WEBVTT

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-When I was a boy, about
eight years of age,

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I stood in the high street
of Glasgow bare-footed,

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bare-headed, cold, and hungry.

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And I gazed at each
passer-by and wondered

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why they did not help.

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-My aim is to remove a
number of children who

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are at present in workhouses.

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Children who, under
existing circumstances,

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will eventually, in
their turn, produce

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an offspring of physical
and mental weaklings.

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-As an adult, I have a
strong desire to go down

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to the children of the streets
and lead them from a life

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of misery and shame to one
of usefulness and honour.

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-Many of these rescued children
can be saved to the Church

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by being permanently removed
from their early surroundings.

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It is all done for
the sake of the child

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and in the sacred
cause of religion.

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We will immigrate
them, bring them up

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in an atmosphere of energy,
endurance, and cleanliness.

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We will produce a class of
farmers, men whose strength is

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rooted in the soil.

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They will be a credit,
not only to our race,

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but to Great Britain
and the Empire.

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-Only those who are of good
character and good health

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are sent.

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Above all, they come filled
with a love for their holy faith

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and ready to take
their place in the life

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of their country of adoption.

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-In the late 1800s, churches,
charities and religious orders

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in the UK began to
take young people

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from poor families
and children's homes

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and send them overseas.

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The dream was to
give the children

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a better life in a new country.

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And some did grow up happily.

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But there were other
forces at work.

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The people in this
film are actors,

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but the stories that
they tell are true.

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-I don't know much
about my father.

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But I think my mother was single
and unable to look after me.

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I was placed in a
children's home.

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-It was her intention
to come back

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for me when she got
herself established

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and was able to care
for me and herself.

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-A priest came in and asked us
who wanted to go to Australia.

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All of the children
raised their hands.

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We didn't know
where Australia was.

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We though it was
just down the road.

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We were just excited because
we wanted to go somewhere.

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-We were told that we'd be
able to pick oranges off trees

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and ride to school
on a kangaroo.

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-I remember someone coming into
a room and calling out my name.

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I don't remember ever being
asked if I wanted to go.

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But the next thing I knew,
eight of us from the home

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were chosen.

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-We were all lined up in groups.

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One girl was mixed-race,
so she was taken away.

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It was called the
White Australia Policy.

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-When my mother
came to see me, she

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was told that I'd
gone to Australia.

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And that it was none
of her business.

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-The journey on
the ship was great.

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There was a large number
of children from all over.

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There was plenty of food and we
ran around the ship having fun.

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-I felt sad
throughout the journey

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as I didn't get a chance to
say goodbye to my father.

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-Each boy was given a suit
and a little suitcase.

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But when we got to Australia,
the suits were taken from us

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and we never saw them again.

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-We were given gifts.

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A newspaper was doing an
article about our arrival.

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The toys were just for show.

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-If you had a brother or
a sister, some of them

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would make sure that you
were separated and put

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into different homes.

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-On my first morning, a
tall man in a black robe

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told all of us boys
to stand in line.

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I was slow.

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And this man
grabbed me by my arm

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and belted me with a
heavy leather strap

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across my bare legs.

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-I asked one of the nuns who
were looking after us when

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we would be returning home.

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And she hit me, a
clout over the ear,

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and told me to get back in line.

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-My job was to polish the huge
verandas on my hands and knees.

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They had to shine like
mirrors or you'd pay for it.

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-We worked on the farm and the
construction of a new building.

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We had to do all the
work in our bare feet.

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In the winter it was freezing.

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They gave us old bags
to put on our head

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while the rest of
our body got soaked.

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-There was never enough food.

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And all these bugs used
to live in the porridge.

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I'd sit by the wood pile
to get the crusts which

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had been cut off the bread
in the adults' dining room

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and thrown out.

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-Baths were once a week
unless you wet the bed.

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And then you had a
cold bath and was

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strapped for not being
able to control yourself.

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-We weren't known by our
names, but given a number.

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I was number 134.

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-One of the staff would prowl
around the dormitory at night,

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wake up a boy, and take
that boy to his room.

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I was always relieved
when he'd walk past my bed

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and shine his torch
at another bed.

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-When I told the nuns that
I was having my period,

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they called me a filthy swine
and gave me a few pieces

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of old sheet and pins.

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-We were meant to be under the
care of the Australian Child

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Welfare Department.

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They may have spoken
to people in charge,

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but they never spoke to me.

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-After about six
months, a nun told

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one of the girls who
was crying and homesick,

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she would never
be returning home.

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None of us would
ever be returning.

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-Over 100,000 young
boys and girls

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were sent to countries
across the British Empire

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and the Commonwealth.

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The very last group of children
was sent to Australia in 1970.

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The people who set up these
child migration schemes

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began with the best intentions.

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But within these
churches and charities

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that no one thought
to question, there

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were men and women
who abused their power

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to take advantage of the
vulnerable young people

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who were sent to them.

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-I lost my identity when
I arrived in Australia.

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I've been searching for
answers all my life.

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Why were we sent?

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Have I family?

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Who gave these people a right to
break up families and ship them

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thousands of miles away
from their homeland?

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I know I'll never
find proper answers.

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I try to put my past
behind me where it belongs.

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But the memories never leave me.

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-I have nightmares
every night of my life.

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I re-live my past and I'm
happy when the daylight comes.

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-Today across the world,
children and young people

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like us are still being made
to suffer by men and women

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abusing their positions
of power and trust.

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In this story, most
ordinary people

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didn't question or speak out.

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You can.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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