8 June marked 25 years since the first apology was delivered by NSW Parliament to the Stolen Generation. It was delivered by former Premier Bob Carr.

Jodie Harrison MP paid tribute to that act in NSW Parliament on 8 June, after attending a smoking ceremony in the grounds.

"At the outset, I acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet today, the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, and also the traditional custodians of the land I represent, the Awabakal people.

"I acknowledge and thank Uncle James Michael Widdy Welsh, Aunty Lorraine Peeters and Uncle Richard Dawes for graciously speaking yesterday in this House about their truth and their trauma experienced as survivors of the Stolen Generations. I pay respect to Elders past, present and emerging.

"In 2014, as the new member for Charlestown, I began my inaugural speech by reflecting on the day of Kevin Rudd's apology to the Stolen Generations. I watched that momentous event with my father, Clive, a non‑Indigenous man, who shared with me the story of his upbringing in Port Macquarie. He told me of when he was in primary school and he and local Aboriginal children played together. He told me of when he got to high school and he was told that he should not associate with his Aboriginal mates anymore. And he told me of his deep regret that he took that advice, and of the part he played in the injustice faced by Aboriginal people in this country.

"I occasionally hear people say, "Why apologise? I didn't have anything to do with it. It wasn't something I did." I would be surprised if any of us has not, at some time in our lives, turned a blind eye to the difficulties and challenges experienced by First Nations people. I cannot believe that anyone could truly listen to the stories of the Stolen Generations—stories of incredible injustice like those told to us here yesterday by Uncle Michael, Aunty Lorraine and Uncle Richard—and not be sorry.

"I remember a First Nations boy, Paul, who was in year 6 with me at Panania Public School in 1980. I saw Paul as just a naughty kid. He was always at the door to his classroom, out in the corridor, because he had been playing up in class. He frequently got the cane. I do not know Paul's story because I never asked him, but he may well have been one of the last of the Stolen Generations. I say to Paul, if he is by chance listening to or reading these words, that I am sorry for my part in not listening to him and to his truth and for not trying to make both of our lives better by being his friend.

"At this time, as we commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the apology offered by Bob Carr to First Nations people for the role the New South Wales Government played in their dispossession, it is important to remember the continued pain of First Nations people.

"It is important to remember that we still have so much work to do. It is important to remember that First Nations people still do not have equal access to educational opportunities, they still are disproportionately likely to live below the poverty line and they still face ongoing racial discrimination.

"It is important to remember that First Nations people still have lower life expectancies, they still have higher rates of death from preventable illness and they still have higher infant mortality and maternal mortality rates. And it is important to remember that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are vastly over‑represented in our criminal justice system.

"In my work as a member of the Committee on Children and Young People, I have heard testimony of the effect that ongoing parental incarceration has on those who April Long from Shine for Kids called the invisible victims of crime: the children of prisoners. The disruption from incarceration has a particular impact on Aboriginal families. The committee heard from Helen Eason of Keeping Women Out Of Prison Coalition, who has had personal experience with the criminal justice system. She spoke of the alienation and the trauma of dealing with a system that was not set up to understand her, her family, her culture or her community. Ms Eason said:

"It is also about a culture that comes from a long line of trauma. We have suffered genocide for a long time.

"I hope that we see some positive recommendations come out of that inquiry to assist the lives of First Nations people in the State. No apology, not Bob Carr's and not Kevin Rudd's, can heal the trauma. No apology can fix the deeply entrenched problems caused by the dispossession of First Nations people. But an apology can offer hope. It can offer a reset and a basis on which to build. An apology is not an ending; it is a beginning. It is the beginning of atonement, of healing and of reconciliation. We cannot change the past, but we can acknowledge and apologise for the wrongs and the hurt, and we can create a better future."