The International Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide

In the 1830's and ending in the early 1970's, many aboriginal children were forcibly taken from their families, as the European settlement recognised Aboriginal’s for being flora and fauna and deemed them to be feral. European settlers aim was to supposedly enforce Aboriginal’s to be civil by assimilating them into European society and culture. However this was not the case as it was an excuse to wipe out the Aboriginal race and culture, which was ordered by the Australian Government at the time. The Government’s policies and practices regarding the removal of children, the ill treatment and the continuing effects eradicated many aboriginal generations. Government authorities claimed legal guardianship of all Indigenous children and removed approximately a thousand Aboriginal children from families and placed them with white Australian families, or in institutional homes.

Where Aboriginal children were often subdued to all forms of abuse on a daily basis whilst being used as domestic servants and simply placed in homes against their will. This essay will look into relevant case law, analysing and evaluating judgments of a particular case in relation to the stolen generation being a form of cultural genocide. This essay will also critically analyse arguments and evidence that surrounds the topic as to whether the stolen generations was a form of genocide made by the Australian Government at the time.

II Kruger v Commonwealth

The matter of the Alec Kruger and other plaintiffs against the Commonwealth of Australia was heard in the High Court of Australia by Brennan CJ, Dawson, Toohey, Gaudron, McHugh and Gummow JJ. This case was brought to the attention of the High Court of Australia by one of many plaintiffs named Rosie McCl...

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...Government had the intention to outbreed half caste Aborigines and used the excuse of assimilation, when truthfully the Australian Government aimed to assimilate half caste children into white society and its theory was believed that the race would eventually die out. Relating to the research that was found, it was evident that the Australia Government hid behind the excuse of assimilation and to better the lives of the Aboriginal people it was most certainly not true. But it was by all means a clear indication of cultural genocide, the Australian Government only portrayed acts of cruelty upon Aboriginal people by separating children from parents, cultural communities and only demonstrating malicious acts of genocide against an innocent cultural race. Finally it can not be stressed enough that the Stolen Generations should be considered as cultural genocide.