Willow Court Apology One Step Closer. Media release

mms_img1364487580_20141119T222137-887Cassy_OConnorWillow Court Apology One Step Closer according to Tasmanian Greens Spokes person for Health and Human Services who release this media statement in late October, at the same time John Wilson from Magra wrote to the Derwent Valley Gazette with a different view point. While Cassy is asking for an apology for the previous policies of governments, John takes on a personal note as a long serving staff member of Willow Court RDH.

28th October 2014 5:26 pm

 

Time for Parliament to Apologise to Former Willow Court Royal Derwent Patients

 

 

The Tasmanian Greens today tabled a Notice of Motion that will allow Parliament to take a first formal step towards apologising to Tasmanians who suffered as a result of policies of governments past in the notorious Willow Court at New Norfolk, Greens’ Health and Human Services spokesperson, Cassy O’Connor MP, said today. “It is now almost 14 years since Willow Court and the Royal Derwent hospital were closed, marking the beginning of a more compassionate, rights-based approach to supporting Tasmanians living with a disability or suffering mental ill health,” Ms O’Connor said.

“We now have a rights-based Disability Services Act 2011 in place and the profoundly transformative National Disability Insurance Scheme, as well as a more inclusive, compassionate response to mental ill health in our community.” “We have come a long way as a community, it’s now time to provide a measure of closure to Tasmanians who were effectively incarcerated in the New Norfolk institution, as well as to their families who faced a terrible choice and the staff who must also live with the memories of working in that sad place.” “As a state, we need to acknowledge the wrongs of the past and government policies that isolated people living with disability and psychiatric or psychological illness in an institution such as Willow Court Royal Derwent.”

“The pain suffered in those times still endures.  There have been repeated calls for a formal apology as a means of acknowledging the wrongs of the past and committing to ensuring such institutionalised suffering never happens again.” “It is the role of Parliament to acknowledge the wrongs of the past and to seek to put them right.”

“In 1997, the Parliament formally apologised to the Stolen Generations for their loss of identity, of family and belonging at the hands of the State.” “In the last term of government, we collectively and solemnly apologised to the Victims of Past Forced Adoptions for the emotional anguish caused by the State and charitable or religious institutions who took babies from their mothers on the basis of the morality of the day.” “In this term, Parliament should apologise on behalf of the people of Tasmania to those Tasmanians and their families who were told the best and only option for their disabled or mentally unwell loved ones was institutionalisation at the notorious Willow Court and Royal Derwent hospital.”

“We will have the debate on the Greens’ Motion and hopefully move on together, in the spirit of tripartisanship to formally acknowledge the pain caused by past practices and apologise to those Tasmanians who suffered at Willow Court Royal Derwent,” Ms O’Connor said.

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Politicians facing renewed calls for formal apology to Royal Derwent Hospital mental health patients

Yesterday I was contacted by a reporter from the Examiner Newspaper about the renewed push for the apology to the former patients of Royal Derwent Hospital. Tonight on the 7.30 Report, Airlie Ward talked to ex-patient, Dannii Lane who is looking for some type of recognition of the wrongness of the public policy that allowed her to feel more unsafe inside the walls of the institution than outside.

dannii lane“I can still remember the screams, the smell of stale urine, the smell of disinfectant trying to cover the smell of urine,” she said.

“And I remember seeing women chained to the furniture, like dogs. It wasn’t a nice experience.

“I was sexually abused by one of the male attendants.

“You were never safe, you were actually safer outside the asylum than you were in, it was one of the ironies.

 

7.30 Report Tasmania full story The story will be repeated on ABC News 24 Monday 27th October 2014, 3:30am

If you need to talk about any issues this story may have raised please consider calling Life Line on 13 11 14.

 

Video Report Here (right click)

7.30 report apology

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