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CANBERRA - The Australian Government has ruled out setting up a compensation fund for members of the stolen generation.
Aboriginal leaders want the Government to set up a A$1 billion ($1.14 billion) fund to compensate those taken from their families as children, the Herald Sun reports.
Stolen Generation Alliance chairwoman Christine King said yesterday that such a fund would have a wide variety of uses.
"We believe that there is a fund that should be set up, it's not just about compensation ... some people want a healing centre, some people want cultural centres," she told ABC Radio.
"We are not trying to claim anything other than what is the right of the Aboriginal peoples that were a part of and are part of the stolen generations."
But Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin has ruled out establishing the fund.
She played down calls that an apology, which the federal Government has promised to make to the stolen generation, would be hollow without compensation.
"I understand there's a wide range of views and I've certainly spoken to many, many people about these issues but we recognise that for many people the apology is extremely important," Macklin told ABC Radio.
"It's a way of making clear that we do recognise the terrible things that have been done in the past and also really enables us to make the apology and then move forward."
- AAP
