharing,

I felt good.

I felt a bit of relief.

But every time I shared it,

it was scary
and it was, again, hurtful,

because it was triggering the
trauma that was inside of me.

I started getting more
flashbacks, more memories.

Mmm!

Yay!

But it was still
not knowing anything

about my white family,

who were missing in my life.

When we went home,
she was very quiet.

You can imagine how she felt,

in a little tricky visit
for three or four hours,

and then you gotta go.

Once we saw what was there,

we knew
that it just wasn't right.

You know, what... what went on
wasn't right.

We thought we were the heroes

but we ended up
being the villains

in the piece, really,

to deprive a mum of her child.

So, it wasn't
long after the first visit

that we had to pack up
all her belongings

and take her back.

We spent a bit more time

than we normally would
with her,

that's for sure.

Made it special, you know,
just with the little things.

And, uh... tried
to prep her a bit

for what was coming up.

And I said to her,
"Don't you ever forget us,

"and make sure when you get
older, you come and find us,"

and she said,
"I will, I will."

Had I known
that I'd never get her back,

no, I don't think I would have
taken her on,

because even after she left,

they asked us
if we wanted another child,

and it was complete,
straightaway, "No way."

I didn't want
to break my heart...

...have anyone else
break my heart like that.

Just packing away
the stuff was sad.

Then you know it's all over.

I couldn't go back
into the house then after that

when we dropped her off.

I landed up staying in the car
with Rebecca,

'cause we took Rebecca
with us,

'cause we thought that'd be
nice for her, to say goodbye.

We had to walk in there - the
longest walk I've ever had.

You're sort of thinking,
"Jeez, you know,

"this is it.

"This is the end
of that chapter of our lives."

And that was
a pretty quiet drive home.

We just had to
get on with our lives then,

but hoping that, you know,
she was... she was happy.

But it was hard.

It was hard.

When I came back,
I didn't talk to anyone about

my white family
and living with them,

because my black family,

they looked like
they knew each other

and they lived with each other
for a long time,

and I had no connection
to that.

And I felt like I was
intruding in on their family.

Growing up, Mum had told us

that we were all taken away
from her,

that we were part of
the Stolen Generation,

because we were
stolen children.

Were you
taken away from your parents?

Yes, I was taken away
from my mother as a baby.

Did this just happen to you?

Who else did it happen to?

Oh, quite a number
of children.

Why were they taken away?

I don't know
what the reason was.

I suppose they thought they
could give us better homes

away from our mothers.

Between 1905 and 1969,

Indigenous children were taken
from their families

to be assimilated
into white society.

We wasn't told
where our mother lived,

who were they,
none whatsoever.

They've become known as

the Stolen Generation.

It's estimated
100,000 Aboriginal children

were removed before
the practice was abolished

in 1969.

Compensation is certainly owing,

and I think what is owing
to white Australia too

is the true history
of this country.

The true history of this
country has not been told.

The first time I heard about
the compensation scheme

was when my husband
took some politicians

on a paddle.

He met somebody...
named Jan Barham.

She said to me,

"I'm the lady behind
the compensation scheme

"to help get Indigenous people
get compensation

"for being stolen
from their families."

And I said, "That's amazing."

I said, "My wife's
Stolen Generation.

"She was taken away in 1973."

And her mouth sort of dropped
and she said, "1973?"

I said, "Yeah, 1973."

"You sure she was stolen?"

I said, "Yeah."

Survivors
of the Stolen Generation

stand alongside
members of parliament

only decades after
government policies

changed their lives forever.

Jan invited us
down to Parliament in Sydney.

Every other Indigenous
person that was there

was removed before 1969.

Brenda was the only one
that was removed after 1969.

But never did we feel like
we were any different,

because everyone in that room
was taken by welfare.

As a mother, I just cannot
even comprehend

what it was like
for your mothers to lose you.

And it was
the state's institutions

who told them
to think white, act white.

We can never give you back
those years,

but we can try to make amends.

After I applied
for the compensation scheme,

I just waited on an answer.

For me,
it wasn't about the money.

It was about helping...

...my family heal from that.

Helping them find justice.

Growing up,
we never talked about

being taken away,

being black, acting white.

Trying to find my identity
in all of that...

Where do you belong?

I have five children of my own
and four grandchildren.

Mark has four children
of his own.

I needed to find out who I was

so I can let them know
who they are.

But also, I knew that
there was a longing inside

for me to go find
my white family.

I think it was Rebecca's love

that was pulling me
down that path.

I could feel it
but I couldn't see it.

And I realised
that I had to get answers.

I had to find out who I was.

I had to go back.

Brenda.

This is your street, Brenda.

-Same.
- Yep.

It's not the same, eh?

Brenda Mum. Here she is.

Look at you.

- Hello! How are you?
- Hi, Mark.

- Good, thank you.
- Wonderful to see you.

Mmm.

This is the home
that we got, um...

...to get our children back
who were taken from us.

Planted a lovely big
strawberry tree out there.

You can see
the strawberry tree.

Mulberry tree.

Mulberry. Whatever it was.

And, um...

...we used to get
the strawberries off it.

Mulberries.

And this is where,
when we...

I'd say
my mother is...

...giving...

...and kind and gentle.

She's funny.

She'd just break out
in song and dance anywhere.

And she's got a confidence
about her that...

...yeah, I really admire.

Dad was a pastor.

I think it was their faith

that held them together
for so long.

He'd get
his tape recorder out

and we'd just sing
Christian songs all night.

That's what he was like.

So, I got those tapes

and I got them put on...

...some of them put on CD,

so I'll be able to play them
when I go to my new home

and sit down and bring back
all those memories.

About 10 years ago,
Dad... had a stroke.

He's been in a nursing home
for 9 or 10 years now

and, um... he can't walk.

Um... he can't see.

But he can hear.

We go in and we'll tell him
how the family's going,

how... how we're all doing.

He's a strong-willed man
and he's still there today.

It's an old, um, film.

Come home one evening,

My little children

weren’t running around anymore

...they were missing

And I felt pretty well
down-hearted

without children
to greet me home.

When I got home, um...
my wife said

that our little children's
been taken away from us.

All seven of them.

We was terrible down-hearted

and big emptiness in the heart

where nobody could...
nothing could fill it.

Only your little children
filled that spot.

So when
we were taken away,

did they send us all
to the one home

or did they separate us?

They sent you
to the one home when they...

Which one was that?

...took you all
from the courthouse.

Like, in Gil or Dubbo.
I don't know where.

Yes, but which home...

And from there,
we didn't know.

- Don't know nothing.
-Oh, OK.

We never gave up,
me and Pop see.

If he was there
when Pop come...

...Pop was home
when he come to the house,

I know what Pop
might have done to him.

He wouldn't have
let him take...

He wouldn't have let him
take his kids, don't worry.

No, he wouldn't have.
He'd have...

He could've brought the police
and everybody there.

He wouldn't have got them.

He just happened to be at work
that day.

"On 22 February 1973,

"at the age of two years,

"in this day,
charged before this court,

"for that, at Gilgandra...

"..is a neglected child..."

"..hereby committed
to the care of the minister

"to be dealt with as a ward

"admitted to
the state control...

"..given under hand and seal
at this court...

"..this 10th day of April,
1973."

When I received
my welfare files,

it didn't make sense to me.

It just didn't add up.

It was just all disconnected
and rearranged.

I knew the family.

I got to the first page

and I broke down.

I felt for Brenda.

I couldn't believe
what they were writing

about Brenda's
mother and father.

They were making
all these accusations

but they never had the story
because they never asked.

Someone else telling our story
made me angry.

It wasn't who we were.

It wasn't reflecting
our family structure.

It wasn't the truth.

♪ I got the joy bells

♪ In my heart

♪ I got the joy bells

♪ In my heart

♪ I'll sing his praises

♪ Throughout the ages

♪ I've got the joy bells

♪ In my heart. ♪

I'll never forget them songs...

...'cause it meant a lot to me

to sing them in the churches
and that.

Yeah.

Oh, everything made us happy, Everything.

When we got married,
we were just so happy.

We had children.
We were happy with them.

And Gary, he was a pastor.

He loved talking
about the Lord to people.

We went places, done
a lot of travelling around.

And, like, if we was
at one house,

they'd ring up and say,

"Oh, we're gonna have
a cottage meeting tonight.

"Can you come over?

"Bring the guitar, ukulele,
whatever."

All night, just singing
and praising the Lord

and sitting up just talking,
you know.

One day we just decided
to go out to Gilgandra.

Gary was working on
the council with his brother.

We stayed with
a Christian family.

But before he goes to work,

he used to get
a bag of lollies,

and every time
they'd come home,

they'd run out to him.

They loved him.

Every day he'd just go to work

and I'd be home
with the children,

sending them to school
and that.

We just heard a knock
on the door one day.

They said they wanted
to talk to me.

And when I went out,
it was the welfare.

He just had his papers there
and he said to me

that he'd come to take
my children.

And I didn't know
what to say or do.

And I begged him and asked him
not to take them.

I said, "Just wait until
my husband comes home."

But he said no,
that he had to take them then.

So I didn't know what to do.

I didn't know where they went to.

They didn't tell me
where they were taking them.

I had seven children

and the whole seven of them
were taken.

When Gary came home,

he asked me
where the children were,

and I told him what happened.

He went down
to the police station

to see if they could help him.

He said to Gary that
if he gets a better job,

decent house,

he would help him
get them back.

That's what they told him.

And that's the police station
you run down to

to tell them that your kids
were taken.

The police station, yeah.

- Yeah.
-That's it.

Gilgandra Courthouse.

That the courthouse there?

-Yeah.
-That's the courthouse?

That's all changed.

Mum had asked us

to go out Gulargambone
for a reunion with the family.

Gulargambone and Gilgandra,

they're neighbouring towns.

We went to the courthouse
at Gilgandra.

Mum wouldn't get out
of the car

but I wanted to have a look.

Come on, then. Brenda.

To me, that's the place

where we were deemed
neglected children.

That's where we were told

Mum and Dad
wasn't doing their job

as a mother and a father

by their standards.

Come on, let's go.

We can't hang around here
with the police here.

It's funny, 'cause
you're in a story together,

but you're on
different journeys,

you're on different paths.

And sometimes it's hard to see
someone else's path

when you're stuck in yours.

It's hard to see the trauma
in someone else

when you're stuck
in your own trauma.

When we had to go to court,

I just sat out
with the children.

I thought it'd be easy

and that, you know,
that they'd just say

"Oh, well, made a mistake,"

or, you know, "They can give
your children back to you."

Gary came out and said
that they have to go.

And then when he came out,
the welfare...

...I said to him,
"Can I make a bottle?"

And that's when
I made the bottle.

Give it to Gary to...

...just give it to her
when she got hungry.

He just put
all the kids in the back,

drove off.

And they were just all trying
to turn around

and look at
their mother and father...

...to wave to us.

What could you say?

You can't say anything.

We were very lonely.

We'd just sit on their beds,

pick up their little
teddy bears, dolls,

and cuddle them.

What can you do?

No little kids running around,

singing out,
"Mummy, can I have this?"

"Daddy, can I have that?"

There's nothing
you could do...

...but sit there with
all that pain and hurt...

...of your children
being taken from you.

It's all you can do.

This is where he took
youse all, from here.

Do you want to go see it?

It's OK.

- Come on.
- I'll be fine.

Hmm?

- It's good.
- And where was we?

When they come and got us?

- Inside. Youse were playing.
- Inside.

And I was out here
talking to him, yeah.

Yeah.

And Pop was at work.

So we can go and see Bubbie.

Do youse want to go inside
or what?

Yeah.

She hadn't been to the house
where we were taken from

since we were taken.

I just wanted her, I suppose,

to go back to
that haunted place

and to let her know
that, you know,

it might be a scary place
in our memories and our minds,

but I think returning
to these places

brings a sense of healing.

That's all covered in too, eh?
There was a bedroom there.

Yeah. There's still
a bedroom out the back there.

The bedroom out there, that's
where we were staying in,

that bedroom out there, yeah.

A lot of them down in...

I thought
returning to the house

would bring back some memories
for myself.

But...

...I-I didn't have
any memories.

It felt...

...like being in an empty room.

That's how I could
describe it.

There was nothing in there.

♪ Spend my time

♪ With my family

♪ Spend my time

♪ With my family. ♪

I tell you, it was
very, very... lonely at night.

And all those lonely nights
and Christmases

that they were away from us,

we were very sad

that we couldn't
spend it with them.

But we knew in our hearts
that we'd get them back.

We found a house in Armatree.

We made the house homely.

Gary would get up early
to go to work.

I'd have to get up then
with him

to get the house ready, clean,

for the welfare to come
and check the house out.

He never said anything to me.

He'd just walk through
the house, check it,

and away he'd go again.

What more could I do
for the welfare?

Them fellas out there
in... Gilgandra,

they wouldn't...

...wasn't helping us enough,

because they would just come
into the house, check it out,

and you'd... you'd never
see them until the next week.

We just thought that if
we come back to Newcastle,

we'd be seeing other welfares
down here.

And when we came back
down here,

we got a house in Mayfield

and that's where we had
our other baby that we had.

I just done the house up

the same way I did
in Gilgandra.

Gary would be at work
every day

and the welfare would come,
talk to me.

Very kind fella.

All of a sudden,

we got them saying, you know,

you can
get your children back.

And we were just excited.

So thrilled, we was.

We got two home.

Then we got another two home,

another two, and then...

It was good that we had
those children with us,

but I knew the other one
was coming.

All my children
came back to me,

and that's the most important
thing in my life...

...'cause I don't know
what I would have done

without my children.

And when I got them back,

we just enjoyed life.

We settled down,

tried to give them
the best life that we could.

I'm a good mother.

Yeah. Good mother.

Going back through
Mum's side of the story,

I felt like I was finally
getting some answers,

but I...

...I just couldn't
put the pieces together.

There was pieces missing,
like a puzzle.

And if I didn't go back
and find answers

on both sides of my families,

black and white,

I still wouldn't know
who I am.

I still wouldn't know
where I belong.

I've always had a memory there.

I knew it was my white father

taking me back to
my mother and father's place.

I thought that they had
just dropped me off

and, you know, I thought

they were coming back to
pick me up and take me home.

For a long time, I felt
abandoned by my white father.

I thought that they didn't
want me anymore.

I wanted to know now

did they ever love me?

Did they ever think about me?

And I knew there was
something missing,

and that was
my little white sister.

There was a deeper love there
that nothing could take away.

And that longing inside of me
was calling me.

When I went back
into the files,

I saw the address
that we had lived at.

So I just searched
up and down the street

on the... on Google.

Things started
coming back to me.

I had some sort of connection there.

I had been there before.

My memories were there.

I just didn't know how to
reconnect to that place.

She was so excited
to find the address.

But at the same time,

it was that fear
of being rejected again,

the scariness
of all the "what ifs",

'cause she knew
if she opened that door,

it could hurt.

But also, I couldn't...

...do it
out of respect for my mother.

And I wanted to...

...get her permission
to do that

before I even went there.

Brenda was putting it off.

She was hesitant and reluctant
and she wanted me to do it,

and I said to Brenda,
"This is not my space.

"You need to do this.
This is your story."

I was beating around the bush

and just making conversation,
I think, and...

...I just plucked up
the courage to ask her.

"Can I go see
my white family?"

Yeah, and she just said,

"What do you want
to go find them for?"

I'm her mum.

I was the one that had her.

And I fought for her...

...until I got her back.

"Why would you want to go

"and visit your white family again...

"..when you've been taken away
from me?"

You know?

"And to get youse all home,
it was just..."

Just so happy
to get them all home.

And to say, "Nobody will
touch my kids again, nobody.

"Nobody will take
my kids again."

She had a story
and I had a story,

and my side told me
that there was love there...

...where her side
was telling her

that there was
hurt and pain there.

And I could understand that.

You know, why would
she want to go back

and see those people,

her white parents
who looked after her?

But there's also a bit of love
in me that...

...I can give to her a blessing

and say, "Right, well, you can
go back and you can...

"..search for
your white mum and dad.

"Find out."

Mum had the grace

to let me do
what I needed to do,

and then I thought,
"Oh, this is it."

Are you putting them
herbs on now?

Yeah.

I thought we could
look up the name,

my little white sister's name,
Rebecca Ockers.

So, Mark's daughters,
Kiara and Amy,

started to search for that.

I think we had 'Ockers'.

All we had was Ockers, and it
was Eugene, Jesse and Rebecca.

- And a Conchita and...
- And a Conchita and Herman.

We were just searching,
searching, searching.

And then we finally
click onto,

like, maybe our 30th web page.

Oh.

This is what it kind of
came up with.

"Rebecca Regina
Lamond/Ockers."

And then it had, "Daughter of
Herman and Conchita Ockers,

"mother to Blake and Shae,
sister to Eugene and Jesse."

And they found
a death notice...

...of Rebecca's.

And I said to them...

..."It can't be true.

"That..."

So I asked them to look at
the birth date on the notice,

with the birth date on my
files, from the welfare files.

And it was her.

The one I felt closest to
in my life

was now forever
out of my life.

All I could do was walk into
my room and cry my heart out.

Brenda needed
some time, some space

to reflect on that.

That's what amazes me
about her.

She's very resilient.

She didn't have closure
with Rebecca.

But she was also drawn
from the love she had

from her white mother
and father.

And our hope was...

...are they still around?

Are they still alive?

Can we find them?

So, that was our next step.

We found Conchita.

We couldn't find her before
because her name is Connie.

She goes by Connie,
not Conchita.

So we were like,
"We found them, Brenda."

"Hi. I'm Kiara Matthews.
I'm Brenda's stepdaughter.

"She would love to meet up
or even talk on the phone

"if you would want to."

Connie then responded, "We
would love to talk to her."

- Smiley face.
- Smiley face.

I was... I was really excited.

There's been a whole big gap
in my life for so long,

and now I'm... I'm finally
getting something.

Connie said to Kiara

that she would ring me
that night.

I just wanted
to prepare myself.

I just wanted that moment
for me.

After so many years,
to actually get a message

to say that, you know, Brenda
wanted to get in contact,

I was just blown away.

I just couldn't believe it.

I just said,
"Maybe it's not her."

Connie said, "It is Brenda.

"And she wants to know
if we'll talk to her."

And I says, "Of course!
Of course we will."

We were waiting on the table,
we're sitting there,

anxious to... to ring.

I think we rang a bit earlier
than we were supposed to.

Once we got through,
it was just quiet.

And then all of a sudden,
we said, "Hello?"

And then we heard Brenda say,
"Hello?" very quietly.

I said, "I can't believe
that it's you."

I'm speechless.

All I say to them is, "Well,
what do youse look like now?"

I said, "Oh, I'm a bit like
Brad Pitt.

"A little bit shorter."

He doesn't look anything like
Brad Pitt.

So, um, yeah, I was
like, "Oh, yeah, do you?"

And he calls me 'Bren' and...

...it really made me feel like

I had something there
with them.

I said to them,

"It'd be lovely
to come and meet youse."

We were just hoping...

Couldn't come quick enough
to see her,

and to get back
some of the history

that we'd lost with her.

Then I said, "Oh, OK, then.

"See you soon."

It was a pretty long drive,

but we wanted
to get down there,

so we didn't worry about
the time.

She kept in contact
while she was driving down,

where she was,

so we were getting
more and more hyped up

to see her.

Get a phone call, look down,
and it's Mum.

When Brenda Mum
gives you a phone call,

if you don't answer,
she don't give up.

She'll just dial that number continuously,

and I don't know how many
missed calls Brenda had.

I think it just hit me
after that,

"What if I open this door

"and it doesn't go
how I want it to go?

"If it doesn't look like
how I want it to look?"

But we just kept going.

It was very nerve-racking,

'cause I kept looking
down the driveway

and you didn't know, you know?

We saw the car drive up
and that was it.

We just...
I just burst into tears.

And...

Because, um...

...it was something...

...we were waiting for
for so long.

And, uh...

...when... when she came out...

...we just ran to each other.

We just hugged and...

...and that was... it was
such a good thing...

...after so long.

Driving up
the driveway,

I told Mark to get it
on video, on the iPad.

She gave me one job.

She said,
"Mark, take the iPad."

And I'm not good on that
at the best of times.

I didn't film it.

So, I didn't do my job well.

But the emotion was too much.

So, we missed the opportunity.

And...

Yeah, we just cuddled
and embraced each other.

We sit down, made a cup of tea

and sat and looked
at each other in awe,

you know, like,
"This is happening."

They showed us photos
of all the family.

And in nearly every photo,

me and Rebecca's holding hands

and close, cuddling.

Yeah, I just...
I wanted to know,

did Rebecca ever
think about me?

Did she ever wonder
where I was?

Did she want to find me?

Well, she'd already known
that she was passed.

She died of a medical problem.

She was just out of hospital
and it went wrong.

How do you get over that?
You know?

Rebecca always had...

...wanting to catch up with
Brenda again.

I think she was searching
as well.

It's just sad that we
couldn't... it didn't happen.

But at least
they've still got...

...she's still got some photos
and some happy memories

of when they were together,

and Rebecca, growing up,

always sort of thinking of her
as well.

I think inside it was...

...unlocking doors

that had been closed
for a long, long time.

I saw someone
who loved that life,

someone who fitted in,

someone who...

...was happy,
happy to be there.

After we settled down

and we started asking
each other questions,

there was so much
to talk about.

Brenda was excited
and getting answers

and finding out more
about her parents

and more about Rebecca.

And we were both feeling
the warmth from them.

Yeah, we were just sitting
at the table, yarning.

Then, suddenly,
Connie asked me a question.

I said to Brenda,
"How's your family?"

I said, "Is your father
still an alcoholic?"

I don't know
how hard I kicked Brenda,

but I just straightaway
gave her a kick in the shins,

as if, "Where did that
come from?!"

"What?

"My father was never
an alcoholic.

"Why are they talking
this way about my father?

"They don't even know him."

And I said,
"Oh, we always thought that

"that was the reason
you were taken,

"because he was an alcoholic.

"That was...
That's what we heard."

It was good, in a way,

because then that opened
the door for a conversation

to bring in the truth.

And then Mark jumped in
and said, "No, no."

And Brenda too.

There was never any trouble
with the alcohol

because, you know, he's always
been a man of God.

And I says, "Well, you know,

"this is some of the
information we were getting."

They were lied to
and we were lied to.

My mum and dad were lied to.

I remember
her going down there.

She told me,
rang me and told me, yeah.

And I just asked her,
"How did it go?"

And... and, "What happened?"

And she brought back
some photos and showed us.

And I suppose in my heart
I knew that she was safe...

...and she was
well looked after

...by these white parents.

And that they...

...that they had the love there
to give her,

as well as my love for her.

We were having a yarn with Mum
around the table

about our experience down
there with my white family

and what they had told us

about what they were told,
how Dad was an alcoholic.

She was shocked. She was hurt.

She was angry.

And I don't know
what they thought.

I honestly don't know what
the white parents thought.

We were a Christian family,
preaching the Gospel.

And I don't understand that

or why they'd say
things like that.

I couldn't take that.

If that's what was based on

the children
getting taken away,

why wasn't it written down?

It just... you just can't
get it out of your mind.

Why?

Why did he do it?

"However, it appears

"that until early 1976,

"there has been no requests
by the parents

"for information on Brenda."

They're saying at no stage

did you ever request
information on your daughter.

That makes you out to be

a mother who doesn't even care
for her children.

Care about her children.

It says in another file that...

She's to start school...

...she's to start school
in '77.

Yet on there it says '76.
She's come back...

And in mine it's '77,
25 June.

So... so what
we're now discovering

on every sibling's file,

there's all different dates
and all these discrepancies

and nothing adds up.

-Nothing.
-Nothing.

I was looking
for answers...

...from the system
that took us, that broke us.

It was just...

...seemed like lies.

The system pulls you down,

and Brenda didn't need to be
pulled down any further.

Nothing is fact,
nothing is accurate.

They just write things
as they see fit.

Come on, mate.
End of the year, every year.

That day,
all I can remember is...

...getting taken in the car.

They took us all
to a hospital.

I can still remember
this smell, eh,

of methylated spirits.

They must have been...

...putting it in their hairs

and just trying to scrub them
with it.

I can... listen... hearing
all this screaming,

bellowing out for Mum and Dad and...

And, um, I said, "I'm supposed
to be here to protect them."

You know? Like...

We never really
talked about

what had happened to us.

Some of us still don't.

Going back through story

I think has helped me
to open up a bit more,

and now is allowing them

to maybe talk about
their story a bit more.

...but because you're the
oldest and you remember more

and you got a bit more
to tell than most of us.

I was fostered out
to this family.

Nelson Bay, wasn't it?

White family up in Nelson Bay.

And we were just doing
some shopping.

Next minute I heard this voice

and it said,
"There's Gary Boy."

Yeah, I turned around
and it was Dad.

That was the...

...sweetest voice
you ever heard, you know?

He was so excited and happy.

I wanted to run over
and cuddle him, but...

Like, with the...
them foster parents there,

I didn't know what to do, so...

You know,
they were 12 foot away

but it felt like 1,200 miles,
you know?

It's just terrible
what they done to us

and what they done
to Mum and Dad.

Like she said,
they shouldn't have took us.

They should have just
left us there. We were...

She looked after us
really good, Mum, you know?

They should have
just left us there.

To the mothers
and the fathers,

the brothers and the sisters,

for the breaking up
of families and communities,

for the pain, suffering
and hurt

of these Stolen Generations,

we say sorry.

A future where
this Parliament resolves

that the injustices
of the past

must never, never
happen again.

After I applied for
the compensation scheme,

I received this letter.

"From the information provided,

"the Stolen Generations
Reparation Scheme

"has determined
that you do not meet

"the eligibility requirements

"as your date of birth is
24 November 1970.

"This means that you could not
have been removed

"by the New South Wales
Aboriginal Welfare Board,

"as it was abolished in 1969."

Growing up,

I had been told
that I was a stolen child.

And then they turn around
and they tell me that...

...I wasn't.

In their eyes,

taking us away
was the right thing to do.

That meant
Brenda's mother and father

were still classified as
neglectful parents

and Brenda was still
a neglected child.

It's not right.
It's not right.

We have feelings.

As mothers, we have feelings.
We hurt.

I never, ever neglected
my children.

Never.

It doesn't matter
about the Act.

Doesn't matter about it.

My children are still a part
of the Stolen Generation.

The Stolen Generation.

It felt like
being rejected again,

abandoned.

All I saw was the hurt
and the pain.

Who am I?

What's my identity
in this space?

We went to the system to try
to get help and healing.

And every... door
that I thought was open

...slammed on my face.

That just made me
even more angrier,

but determined...

...to find another way
for justice.

I thought the story
needed to be told.

I thought the truth needed
to be told.

Expressing all that anger
and frustration out on paper,

I can see the lies
being uncovered.

I realised
that the government were right

in saying we weren't removed

by the NSW Aboriginal Board,

because the Act had changed.

But the action didn't.

The action stayed the same.

And it doesn't matter
which Act it come under.

We were still stolen children.

That has given me
the will to keep going on

and finding... a new identity.

Oh, hey!

-Hi!
- Hello, darling!

It's so nice to see you!
You look amazing.

-So do you.
- Oh, wow!

I can't believe you're here.
It's so good.

Hello.

- How have you been? Good?
- Yeah, good.

-Reconnecting again
with my white family,

I think I was
in a happy space.

I had some sort of connection there.

Well, my very first memory,

so there's nothing
before Brenda.

And then I couldn't
say goodbye to you.

Like, I remember
my mum saying,

"Rich, you've gotta say
goodbye. Give Brenda a hug."

I'm like, "No."
Couldn't do it.

And that's you and Rebecca.

At some points,
I could feel them

wanting to get close to me,

but I would just back off.

When I got back
to my black family

and I speak or I talk
or whatever,

they tell me I'm acting white.

But if I was brought up
with whitefellas

for the first
five, six, seven years...

...how else am I supposed
to act?

Didn't know culture,
we didn't know...

...how to be Aboriginal,

'cause a couple
of generations ago

we were disconnected
from that.

How are you, Aunty?

Good to see you! Mwah!

This is your family tree here.

I want you to put an asterisk

next to... Maria.

She's Aboriginal.

- She is the mother of Edward.
BRENDA: OK.

He's Aboriginal.

We always knew
Dad's country was Biripi,

so we had connection there.

But there was another half missing,

until Kim showed us

where Mum's mother was from
and her mother was from,

which was in Walla,
in Wiradjuri country.

Because you get a lot of
your colour from your father.

Mm.

Your mother's a lot lighter
than you, isn't she?

Mm.

Very much.

You throw someone like me
into the mix,

their policies worked
quite well on my family.

They bred the colour out
of my family.

They might be able to breed
the outside colour out,

but they'll never
breed the black out.

Where was the first point
of contact with whitefellas

for our...

For our mob,

all this was settled
down around Melbourne way.

This gets settled
quite quickly,

and also we get
people from Adelaide

coming over into these places.

- We do fight back.
-Mm.

- We fight back hard.
-Mm...

The Wiradjuri
had an uprising.

Next thing, martial law's
declared, massive war.

Lots of our men
were killed off,

lots of women killed as well.

And so many of the babies

were sent to
different missions

that were started
all around NSW.

So, that's when they start
taking our babies

from that area.

Did you know
your mother was taken away

and put in a home?

I found those records.

Not only was she in a home,

so was her mother.

My grannie.

I feel like I'm just...

...travelling through a house
with nowhere to rest,

nowhere to plant my feet.

I just feel like a wanderer

that just keeps wandering.

You're looking for answers,
you're looking for belonging,

you're looking for healing.

But where do you find that

if everybody else around you
is hurt too?

Mark can grab the tape.

Hey, we going pretty good.

He said "Where youse going?"

I said, "We're going down here
to have a burial."

- Gee whiz.

I haven't heard this one.

There's him thinking himself

don't bother going down there
all that in the rain...

♪ "Come home, come home

♪ "It's suppertime"

♪ We're going home

♪ At last

♪ Winding down

♪ An old familiar pathway... ♪

Dad used to always
tell us that he loved us.

And he loved singing.
He loved singing.

And a couple of times
we thought we would lose him.

They told us that
we'd have to go down

'cause he wouldn't live to see
a certain day.

When we got in there...

...he said,
"Where you going, Brenda?"

And so I said, "Oh, I'm not
going anywhere, Dad.

"I'm staying here with you."

And he said to me...

..."Sing me a song."

But I couldn't.

The pain wouldn't allow me

to feel joy and happiness.

But I've realised...

...in our culture...

...that's what we did -

we shared stories,
we'd sing about them.

And I believe that's what
he was telling me,

to sing him a song.

And I'm doing that
through story.

I'm singing his song.

Going back
and opening the doors

that were hurtful and painful

has helped me
to find the healing.

'Cause you can't erase history.

But you can acknowledge it and...

...we can find a way
to move forward.

Instead of focusing on
the hurt and the pain,

I had to focus on the love.

That was still there.
That never left me.

I'm just reflecting my father
and my mother.

That's... that's all I can do.

I can only do what my parents
have taught us...

...black and white.

Hello, Dad!

-Hello.
- How are you?

- Good.
- I missed you.

- Yeah.
- You miss me?

- Yes.
- I love you.

- Yeah.
- Mm.

You feeling alright?

Yeah.

Ah.

You missed me, did you?

- Yeah.
- Mmm.

Guess where
we're off to tomorrow.

We're off to Sydney tomorrow.

I'm taking Mum.

- Can Mum come?
- Yeah.

- Come for a ride down Sydney?
- Yeah.

I'm going to introduce her
to Connie and Mac,

the foster parents.

So she's gonna meet them.

Yeah.

I wish you were there.

I wish you could come with us.

- Yeah.
-Mm.

Love you.

Yes.

Oh, feel that breeze.

Oh, my goodness.

What are you worried about,
Mum?

It's more, um...

...getting scarier and
sort of frightening me and...

...because
it's getting closer...

-Yeah...
- ...to them.

-Yeah.
- ...to meeting with me and...

Yeah.

I know I asked you
to meet up with them,

but why did you agree?

Why did you say yes?

I'd just like to meet them.

And I...I gotta prove to them
that, these white people,

you know, that I was,
this Aboriginal lady,

was a good mother...

...and did... never neglected
her children.

I looked after them.

That’s what I’ve got to do.

I'm... I'm nervous.

I'm just...
Yeah, just to, um...

-She has been all week.
- Yeah.

Thinking about it, you know?

I'm just more than happy
to meet her

and... and talk, you know?

Talk out sort of
what eventuated

over the years
between everyone.

I'll get more nervous
when they knock.

Hello, Brenda?

- Hello.
- How are you?

- Good. Where are you?
- We're about 10 minutes away.

Oh, true?
10 minutes away.

OK. Love you. 'Bye.

Continue on
to The Crescent,

then your destination
will be on the right.

Hello, hello.

- Hello.
-Here she is.

How are you, darling?

Hey? Good.

Oh, it's good to see you.

Good to see you
in these times.

Really is.

Yeah, hang on. Hello, darling.

Good on you.

Good on you.
You're very brave to do this.

- Hey? Yeah, there's Connie.
- Yeah.

How you going?

Oh, look at you.

Yeah, I can see you.

-Yeah.
-Go and sit down.

- Sit down.
-Mm.

Bringing my two sets
of parents together

was a way of reconciling
with the past

so that they can tell
each other

the real truth,

not what was written down
and made up,

but the real truth
that was in their hearts.

...the hard part.

You know, the way...

...me and my husband
looked after our children,

the... you know,
the welfare had no right

saying them things to youse,
you know?

I just want to thank youse
for taking care of her...

Oh.

...and looking after her
for me.

Anytime.

I can understand
how you felt.

That must have been terrible.

- Yeah. It was terrible.
- That must have been terrible.

To finally meet up with her
and say, you know,

"It's us. We're not... bad.

"We're just sorry
for what's happened to you."

Yeah, she's...

She's an incredible lady.

- Here's your little...
- I know.

She's accepted us now

and I feel that we can...

...we can both be good parents.

One, two, three.

We can all
just fit in together...

...as one.

That's the love that
we gotta share with Brenda.

Black and white,
share the love with Brenda.

- Mwah.
-Nice to meet you.

-Yes.
- See you, baby.

- See you.
-Take care.

See you later.

'Bye! Love you!

Finally,
truth is coming out

that I wasn't
a neglected child.

And the system
that told me I was

doesn't have any hold on me anymore.

I'm sharing truth
on both sides of the story.

And I can share it
with anyone.

So for me to pass down healing

to my children
and grandchildren,

I couldn't ask
for anything more...

...compensation than that.

The truth has set me free.

And I can just walk
in that freedom now.

♪ Many years ago

♪ In days of childhood

♪ I used to play

♪ Till evening shadows come

♪ And winding down

♪ That old familiar pathway

♪ I'd hear my mother call

♪ At set of sun

♪ "Come home, come home

♪ "It's suppertime"

♪ The shadow

♪ Lengthens fast

♪ "Come home, come home

♪ "It's suppertime"

♪ We're going home

♪ At last... ♪